Fire Hydrant of Freedom

Politics, Religion, Science, Culture and Humanities => Politics & Religion => Topic started by: Crafty_Dog on May 05, 2007, 03:45:16 AM

Title: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 05, 2007, 03:45:16 AM
The following article helped me realize we need a thread specifically for the doings/shenanigans of our elected representatives

==============================================

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,133428,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl

Air Force Might Cut Pay for Surge
Military.com  |  By Christian Lowe  |  April 25, 2007
The Air Force’s top officer said Wednesday that if nearly $1 billion in personnel funds taken from the service to pay for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t restored by the end of the summer, Airmen and civilian employees might not get their pay.

Due to a congressional delay in approving a wartime supplemental funding bill this year, the Pentagon pulled about $880 million from the Air Force’s personnel accounts to make up for a shortfall it warned lawmakers would come in mid-April.

Poll: Should Air Force personnel be used to man Army billets in Iraq?
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael “Buzz” Moseley said at a breakfast meeting with reporters today that the money is coming out of the military personnel account earmarked for the last four months of the year.

“Somebody’s going to have to pay us back,” Moseley said. “You have to pay people every day when they come to work.”

“A: it’s the right thing to do, and B: it’s kind of the law,” he added.

Alert: Tell your public officials how you feel about this issue.

The shortfall could delay permanent change of station moves, temporary duty expenses and other pays that “take care of people,” he said.

On April 15, the Army announced it would have to cut training, depot repair, and maintenance of non war-related gear because funding for the surge in Iraq, combat operations in Afghanistan and other Global War on Terrorism costs was running dry.

The Army also requested that about $1.6 billion be diverted from the Air Force and Navy personnel accounts to help put the wartime funding tab in the black.

With Congress locked in a political battle with the Bush administration over withdrawal deadlines and troop rotation schedules, the $100 billion wartime spending bill to pay for operations through the end of the fiscal year has yet to be signed into law.

Though both the Senate and House have submitted the supplemental bill to the floor for a vote this week, President Bush has vowed a veto over withdrawal deadlines inserted into the law.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace has said if the wartime funds aren’t in place by mid-May, even more drastic cuts will have to be made, including reductions in training for forces on their way to Iraq, which will force the Pentagon to extend the deployments of units already there.

“The comptroller now has a check that they’re going to have to give us back to pay for [personnel] as we get closer to the end of the summer,” Moseley explained, putting the screws to Pentagon and administration budgeteers to recoup the loss.

“I don’t want to have any concerns about getting that money back,” he said. “It would be a breach of faith to take mil-pers money out of a service and then fast forward a couple of quarters and then just say ‘eat it.’”

Moseley said he’ll resist providing Airmen to man jobs the Army and Marine Corps can’t fill due to high operational tempo and increased demand, insisting his service is “drawing some red lines” to deny ground commanders’ requests.

About 20,000 Air Force personnel have filled shortfalls in the ground services’ manning – dubbed “in lieu of taskings” – including convoy and base security operations and even detainee handling jobs. As early as 2005, Air Force security personnel began augmenting Army detainee-handling troops at Camp Bucca prison near Baghdad and have continued to man prison jobs in Iraq.

“We don’t guard prisoners, we don’t even have a prison,” Moseley said. “To take out people and train them to be a detainee-guarding entity requires time away from their normal job.”

Some U.S.-based Air Force commands have as many as 25 percent of their personnel deployed to Iraq and are still executing their home station duties. For example, the San Angelo, Texas-based 17th Training Wing has its crash, fire, and rescue teams and security force units deployed “and we’re still operating the wing,” Moseley said.  

Moseley said he’s happy to provide personnel with job skills the Air Force has in abundance, including drivers and information technology specialists. But “I am less supportive of things outside of our competencies,” he said.

“We’ve drawn some red lines on some of the ‘in lieu of’ taskings to get away from the tasking of our folks that is incredibly outside the competencies.”


Title: Broken government
Post by: ccp on June 23, 2007, 11:19:38 AM
The NYT should investigate this instead of Rupurt Murdoch.   But then it doesn't fit into their agenda:

From Dick Morris whose work in this area is quite eye opening.  Except for appearances on OReilly I am not sure anyone else is listening:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DickMorrisandEileenMcGann/2007/06/20/dems_like_gop_-_like_nepotism
Title: IPT: Islamist Fellow Traveler Rep. Bill Pascrell
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 23, 2012, 03:52:32 PM
IPT Featured Article: Islamist Fellow Traveler: Rep Bill Pascrell

Steven Emerson, Executive Director

April 23, 2012

Articles by IPT | IPT in the News | IPT Blog | Profiles | Multimedia | Donate |
Contact Us

Islamist Fellow Traveler: Rep Bill Pascrell
An IPT Series

IPT News
April 23, 2012

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3546/islamist-fellow-traveler-rep-bill-pascrell

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Executive Summary

For more than a decade, Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., has routinely coasted to
re-election over token opposition in the Democrat-dominated 8th Congressional
District. This year is different, and the eight-term congressman -- a close Capitol
Hill ally of Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
-- is fighting for his political life.

After the New Jersey Legislature eliminated fellow Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman's
neighboring district last year, he decided to run against Pascrell in the new,
heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District. Before redistricting, the two men
(both of them liberals first elected to Congress in 1996) were considered political
allies. With the primary less than two months away, they have been transformed into
bitter opponents.

Rothman supporters are emphasizing his strong support of Israel, contrasting it with
that of Pascrell -- one of 54 House members who joined Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.,
in sending a January 2010 letter to President Obama denouncing Israel and Egypt for
blockading Hamas-ruled Gaza. The letter accused Israel of imposing "de facto
collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."

Former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block said the differences between Rothman and Pascrell
on Israel couldn't be clearer. Pointing to the letter to Obama, Block told the New
Jersey Jewish Standard in January that Pascrell (whose hometown of Paterson includes
large Arab and Muslim populations) had "actually sided against American support for
Israel's right to defend herself against weapons smuggling and attacks by
terrorists."

Thus far, there are no public-opinion polls measuring whether the perception that
Pascrell is hostile to Israel is damaging him politically. But Orthodox Jewish
leaders in the district have launched a campaign to persuade registered Republicans
to change their registration to Democrat in order to vote for Rothman in the June 5
primary. Earlier this month, a local newspaper reported that since New Year's Day, a
net total of 900 voters registered as Republican or unaffiliated had switched their
registration to Democrat, with less than 200 switching the other way.

As this report details, the Gaza letter is just one of many troubling things in
Pascrell's record. Others include:

*

Collaborating with CAIR. Despite its established roots in the Islamic Association
for Palestine, a Hamas front group, Pascrell speaks with pride about his connections
with CAIR. The organization's website includes a glowing testimonial from Pascrell
in which he "personally commend CAIR for its work on issues including civil
liberties" and calls it "the preeminent organization representing the concerns of
Muslim Americans."

*

*Whitewashing the radical record of Imam Mohammad Qatanani. Qatanani, imam at the
Islamic Center of Passaic County, was targeted for removal from the United States
for failing to disclose his Israeli court conviction for membership in Hamas.
Qatanani has also made comments condemning Christians to eternal hellfire and
advocating support for the children of suicide bombers. Pascrell lobbied against
Qatanani's deportation from the United States and submitted a court affidavit
calling the imam "peace-loving and magnanimous."

*

Refusing to condemn anti-Semitic slurs by his political supporters. In February,
Arab-American activist Aref Assaf, a Pascrell supporter and contributor, suggested
that Jews who support Rothman are putting Israel's interests over those of America.
Pascrell refused to condemn Assaf. Earlier, the congressman refused to condemn one
of his fundraisers, Lebanese-American businessman Sami Merhi, who had likened
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Hitler while speaking at a Pascrell
fundraiser.

*

Disparaging law-enforcement efforts to acquire intelligence on radical groups.
Although he has refused to criticize political allies for anti-Semitic remarks,
Pascrell has not hesitated to attack law enforcement agencies like the New York
Police Department based on incorrect information. He criticized the NYPD for using
"religious profiling" in conducting surveillance at New Jersey mosques and suggested
the NYPD had conducted surveillance without communicating with New Jersey officials
-- despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

*

Ridiculing the existence of a jihadist threat. At a House Homeland Security
Committee hearing on radicalization last year, businessman Melvin Bledsoe testified
about his son's transformation from a normal American teenager into a jihadist.
Pascrell mocked the premise that Islamist terror deserved any special concern,
saying that "some pretty bad people" are Catholics. He belittled Bledsoe's call for
American unity against jihadist recruitment, denying that any divisions exist.

"When you say 'the other side,' I don't know what the hell you're talking about,"
Pascrell said.

Main Story:

Islamists on Capitol Hill have few better allies than Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. A
former mayor of Paterson, Pascrell, 75, is in his eighth term representing Passaic
County in New Jersey's 8th Congressional District. He is an outspoken critic of
congressional efforts to investigate Muslim radicalization in the United States and
a top ally of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Redistricting has placed Pascrell in the new 9th Congressional District with fellow
Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman, prompting a tough June 5 primary. Like Pascrell,
Rothman (whose old district was dismantled in redistricting) is a liberal Democrat
who entered Congress in 1997.

But the two men have very different records on Israel. Rothman is a strong supporter
of the Jewish state.

Pascrell, by contrast, was one of 62 lawmakers, including them Rep. John Conyers,
D-Mich., Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Loretta Sanchez D-Calif., who signed a
January 2009 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggesting that Israel was
to blame for denying critically needed aid to Palestinian residents of Gaza. CAIR's
New Jersey chapter (CAIR-NJ) issued an "Action Alert" urging supporters to thank
signers of the letter for "their support of human rights" by "address[ing] the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza."

The letter neglected to mention the role played by Gaza's ruling Hamas regime in
creating the humanitarian crisis by provoking war with Israel and exacerbating the
situation through its extensive use of civilian human shields.

Pascrell was one of 54 House members (including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith
Ellison), who signed a one-sided letter in 2010 to President Obama accusing Israel
of imposing "de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza
Strip."

The Hill reported that after Pascrell signed the 2010 letter, Rothman (at that time
a political ally) defended his colleague's record on Israel. These days, Rothman and
his supporters are singing a different tune about Pascrell.

Although Pascrell has portrayed himself as pro-Israel, his efforts to do so in the
current campaign have been marred by missteps. He won the endorsement of New Jersey
real-estate mogul David Steiner, who formerly served as president of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), only to learn that Steiner resigned in
disgrace after exaggerating the organization's power to choose President Clinton's
cabinet.

"I'm not sure why Pascrell proactively calls attention to how little support he has
within the pro-Israel community," one New Jersey Democrat told the Washington Free
Beacon. "First, he bragged about the endorsement of a one-term, 80-plus year-old
congressman (former Democratic Rep. Herb Klein) and now the endorsement of a former
president of AIPAC who embarrassed AIPAC so much when he was president that they
forced him to resign."

Pascrell's bid for Jewish votes has been further undercut by his refusal to denounce
local Arab-American activist Aref Assaf, who responded angrily to reports that
Orthodox Jewish Republicans might change their party registration in order to vote
for Rothman in the Democratic primary.

"As total and blind support for Israel becomes the only reason for choosing Rothman,
voters who do not view the elections in this prism will need to take notice: Loyalty
to a foreign flag is not loyalty to America's," wrote Assaf, president of the
American Arab Forum (AAF) which posted the op-ed on its website.

Rothman supporters demanded that Pascrell disavow Assaf's comments, but he refused.
Assaf subsequently termed complaints about his column "Islamophobia" and "deplorable
blanket racism." He published another op-ed on the primary suggesting Pascrell was
under fire from "Jewish sources" because he is not regarded as "a perfect example of
an Israeli loyalist."

"While some of Rothman's supporters put the flag and the security of another country
above ours, we place America first and unconditionally," Assaf wrote. "While they
put Israel first, we place America second to none."

Asked about Pascrell's refusal to repudiate Assaf's comments, veteran Democratic
Party activist Joshua Block didn't mince words.

"The unwillingness to directly confront and condemn this anti-Semitic invective and
bigotry is despicable," said Block, a former spokesman for the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "Silence in the face of this kind of hate speech
says it all."

But Passaic County Democratic Party leaders view the matter differently. On March
24, party executive leaders unanimously endorsed Pascrell. He "was the best choice
and had the most experience on the diverse issues that affect Passaic County," said
county Democratic Party Chairman John Currie.

Assaf is not the first political ally Pascrell has refused to condemn for making
anti-Semitic comments. Speaking at a Pascrell fundraiser in 2002, Lebanese-American
businessman Sami Merhi likened then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Adolf
Hitler and said he "can't see the comparison" between the 9/11 hijackers and
Palestinian suicide bombers.

When Merhi ran for a seat as Passaic County freeholder in 2006, senior New Jersey
Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez repudiated his remarks and said they couldn't
support his candidacy. Pascrell called the comments a "mistake," but refused to
abandon Merhi, a friend who has raised money for the congressman's previous
campaigns.

"He's a well-vetted candidate," Pascrell said of Merhi. "I believe he's a good man,
and he'll represent all the people of Passaic County."

But Pascrell's support wasn't enough to save Merhi. One week after endorsing his
nomination, the Passaic County Democratic screening committee reversed itself,
voting 20-3 to withdraw its support.

"Political lynching of Arab Americans is now an accepted practice," Assaf said.
"Every Arab American is now Sami Merhi."

Assaf accused a Jewish official who supported Merhi's ouster of seeking "to
transform (sic) the conflict between Arabs and Jews from the streets of Jerusalem to
the streets of Passaic County."

Connections with Assaf and CAIR are not just an embarrassing problem for Pascrell.
Gary Schaer, a prominent Democratic state assemblyman whose endorsement prompted 15
local Orthodox synagogues to back Rothman, blasted Assaf last month for impugning
the motives of Jewish voters.

But as recently as December, Assaf and Schaer were on much friendlier terms. They
appeared together at CAIR-New Jersey's annual banquet, where Assaf made a "special
presentation" to Schaer -- giving him the "CAIR-NJ 2011 Public Leadership Award" for
"his dedication to protecting the civil and religious rights of all citizens."

While he has avoided repudiating anti-Semites and conspiracy mongers, Pascrell has
shown less reticence about criticizing the New York Police Department (NYPD) for
using "religious profiling" in surveillance at New Jersey mosques. He suggested the
NYPD had conducted surveillance without communicating with New Jersey officials
despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

Considers CAIR "Preeminent"

Pascrell is a leading congressional ally of CAIR, which has established roots in the
Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), an organization found to be a front group
for Hamas. Prosecutors designated CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in prosecuting
senior officials with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF).
CAIR was designated because of its associations with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's
Palestine Committee.

The Palestine Committee was created to provide Hamas with financial and political
support in the United States, prosecutors said. Five senior HLF officials were
convicted of all charges for funneling approximately $12 million to Hamas and
sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.

The FBI cut off contact with CAIR in 2008 based on evidence in the HLF case, writing
that "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR
or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison
partner."

But longstanding concerns about CAIR's radical record haven't prevented Pascrell
from forging close ties with the organization.

CAIR's website contains this glowing testimonial from the New Jersey lawmaker:

"With over 30 CAIR Chapters spread throughout the United States and Canada it is
clear that CAIR has become the preeminent organization representing the concerns of
Muslim Americans. I want to personally commend CAIR for its work on issues including
civil liberties and opening dialogue with various communities in America."

Pascrell was one of 23 members of Congress who printed proclamations in the program
at CAIR's 12th annual national banquet in November 2006.

He was one of nine members who printed proclamations at CAIR's 2008 national
banquet. "Since 2003, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' New Jersey Chapter
has encouraged progressive dialogue throughout my district and throughout many New
Jersey communities. The New Jersey Chapter's hard work does not go unrecognized by
this office," Pascrell wrote. "I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations … to
wish you the same success in the future you have had in your past."

Pascrell joined three other members of Congress in publishing proclamations at
CAIR's 2009 national banquet.

In March 2007, Pascrell created a stir after he reserved a conference room in the
U.S. Capitol for a CAIR panel discussion entitled "Global Attitudes on Islam-West
Relations: U.S. Policy Implications." The panel included Steven Kull, director of
the Program on International Policy Attitudes, who analyzed polls on relations
between Muslims and the West, and CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.

Pascrell spokesman Caley Gray said the forum "opens up an important dialogue about
global public opinion concerning the United States."

"We see it as a simple room request," said Gray. "We did receive a room request and
evaluated it and approved it."

Not everyone on Capitol Hill regarded it as an ordinary request. "It does happen all
the time, but usually it is the United Way or some constituent group or Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, not a group with supposed ties to terrorism -- in the Capitol
no less," a Hill staffer said at the time.

"We know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles
Schumer, a member of the party's Senate leadership. Schumer criticized CAIR for
having "intimate links with Hamas."

In February 2004, CAIR's New Jersey office issued a statement praising Pascrell and
Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., for condemning New York Republican Rep. Peter King's
assertion that most American mosques were controlled by radicals.

Pascrell and Corzine both spoke at the Annual Community Brunch held by the American
Muslim Union (AMU) on Feb. 21, 2004, which was cosponsored by 10 other
organizations, including CAIR-NJ and the Islamic Center of Passaic County (ICPC).

Magdy Mahmoud, co-founder and president of CAIR's New Jersey chapter, was another
cosponsor of the AMU brunch, Joel Mowbray reported in the Boston Sun the following
month.

Mahmoud served on the executive board of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA)
from 1993-98 and directed MAYA's chapters committee. During Mahmoud's tenure, the
organization hosted a 1995 event in Toledo where Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi praised
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"Our brothers in Hamas, in Palestine, the Islamic resistance, the Islamic Jihad,
after the rest have given up and despaired, the movement of the jihad brings us back
to our faith," Qaradawi declared.

In the same speech, Qaradawi advocated the killing of Jews. He said that "the
balance of power will change, and this is what is told in the Hadith of Ibn Omar and
the Hadith of Abu-Harairah: 'You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will
fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone
and the tree will say: Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, there is a Jew behind me.
Come and kill him!' The resurrection will not come before this happens. This is a
text from the good omens in which we believe."

Qaradawi vowed that Muslims would conquer Europe and the United States. "Islam will
come back to Europe for the third time, after it was expelled from it twice,"
Qaradawi said. "We will conquer Europe; we will conquer America! Not through sword
but through Da'wa [proselytizing]."

The Dar-ul-Islah Islamic Center also sponsored the brunch. Co-founder Waheed Khalid
has defended Hamas and declined comment when asked whether he believed the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion were forgeries. Asked about Hamas activities by the Bergen
Record in 1998, Khalid replied: "They are trying to get the occupiers out of their
home."

Mohammed El-Mezain, one of the five HLF officials convicted in 2008, co-founded the
Islamic Center for Passaic County in 1989 and served as its first imam. According to
a memorandum written by former FBI Assistant Counterterrorism Director Dale Watson,
Mezain (serving a 15-year prison term for his HLF conviction) claimed in a 1994
speech at the mosque that he raised $1.8 million in the United States for Hamas.

In February 2003, the ICPC reportedly hosted Islamist militant Abdelhaleem Ashqar,
later sentenced to 11 years in prison for criminal contempt and obstruction of
justice after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Hamas
support in the United States.

Pascrell described as "pure crap" allegations that any cosponsors of the February
2004 community brunch were radical Islamists or linked to terrorist organizations.
Asked by Mowbray if he believed that he was providing legitimacy to radical
organizations by appearing at the event, Pascrell replied: "I'm not going to deal in
rumors. The rest is crap. I know these men as fine family men."

A Pascrell spokesman later clarified that his boss was not referring to Alaa
al-Sadawi, former imam at El Tawheed Islamic Center in Jersey City (another sponsor
of the event), who was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to five years, three months
in prison for attempting to smuggle $659,000 to Egypt. Sadawi raised money for the
Global Relief Foundation, designated a terrorist financier by the Treasury
Department for its links with al-Qaida. (He later pleaded guilty to lying in order
to obtain U.S. citizenship).

"That guy should be in jail," the spokesman said of Sadawi. "But you can't hold the
members of the mosque responsible for his actions."

Another imam at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, Mohammad Qatanani, was accused
of lying on his U.S. immigration documents when he failed to disclose his confession
to Israeli authorities that he was a member of Hamas, and his Israeli court
conviction for membership in the terror group. A federal immigration judge ruled in
favor of Qatanani in 2008, but the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned part of
the order the following year, holding that Judge Alberto Riefkohl had erred in
downplaying Israeli evidence showing Qatanani's links with Hamas.

Qatanani spoke at a November 1999 IAP conference. Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas
official, gave the organization $490,000 and is a former IAP board member. Evidence
at the HLF trial showed the IAP played a central role in the Muslim Brotherhood's
Palestine Committee -- in essence Hamas' U.S.-based infrastructure.

In a September 2004 article in the New Jersey Herald-News, Qatanani advocated
supporting the children of suicide bombers. During the HLF trial, he publicly prayed
for the Hamas-linked defendants and delivered a sermon condemning Christians to
eternal hellfire. In another sermon, Qatanani suggested that all of Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza were part of "Greater Syria" and that fighting to
conquer these lands is a divine commandment for Muslims. These sermons were
available in English on the mosque's website.

None of this stopped Pascrell from praising Qatanani and lobbying on his behalf.
When the imam faced deportation, Pascrell submitted a court affidavit calling
Qatanani "peace-loving" and "magnanimous."

"As a religious leader, Imam Qatanani has had an enormously positive impact in my
district," the congressman wrote. "Our community would suffer a serious loss should
he be required to leave."

Hours after federal immigration Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl's 2008 ruling that
Qatanani could remain in the United States, Pascrell joined Gov. Chris Christie and
other officials in paying tribute to the imam. At a breaking of the Ramadan fast in
Paterson that evening, Pascrell gushed about Qatanani.

"You put so much time into bringing peace for all of us," Pascrell told him. "Thank
you imam, for all you've done for America since you've come here."

Others attending the celebration included Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano
and Weysan Dun, FBI special agent in charge of the Bureau's Newark office; the
director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security; and various sheriffs and
county prosecutors.

The Board of Immigration Appeals overturned part of the order the following year,
holding that Judge Riefkohl had erred in downplaying Israeli evidence showing
Qatanani's links with Hamas. Qatanani remains in the United States pending the
outcome of deportation proceedings.

A Reliable Ally for Islamists

In 2008, Pascrell defended controversial New York City subway ads promoting Islam
financed by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). The ads featured phrases
like "Head Scarf?" and "Prophet Muhammad?" on one side, with the words "You deserve
to know" and "WhysIam.org" on the other.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., cited the high-profile role in promoting the ad campaign
played by radical Imam Siraj Wahhaj (a former CAIR advisory board member and a
frequent speaker at the group's events) in urging transit officials not to run the
ads.

Wahhaj was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1995 federal trial of Omar Abdel
Rahman (AKA "the Blind Sheik"), who was convicted of conspiring to bomb New York
landmarks and is serving life in prison.

Wahhaj testified in defense of the sheik, who he called a "respected scholar" and
"bold, as a strong preacher of Islam." Abdel Rahman was convicted of charges that
included conspiracy to bomb the New York FBI headquarters and to assassinate
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Wahhaj has also called for the establishment of an Islamic state in the United
States and urged Muslims to get involved in American politics because "politics are
a weapon to use in the cause of Islam."

After King pointed to Wahhaj's radicalism, Pascrell expressed disappointment that
"any public official" would oppose the subway advertisements. Wahhaj's ad campaign
"is exactly the kind of dialogue we need," one that would "bridge the gaps in our
collective knowledge," Pascrell said.

CAIR's New Jersey chapter sent out a July 31, 2008 action alert urging American
Muslims and "other people of conscience" to thank Pascrell for "standing up to those
who seek to marginalize the American Muslim community."

Pascrell can sound strident when the facts don't completely match his political
narrative. When ABC Television announced plans to broadcast a "docudrama"
criticizing the Clinton administration's handling of the al-Qaida threat, Pascrell
denounced the film at a September 2006 Capitol Hill press conference, suggesting it
was little more than fiction aimed at advancing the Republican Party. He said the

9/11 Commission

found no evidence of "retreat or negligence" by the Clinton administration.

Pascrell neglected to point out that the commission's report was sharply critical of
both the Bush and Clinton administrations' handling of the threat. It found that the
Clinton administration had as many as four chances to capture or kill bin Laden from
December 1998 to July 1999 but failed to act.

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on radicalization within the Muslim
community last year, witnesses discussed the dramatic increase in jihadist terror
plots on American soil. Pascrell attacked the premise that radical Islamic terror
deserved any special focus, stating that "some pretty bad people come out of
Catholic churches."

One witness at the hearing was Melvin Bledsoe, whose son, Carlos (AKA Abdulhakim
Mujahid Muhammad) was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting to
death one soldier and wounding another outside a Little Rock, Ark. military
recruiting center in June 2009.

Melvin Bledsoe testified about his family tragedy -- specifically about his son's
transformation from a normal American teen-ager into a jihadist. The elder Bledsoe's
call for Americans to unite against jihadist recruitment efforts drew a sharp rebuke
from Pascrell, who denied any divisions existed. "When you say 'the other side,' I
don't know what the hell you're talking about," Pascrell told Bledsoe. "We are all
in this together."

There is no public polling data to indicate whether Pascrell faces any political
backlash for collaborating with CAIR or treating with contempt a father who lost his
son to Islamic radicalism. But there are indications that Pascrell's pro-Islamist
views could be helping attract more Jews into the Rothman camp in this
Democrat-dominated district.

The website NorthJersey.com reported earlier this month that voter registration data
from six Passaic County towns in the new district show that since New Year's Day
(shortly after Rothman announced he would run against Pascrell) more than 900 voters
previously registered as Republican or unaffiliated switched to the Democratic Party
in those towns, with less than 200 switching from Democrat to Republican.

In an effort to continue this trend, a recent letter paid for by the Rothman
campaign urged Orthodox Jewish Republicans to switch their registration so they
could vote for him in the June primary.

A Pascrell spokesman suggested Rothman's efforts to encourage GOP party-switching
constituted disloyalty to the Democratic Party, terming it "a slap in the face." But
many in the local Jewish community may conclude that Pascrell's own behavior (and in
particular his refusal to repudiate anti-Semitic slurs from prominent supporters
like Aref Assaf) may be spurring Jews to cross party lines to vote against him.

In an op-ed last month, Assaf suggested that opposition to Pascrell from the local
Jewish community threatened to undermine what had been a "cordial and cooperative"
relationship with Paterson's Arabs and Muslims. He hinted that Jewish opposition to
the congressman would be regarded as evidence of anti-Muslim bigotry.

Assaf claimed that Pascrell "is being condemned for failing to be 100 percent on the
side of a foreign country (Israel)" and for "sleeping with a suspect community
(Arab/Muslim) whose vote will most likely determine the outcome of the elections."

"Sadly, politics, money, lobbying and disinformation are about to spoil whatever
semblance of friendship and hope there are," he added. "The turf war has begun, and
while we did not start it, the community of Arabs and Muslims in the district gave
Pascrell victory. Jewish and now some mainstream newspapers have framed the June 5
primary as a litmus test for the survival of Israel."

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Title: The incumbent death matches
Post by: bigdog on April 23, 2012, 06:17:16 PM
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75443.html



Two down. Nine to go.
 
Tuesday’s Pennsylvania showdown between Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire and Mark Critz marks the beginning of a seven-week period of primaries that will feature a handful of the rarest and most exotic political contests: the incumbent vs. incumbent primary death match.


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 24, 2012, 03:53:16 AM
Sorry for the weirdness of the lines through the words in much of my post from IPT.  I've no idea why that happened.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on April 24, 2012, 08:44:18 AM
Imagine Obama winning and the Dems getting back the House.  Now that's exciting.   :-D

Boehner: "One in three chance' House Republicans could lose majority"

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/223117-boehner-gop-faces-real-challenge-to-keeping-house-majority
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 24, 2012, 09:08:29 AM
"Imagine Obama winning and the Dems getting back the House.  Now that's exciting."

Yes.  Exciting.  Like a bungee jump into the canyon without a cord.

Actually Republicans will be taking the Senate so it would be more of the same in terms of divided government and deadlock.  

More of the same on a path to disaster is disaster.  Exciting.

I would consider a financial wager with you on this scenario you find possible, the likelihood of the American people sending Barack Obama a new term and a mandate to do more of the same.  Meaningless though I guess because neither of us would have in that circumstance the ability to pay.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 24, 2012, 10:37:03 AM
JDN,

Didn't you say you would have voted for McCain if not for Palin?
So you want a socialist one world government with regulation of everything?

You want a President who is as John Bolton points out is quite confortable with the retreat and minimalization, marginalization of the US?

Title: The fight for the US Senate: On the Reservation with Pocahontas Warren
Post by: DougMacG on May 02, 2012, 09:30:43 AM
There is an upside down race in the fight for the US Senate, the so-called Ted Kennedy seat is a left state seat held by a Republican (Scott Brown), so it is an obvious pick up opportunity for the Dems to offset likely losses elsewhere.

Elizabeth Warren is the perfect candidate, an articulate leftist and Harvard professor.  She should be able to mail it in and win.  But...

This accomplished white woman, it turns out, needed to compensate for a past of discrimination against her for her 1/32nd Cherokee Indian heritage.  Who knew?

Ripped in a local paper:  http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061128614

White and wrong: On the reservation with Elizabeth Warren
By Howie Carr  Wednesday, May 2, 2012

We all know about “undocumented workers.” Now we have Elizabeth Warren, the undocumented Indian.

Funny thing, I think Ted Williams was one-fourth Mexican. He was white. Johnny Bench is one-eighth Indian. I always think of him as white. And then there’s Pochantas Warren, the blue-eyed, one-32nd Cherokee (or so we’re told) who went from the Southwest Conference to the Ivy League over the course of a decade in which she was claiming to be a “minority professor.”

But once she’d parlayed the racial-spoils racket all the way to a tenured position at Harvard Law, she decided to ... pass, as they used to say in the old South. Once she’d reached the pinnacle of her trade, she ditched the fake-Indian routine. Maybe White Eyes Warren saw the smoke signals and figured out that someone was going to call her out on her ancestry. She was right.

Still, all’s well that ends well. She has her $1.7 million wigwam in Cambridge. Greedy Wall Street lawyers slurp top-shelf firewater at her $1,000-a-head Manhattan fundraisers. Maybe someday she’ll even smokum peace pipe with Tim Geithner.  (more at the link)


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 02, 2012, 11:05:42 AM
1/32d?!?

That shiksa has a lot of chutzpah!!!  :lol:
Title: Elizabeth Warren
Post by: bigdog on May 03, 2012, 07:07:22 PM

I find this discussion very interesting.  Race discussion has changed a great deal, and indeed now we are to the point where such a fraction of ancestry is laughable (and I admit to a chuckle to begin with).  Upon further review, though, I am reminded that the issues around Plessy dealt with a man 1/8 black.  I am also reminded that Langston Hughes once wrote that "“That one drop of Negro blood—because just one drop of black blood makes a man colored. One drop—you are a Negro!”  This used to be used in a manner to legally ostracize a vast body of people.  And now the same claim is made to demean the career arc of a congressional candidate. 

Also, it seems that for most scholarships awarded to Native Americans, there is 1/4 requirement (http://www.collegescholarships.org/nativeamerican.htm). 

And, more on Warren: (it seems to be true) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/elizabeth-warren-native-american-heritage_n_1467398.html?ref=elections-2012 and http://news.yahoo.com/elizabeth-warren-still-scrambling-explain-her-native-american-170204281.html (and she still can't explain it well). 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 03, 2012, 09:03:51 PM
I remember a college course noting that the "one drop" logic actually imputed greater power to the non-white component than the white component  :lol:

Of course the spectacular cynicism on display here by Warren is extraordinary.
Title: Senate races 2012: Elizabeth Running Joke Warren, wanted to make new friends...
Post by: DougMacG on May 04, 2012, 06:53:50 AM
"for most scholarships awarded to Native Americans, there is 1/4 requirement "

That nixed the Warren plan I had for my daughter (blue eyes, red hair) to change her middle name to 'running bear' for her college applicaitions.

I heard some other middle names suggested for Warren: 'wounded economy', 'running joke', 'broken left wing', 'Pinocchio-hontas', 'running joke'.

What past discrimination did she need her leg up from?

Latest story, she did that to make friends.  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/elizabeth-warren-says-she-used-native-american-heritage-to-meet-friends/  

It reminds me of former Washington DC  Mayor Marion Barry's outreach program to destitute prostitutes, reaching into his own stash of crack cocaine and sharing, to help the poorest among us.

She deceived to get hired and to get tenure as a Harvard Professor.  She got tenure, then dropped the minority status.  How does one drop their blood content status?

Most Harvard Law professors went to Harvard Law School.  Most of the rest went to other top Ivy League schools.  One, Warren, went to Rutgers, a FINE school, but not equal to Harvard. When Warren was hired, there was a huge push on to hire more minorities.  Blonde, blue eyed minorities?  Is that what Derrick Bell was fighting for?

Victimless crime?  

Like Hillary's dirty commodities trades.  No one was hurt... except the people those profits rightfully belonged to.

No one was hurt by Warren's deception, except for the person who deserved that job.  Except for the students who deserve the best possible professor.  Except for the integrity of the process, compromised.  Except the reputation of the institution, stained.  
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on May 08, 2012, 04:53:39 PM
News outlets report Dick Lugar losing the Indiana primary.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 08, 2012, 06:01:24 PM
Gun rights groups are taking some of the credit, Lugar's record on gun rights being rather terrible and the challenger's record being rather sound.
Title: Downfall of a Statesman
Post by: bigdog on May 09, 2012, 06:43:07 AM
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_132/Downfall-of-Statesman-Dick-Lugar-Richard-Mourdock-Indiana-214367-1.html?ET=rollcall:e13048:80133681a:&st=email&pos=eam

An interesting take on Lugar's career, especially since 1996. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 09, 2012, 08:31:39 AM
Readily granted Lugar had a genuine serious interest in foreign affairs, but things such as Baraq's START Treaty were errors, one of many.  Others include rather terrible stands on guns and gun rights-- a matter not addressed in this piece.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races: Lugar
Post by: DougMacG on May 09, 2012, 09:51:51 AM
I think the roll call piece sums it up pretty well.  He was a pretty good Senator who had his moments. He was fairly conservative when he wanted to be.  http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Richard_Lugar.htm.  Not an Olympia Snowe at all, but Indiana is not Maine.  Reaching across the aisle to him meant leftward to 'get things done', but not to his constituents on his right who are mostly up in arms about the things that got done.

The last 6 years have been a disaster that incumbents even in opposition need to answer for:  Did you do everything you could do to stop this?  I have been mostly blaming Barack Obama as Senator and President and the Pelosi-Reid congress for the current situation.  Crafty has often put some blame on people like Speaker Boehner and asked where the Republican congressional leadership is on issues of urgency and survival.  Lugar was one of those senior statesman who either failed to speak out or failed to be persuasive in doing so.  Where was he when the Republicans were in power as the voice of reason to stop the runaway growth of government and spending? Where was he before the crash blowing the whistle on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for both the corruption and the abandonment of market principles that would bring down our prosperity?  Where in the aftermath of the 2010 tea party revolution, when the Dems lost 63 seats and control of the House, was he when the parties fought to the death over spending and then locked in emergency spending as permanent and raised spending another 5%?  Even if he was ostensibly on the 'right' of these issues, where was the passion to get bad policies stopped?  Missing.  A 20 point loss says that at least the primary voters in Indiana are looking for more.  Give someone else a try.

President Obama's praise for Lugar reaching across the aisle looks like a back stab considering Lugar's reach gave them R votes for Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayer and Kagen when Sen./ Obama the uniter couldn't even bring himself to vote for Chief Justice John Roberts.  

People say statesman.  He is calm with wisdom on some areas of foreign policy but largely silent on crucial economic issues IMO. I post speeches on the Senate floor of Marco Rubio and show a statesman.  There aren't many Marco Rubios for charisma, so I offer exhibit B, Ron Johnson junior Senator of Wisconsin of ordinary talent but far more active and persuasive IMO.  I realize Lugar is 80 and maybe his reticence to speak out is age related but I don't recall much previous passion either.  He wasn't outraged when HW Bush broke his no new taxes pledge and hasn't been outraged at very much since.

The following is taken from the websites of his opponents articulating their gripes.  As Crafty intimates, they lead with guns, but I don't think that is the core of it.
--------
http://retirelugar2012.com/Top_Twenty_Reasons.pdf

Top Twenty Reasons to retire Lugar in 2012
The Tea party wants you to know that we are not “inarticulate”, that Hoosiers who oppose Lugar are not “dupes”, and that we are ready to “get real” working to defeat Lugar in 2012.
While there are hundreds to choose from the Jay County Tea Party selected these as the top twenty worst Lugar Votes.
1. 1993 – Lugar voted to unconstitutionally ban semi-automatic handguns and rifles.
2. 2004 - Lugar voted to unconstitutionally ban semi-automatic handguns and rifles.
3. 2002 – Lugar voted to ban political speech during an election in the unconstitutional McCain Campaign Finance Reform.
4. 1993 – Lugar voted to confirm extreme left wing judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg to the Supreme Court.
5. 2009 - Lugar voted to confirm extreme left wing judge Sonya Sodomayor to the Supreme Court.
6. 2010 - Lugar voted to confirm extreme left wing judge Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
7. 2003 – Lugar voted for the Climate Stewardship Act, a cap and trade bill that would have at least doubled Indiana electric Rates.
8. 2005 - Lugar voted for another democrat cap and trade bill that would have at least doubled Indiana electric Rates.
9. 2006 – Lugar voted to give amnesty to illegal aliens in the McCain comprehensive amnesty bill.
10. 1982 – Lugar voted for a tax increase that, when it was passed, was the largest tax increase in history.
11. 1990 - Lugar voted for a tax increase that, when it was passed, was the largest tax increase in history.
12. 2007 – Lugar voted to give Social Security benefits to illegal aliens.
13. 2010 – Lugar voted against auditing the Federal Reserve.
14. 2008 – Lugar voted to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
15. 2008 – Lugar voted for TARP
16. 2008 – Lugar voted against ending earmarks.
17. 2009 – Lugar voted to bail out the car companies.
18. 2009 – Voted against returning 350 billion in unused TARP money to the Treasury.
19. 2010 – Lugar Voted for the Dream Act illegal alien amnesty bill.
20. 2010 – Voted for the START unilateral disarmament Treaty.
Honorable Mention
In 1993 Lugar sponsored a universal health care bill with an unconstitutional individual mandate.
In 2009 he was one of the deciding votes against concealed carry reciprocity for Indiana license holders.
Also in 2009 he voted to continue the total ban on handguns in Washington DC.
Lugar voted for over three trillion dollars in deficit spending under Bush
Title: WSJ on Lugar's defeat
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 10, 2012, 11:48:38 AM
Richard Lugar has been a fine Senator for 36 years, but his final primary campaign days help explain why he won't be returning for six more years in 2013. As he attempted to defeat a conservative challenger on Tuesday, the 80-year-old Indiana incumbent resorted to the hoariest status quo gambit of scaring seniors on Social Security.

In one of his final TV ads, the Lugar campaign showed an older woman in a red sweater drinking tea while text on the screen declares that "Richard Mourdock has a plan to cut every senior's Social Security by nearly $2,500 a year."

Granny then elaborates: "He's not thinking, is he? No idea of consequences, what this means to people. He's going to ruin people, I mean, some can't get along without Social Security, every penny of it. I guess he wants to be as opposite as he can, believing that will get him votes. The scary thing is, is what if it does? Heaven help us, because Mourdock won't."

Down in the polls among Republicans, Mr. Lugar was making a last-ditch attempt to attract Democrats and independents to save him by voting in the GOP Senate primary. His campaign based the ad on the fact that Mr. Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer, had endorsed Paul Ryan's House budget. So the Senator took a demagogic shot at the one serious attempt to reform entitlements that everyone knows must be reformed.

 Columnist Kim Strassel makes sense of Republican challenger Richard Mourdock's blow-out victory over Indiana Senator Dick Lugar. Photo: Getty Images
.This isn't "statesmanship" of the kind that the Washington elite attribute to Mr. Lugar. It's a desperate attempt to hold onto a job by spreading fear. In short, it is the kind of politics as usual that prevents serious reform of government.

In the event, Mr. Lugar lost with only 40% of the vote, which is hard to do if you are an incumbent, especially one as personally well-liked as the six-term incumbent has been. As recently as 2006, Mr. Lugar won with 87% of the vote. But in recent years, he failed to see that Republican voters want their representatives in Washington to provide more forceful opposition to President Obama's agenda.

None of this is to erase Mr. Lugar's contributions over the years. We'd cite his timely intervention to persuade Ronald Reagan to ease Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines without bloodshed in 1986 and the Nunn-Lugar program to chop up Soviet missiles. Note, however, that these are foreign policy achievements and this election year the voters are focused on America's domestic problems.

The Beltway class is aflutter that Mr. Lugar's defeat has put another safe GOP Senate seat in play, and perhaps it has. Mr. Mourdock will face Democratic Representative Joe Donnelly in November, and at a minimum Republicans will have to spend more money than they had planned if they want to prevail.

Mr. Mourdock has already won two statewide races, however, and he is a serious man with a grasp of the issues. He is not another Sharron Angle or Christine O'Donnell, the tea party candidates who lost seats in Nevada and Delaware that Republicans should have won in 2010. Mr. Mourdock's backers at the Club for Growth and Freedom Works now have an obligation to support him in the autumn.

The lesson of the Lugar upset, however, is not that the provincial yahoos defeated a statesman. It's that a Senator who had served for nearly four decades lost touch with how much voters want to change Washington.

Title: Warren found listed as a minority professor at second law school
Post by: bigdog on May 11, 2012, 05:10:18 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/226789-second-university-listed-warren-as-minority-professor

"The revelation that a second school listed Warren as a minority raised further questions about her claim to Native American heritage and whether it was reasonable for her to represent herself as a minority. Republicans, including Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-Mass.) campaign, have questioned whether Warren used the claim to further her career — an allegation Warren has repeatedly denied."
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races: The Cherokee Professor
Post by: DougMacG on May 11, 2012, 06:54:56 AM
The lies (She joined minority groups to make friends?) keep the story relevant and the search for its basis.  Certainly she now uses her status as Harvard law Professor to gain credibility, so any funny business about how she got there has relevance.  There is the hypocrisy of supporting affirmative action while undermining it.  In theory, some real native American woman should have had that job.  In racism is her unspoken rationalization that there is no real Cherokee that could do her job as well as she can, an argument against affirmative action in the first place.

A second institution says she used it for advancement.  She should admit being a dishonest cheater and get back to the business of advancing more great programs like affirmative action.

Instead of being Cherokee because one great great grandparent was one (actually a Swede), the search for that led to the finding that her great great grandfather was rounding up Cherokee people for removal from their homes and forced relocation, sometimes fatal, in the infamous Trail of Tears.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141789/Elizabeth-Warrens-ancestor-rounded-Cherokees-homes-Trail-Tears--brushes-claims.html?ito=feeds-newsxml  No worries.  She has denied that.
--------
Our own local gaffe machine, Republican Michele Bachmann is renouncing her Swiss citizenship.  Her dual citizenship became known because she told a Swiss audience about it, while running for reelection in the north suburbs of Minneapolis.  Exhibiting focus she learned from Newt?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - Warren
Post by: DougMacG on May 14, 2012, 10:48:18 AM
I hate to beat the Elizabeth Warren story to death but the story keeps adding twists and turns.  My understanding now: besides that claiming minority was only 1/32nd, then that 1/32nd was false, then that the great great grandfather married to the non-Cherokee they made us go back and find actually was involved with rounding up Cherokee for removal from their homes...

Now it looks like a genealogist committed a fraud on the matter for the cause

http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/05/genealogist-who-claimed-elizabeth-warren-was-132-cherokee-goes-silent-as-source-document-exposed-as-false/

The one document that said Cherokee does not say Cherokee.  Who knew?  More importantly, who asked them to say it said what it didn't.

"the original claim of a marriage certificate listing Warren’s great-great-great grandmother as Cherokee demonstrably was false, as is the revised claim that there was an “electronic transcript” of a marriage application reflecting Cherokee heritage."

When I joked about renaming my daughter 'running bear' for her college app, it was a JOKE not perpetrated fraud backed up by a false claim of a reputed genealogist.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 14, 2012, 02:00:42 PM
Once upon a time that would have been embarassing and led to being shunned by decent people from across the spectrum , , ,
Title: The L thing again
Post by: ccp on May 14, 2012, 02:57:30 PM
"Once upon a time that would have been embarassing and led to being shunned by decent people from across the spectrum , , ,"

Agreed.  I don't know when such outright fraud/lying became acceptable.

If we cannot trust our leaders than what hope is there for us?   

To think this Harvard lawyer at 400K per annum committed frauded her application and now runs for the Senate - what kind of example is this for our children?

No shame no apology no withdrawal from the Senate race, no resignation as law professor just obfuscation and persistent lying.

I don't buy the common declaration that "they" (politicians) lie and therefore that seems to excuse any of them that do.

Why can't we hold them to higher account?

I have notcied a few people actually using th L word on TV recently.  That used to be a no - no.  I guess this is progress? 
Title: Warren's fraud is like this one
Post by: ccp on May 14, 2012, 03:02:26 PM
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120514-717396.html
Title: Re: Senate races: The L thing, I’m (still) proud of my Native American heritage
Post by: DougMacG on May 14, 2012, 05:28:15 PM
Elizabeth Warren, keeping the scandal alive.  Ever hear of admitting wrong?

This is today??
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/14/elizabeth_warren_im_proud_of_my_native_american_heritage.html

“You know, I’m proud of my Native American heritage,” Warren said. “I’m proud of my family. It’s now the case that people have gone over my college records, my law school records, every job I’ve ever had to see that I got my work. I got my jobs because I do my work. I work hard. I’ve been a good teacher.”

Hard work, good teacher, does not make you Harvard Law Professor.  We have those at the local schools.
-----------------
Wasn't there a Dem candidate in 1988 who plagiarized and lied about his background - was out of the race by this point.  Never to make tomake anything of himself again. 
Oh yeah, Joe Biden: 
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2008/08/the_write_stuff.html  The Write Stuff?
Why Biden's plagiarism shouldn't be forgotten.

By David Greenberg|Updated Monday, Aug. 25, 2008, 

Slate:  "the unusually creepy kind" of plagiarist.
----
Biden announced his candidacy in June 1987, and was considered one of the potentially strongest candidates in the field. However, in September 1987, newspaper stories stated he had plagiarized a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock. Other allegations of past law school plagiarism and exaggerating his academic record soon followed. Biden withdrew from the race later that month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_presidential_campaign,_1988
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 15, 2012, 07:32:47 AM
The silence from Harvard is deafening.

Shoudn't the school be formally outraged?
Title: NE Senate Race
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 16, 2012, 06:34:08 AM
WSJ
By NAFTALI BENDAVID
A state senator who had been stuck for weeks in third place in polls has won the GOP nomination for a U.S. Senate seat from Nebraska, continuing a pattern of challengers successfully taking on prominent Republicans in party primaries.

State Sen. Deb Fischer capped a remarkable surge by capturing the Senate nomination on Tuesday. She will face Democrat Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska senator and governor, in the November election.

Ms. Fischer beat state Attorney General Jon Bruning, who had long been the front-runner, by 41% to 36% with all precincts reporting. Mr. Bruning had won statewide election three times before and raised far more money than Ms. Fischer.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Ms. Fischer last week, and a political action committee backed by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts spent $200,000 over the weekend on ads criticizing Mr. Bruning and promoting Ms. Fischer.

The result was a setback for powerful conservative groups that backed the third major candidate in the race, state treasurer Don Stenberg.

Mr. Stenberg, who had 19% of the vote, positioned himself as the tea party-style challenger to Mr. Bruning. He benefited from roughly $2 million spent on his behalf by Club For Growth, the Senate Conservatives Fund and FreedomWorks, but he faded at the end.

With the retirement of Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska is considered one of the GOP's best opportunities to pick up a Senate seat. Mr. Kerrey may be the one Democrat who gives his party even a small chance of victory.

Ms. Fischer's surprise win comes a week after an Indiana primary that saw state Treasurer Richard Mourdock upset veteran Sen. Richard Lugar. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah was forced into a June runoff election with former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist.

Democrats hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but they are defending more seats than the Republicans. That leaves the two parties in a close fight for the majority, with a chance that the election will yield a 50-50 Senate, requiring the vice president to break ties.

It isn't clear what accounted for Ms. Fischer's last-minute surge, but many voters were apparently turned off by the harsh battle of words between Messrs. Bruning and Stenberg.

The platform of Ms. Fischer, whose family owns a ranch, echoes that of many other Republican candidates. It calls for reducing the size of government, repealing the federal health-care law and balancing the budget.

Democrats said her victory could play into Mr. Kerrey's hands. Ms. Fischer has never run for statewide office, they noted, and her record has received little scrutiny, leading Mr. Kerrey's supporters to question whether she is prepared for the challenges of a major campaign.

Mr. Kerrey was a Navy SEAL in Vietnam whose right leg was amputated after a war injury. He owns a chain of restaurants and fitness clubs in Nebraska. He was elected governor in 1982 and senator in 1988.

Mr. Kerrey has been emphasizing his pattern of reaching across party lines, while Republicans are painting him as a carpetbagger, noting that he lived in New York for a decade while serving as president of the New School in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney won Tuesday's Republican presidential primaries in Nebraska and in Oregon. In Nebraska, the presumptive GOP nominee had 71% of the vote with 93% of precincts reporting, with Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich—all of whom have stopped campaigning—winning the remainder. In Oregon, Mr. Romney had 73% of the vote with 59% of precincts reporting.

The Associated Press also declared Oregon Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio has won the Democratic primary for his seat in the state's 4th Congressional District. Congressman DeFazio, seeking his 14th term, was facing Oregon State University graduate student Matthew Robinson. Mr. Robinson is the son of Art Robinson, a Cave Junction, Ore., candidate who ran against Mr. DeFazio as a Republican candidate for Congress in 2010 and is again his party's candidate to unseat Mr. DeFazio in November.

In a statement the DeFazio campaign said: "Oregon voters saw through Art Robinson's stunt and soundly defeated his son's bizarre bid for the Democratic nomination." With 57%of the vote tallied Tuesday night, Mr. DeFazio had 90%, to 10 percent for Matthew Robinson, a nuclear engineering student. Matthew Robinson changed his party affiliation to run against Mr. DeFazio.

Write to Naftali Bendavid at naftali.bendavid@wsj.com

Title: MN R's pick Libertarian Kurt Bills for Amy Klobuchar's Senate seat
Post by: DougMacG on May 21, 2012, 09:31:32 AM
One term state representative Kurt Bills, a high school economics teacher, beat the party favorites easily on the second ballot with 64% of the vote at the state convention over the weekend.

Dem Incumbent Amy Klobuchar, an ideological clone of Hillary and Obama, is a considered a 100% bet to win reelection, so not much is risked in choosing the unknown.  I had no awareness of him before hearing this surprise result and viewing the speech linked below.  I did not attend but can tell that to go up from 53% on the first ballot to well over the 60% required for endorsement on the second ballot in a 3 way contest means that he spoke very persuasively from the podium and won votes from across the (far right) spectrum.  He instantly won the endorsement of his rivals.  "Whatever our differences are, they pale in comparison to what we have in common."

Even if he loses, it will still be interesting to see what he can do to advance limited government principles in one of the bluest states.  In his issues statements he is more clear than other libertarians about supporting the Reagan principle of Peace through Strength, but also has a Ron Paul skepticism for nation building operations.  Not exactly my view but perhaps more in tune with independent voters at the moment.  With fewer interventions, the US could fund a very strong, well-equipped military within reasonable budget constraints.

I predict he will start this race trailing by more than 20%, making victory in Nov. all the more impressive!

Watch a local convention speech.  I don't see a teleprompter or see him even glance at notes or a hesitation about what he wants to say. This is worth 7 minutes of your time! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMh9p-Iyt8o&feature=plcp

He makes a great delivery; could make Newt look like a timid debater, lol.  A great point he makes is that with teaching high school kids you've got 30 seconds at most to get their attention, so he has been preparing for this contest for 15 years.

Or go to about 6:45 of his acceptance speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMh9p-Iyt8o&feature=plcp
"These are not extreme views.  They are views that win. We believe in liberty.  We believe in limited government.  We believe in free enterprise.  We believe in family values and the sanctity of human life.  And we believe that Washington needs a good dose of Econ 101."

Give money at http://kurtbills.com/ or give it to your own candidate, but now is the time to do something.  Find your candidates and get behind them.

People like Kurt Bills from MN and the newcomers from Nebraska and Indiana joining people like Marco Rubio  and Ron Johnson from Wisc can help keep President Romney.
Title: TX Senate Race: Cruz
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 26, 2012, 06:20:33 AM
WSJ:

The Tea Party's Senate Insurgency Hits Texas GOP primaries in Indiana and Nebraska have gone to conservative upstarts over establishment picks. Will the Lone Star State's Ted Cruz complete the trifecta?
By STEPHEN MOORE

Will the tea party deliver another knockout to an establishment Republican on Tuesday? Tea-party groups like FreedomWorks have recently contributed to upsets in Indiana and Nebraska. The next victim of conservative voters' rage against the GOP machine may be Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is seeking his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate.

A year ago, when Kay Bailey Hutchinson announced she would not run for re-election to the Senate, Mr. Dewhurst—who has managed the Texas Senate with an iron fist for a decade—was all but measuring the curtains for his new office in Washington, D.C. But that was before former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz threw his hat in the ring.

Now, in the final frantic days of the primary race, Mr. Dewhurst has dumped another $6 million of his own money into his effort to ward off Mr. Cruz (after an initial amount of at least $2 million). Mr. Dewhurst is stalled at 40% support among likely Republican voters, according to a University of Texas poll, with Mr. Cruz gaining ground at 31%. Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas football star Craig James trail further behind. If Mr. Dewhurst fails to win more than 50% on Tuesday, he's headed to a runoff in late June.

"If we can get Dewhurst in a runoff, we win," Mr. Cruz predicts. A former state solicitor general and clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the 41-year-old Mr. Cruz has become a conservative cause célèbre. "First Class Cruz" was the title of a National Review magazine cover story last year, and columnist George Will calls him "as good as it gets."

Mr. Cruz is a staunch defender of states' rights, or what he calls the "forgotten Ninth and 10th amendments." He was the lead lawyer representing Texas before the Supreme Court in Medellin v. Texas (2008), after the International Court of Justice had tried to override Texas's justice system, and in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) he wrote the amicus brief on behalf of 31 states challenging a gun-control law on Second Amendment grounds.

He favors school choice, personal accounts for Social Security and a "low uniform tax rate—either a flat tax or the FairTax," he says, and his goal in the Senate would be to "cut federal spending as much and as quickly as possible." He's contemptuous of congressional Republicans who suggest that some of the popular features of ObamaCare can be retained. "I will work to repeal every last word of the law," he insists.

Mr. Cruz's Hispanic surname also isn't a liability when many Republicans seem to be searching for the next Marco Rubio. Like the Florida Senator, Mr. Cruz is of Cuban descent and has a gift for communicating his conservative credentials to right-leaning audiences. (At the same time, some Texans grumble that the Princeton and Harvard Law grad has the Barack Obama disease of coming across as a slick know-it-all, "the smartest guy in the room.")

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Texas' Republican candidates for U.S. Senate Ted Cruz (left) and David Dewhurst
.Mr. Cruz is hoping to follow the political script of Mr. Rubio, who defeated a moderate Republican, Florida's then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Mr. Crist had an enormous lead in cash and endorsements until Mr. Rubio attacked his non-conservative positions on the stimulus and other issues. The Texas race presents "a sharp contrast between a timid career politician and a true lifelong conservative," says Mr. Cruz, who dismisses his opponent as "a consummate inside deal maker."

Mr. Cruz has criticized Mr. Dewhurst sharply over his 2005 flirtation with an income tax. During budget negotiations that year, Mr. Dewhurst floated the idea of a wage tax and a 4% business-profits tax, arguing that it was time for business "to pay its fair share." Texans detested the ideas, and Mr. Dewhurst backed away. He now insists that Texas will have an income tax "over my dead, cold political body," and he touts having cut taxes 51 times in office.

As Tuesday's vote approaches, the race has taken a nasty turn. Mr. Dewhurst calls his opponent "Washington lawyer Ted Cruz" and has accused him and his law firm of defending a Chinese tire company that allegedly violated the patents of a U.S. firm and then "stole American innovation and American jobs." Mr. Dewhurst is also accusing Mr. Cruz of supporting "amnesty for illegal immigrants," which Mr. Cruz calls a "scurrilous lie." Super PACs supporting Mr. Dewhurst have also attacked Mr. Cruz's law firm for raising $200,000 for Barack Obama's campaign.

Jim Cardle, a political consultant in Austin who runs the Texas Insider newsletter, says that "I hate to say it, but the Dewhurst money advantage and the deluge of TV attack ads against Cruz have been very effective. Don't forget, here in Texas we have four of the 15 most expensive TV markets, so money matters a lot."

It also helps Mr. Dewhurst that he is no moderate in the mold of Arlen Specter or Olympia Snowe, and that he has won endorsements from popular Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He's an oil and gas man who made $250 million and then turned to politics 15 years ago. For all the criticisms of his deal-making in Austin—"the Bob Dole of the Texas Senate," some say disdainfully—he presided over the Senate during a 10-year period when the Lone Star economy soared and created nearly half of all new American jobs.

"Look, Dewhurst will vote the right way most of the time," concedes Mr. Cruz, but "he will join the good old boys club in the Senate. I'm running an insurgent conservative campaign against that club." Mr. Cruz says that if he wins he'll reinforce the rabble-rousing Senate GOP caucus of Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey and Mike Lee.

This week Mr. Cruz got a timely boost from the endorsement of Sarah Palin. That's the same Sarah Palin who endorsed two underdog conservative Senate candidates before they won in the Indiana and Nebraska primaries.

Mr. Moore is a member of the Journal's editorial board.

Title: Re: Congressional races - Paleface Warren, more questions raised
Post by: DougMacG on May 26, 2012, 09:45:32 AM
Volumes are written about how to survive scandals, Elizabeth Warren does the opposite.  Now her minority status is a symbol for liberal policy and cynical dishonesty of all politicians.  National Review below, then George Will's column follows.  The Boston Globe finally gets in, just yesterday.  Delaying a look into it just gave the story even more legs.  Last beolw, a video parody, as if she wasn't parody enough.
----------------
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/300547/paleface-editors#

"Harvard Law School advertised Elizabeth Warren — blond-haired, blue-eyed, pale to the point of translucence — as its “first woman of color” enjoying tenure. It would later cite her presence on the faculty as evidence of its commitment to “diversity.” And she allowed it.>

"Ms. Warren, who checked the “white” box at the University of Texas before getting in touch with her inner Cherokee when she stormed the Ivies, owes it to the people of Massachusetts to make the records of the Harvard Law hiring committee available to voters. Harvard, though a private institution, owes the people of its home state the same. If Ms. Warren’s undocumented claim to minority status did in fact play a role in the law school’s decision to hire her as a professor enjoying a prestigious, middle-six-figures chair, that is a fact of public importance."   Excerpts, more at link.
---------------
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/18/did-elizabeth-warren-plagiarize-pow-wow-chow-recipes
The credibility of Massachusetts Democratic  Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took another hit today(5/19) as Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm Ms. Warren may have plagiarized at least three of the five recipes she submitted to the 1984 Pow Wow Chow cookbook edited by her cousin Candy Rowsey.
---------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elizabeth-warrens-identity-politics/2012/05/23/gJQAt53clU_story.html

Elizabeth Warren’s identity politics

By George F. Will, Published: May 23

BOSTON

Blond, blue-eyed Elizabeth Warren, the Senate candidate in Massachusetts and Harvard professor who cites “family lore” that she is 1/32nd Cherokee, was inducted into Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame last year. Her biography on OklahomaHeritage.com says that she “can track both sides of her family in Oklahoma long before statehood” (1907) and “she proudly tells everyone she encounters that she is ‘an Okie to my toes.’ ” It does not mention any Cherokee great-great-great-grandmother. A DVD of the induction ceremony shows that neither Warren nor anyone else mentioned this.

The kerfuffle that has earned Warren such sobriquets as “Spouting Bull” and “Fauxcahontas” began with reports that Harvard Law School, in routine academic preening about diversity (in everything but thought), listed her as a minority faculty member, as did the University of Pennsylvania when she taught there. She said that some in her family had “high cheekbones like all of the Indians do.” The New England Historic Genealogical Society said that a document confirmed the family lore of Warren’s Cherokee ancestry, but it later backtracked. She has said that she did not know Harvard was listing her as a minority in the 1990s, but Harvard was echoing her: From 1986 through 1995, starting before she came to Harvard, a directory published by the Association of American Law Schools listed her as a minority and says its listings are based on professors claiming minority status.

So, although no evidence has been found that Warren is part Indian, for years two universities listed her as such. She has identified herself as a minority, as when, signing her name “Elizabeth Warren — Cherokee,” she submitted a crab recipe (Oklahoma crabs?) to a supposedly Indian cookbook. This is a political problem.

A poll taken before this controversy found her Republican opponent Scott Brown trouncing her on “likability,” 57 percent to 23 percent. Even Democrats broke for Brown 40 to 38. Now she is a comic figure associated with laughable racial preferences. She who wants Wall Street “held accountable” is accountable for two elite law schools advertising her minority status. She who accuses Wall Street of gaming the financial system at least collaborated with, and perhaps benefited from, the often absurd obsession with “diversity.”

How absurd? Warren says that for almost a decade she listed herself in the AALS directory as a Native American because she hoped to “meet others like me.” This well-educated, highly paid, much-honored (she was a consumer protection adviser to President Obama) member of America’s upper 1 percent went looking for people “who are like I am” among Native Americans?

This makes perfect sense to a liberal subscriber to the central superstition of the diversity industry, which is the premise of identity politics: Personhood is distilled not to the content of character but only to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual preference.

This controversy has discombobulated liberalism’s crusade to restore Democratic possession of the Senate seat the party won in 1952 with John Kennedy and held until 2010, when Brown captured it after Ted Kennedy’s death. Lofty thinkers and exasperated liberals consider the focus on Warren’s fanciful ancestry a distraction from serious stuff. (Such as The Post’s nearly 5,500-word wallow in teenage Mitt Romney’s prep school comportment?) But Warren’s adult dabbling in identity politics is pertinent because it is, in all its silliness, applied liberalism.

The New York Times Magazine’s headline on its profile of her — “Heaven Is a Place Called Elizabeth Warren” — suggests the chord she strikes with liberals. They resonate to identity politics of the sort Warren’s campaign tried when, on the defensive, it resorted, of course, to claiming victimhood. Playing the gender card, it insinuated that criticism of her adventures as a minority amounts to a sexist attack on an accomplished woman. But an accomplished woman, Susan Collins of Maine, the only Republican senator rated more liberal than Brown (who last year voted with his party only 54 percent of the time on partisan issues), called this insinuation “patently absurd.”

Barack Obama, who carried Massachusetts by almost 800,000 votes in 2008, will win here again, and a senior official of Brown’s campaign thinks that in order to win Brown must run between 250,000 and 500,000 votes ahead of Romney. In the special election in January 2010, Brown defeated a female opponent (women are 53 percent of Massachusetts voters) by 107,317 votes. He won independents 2 to 1.

The turnout this November, with Obama on the ballot, probably will be larger, less white and more Democratic. But just 0.3 percent of Massachusetts residents are Native Americans, even counting Warren.
------
http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-25/metro/31840536_1_harvard-law-school-elizabeth-warren-statistics

Filings add to questions on Warren’s ethnic claims

May 25, 2012|Mary Carmichael,  Boston Globe

US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has said she was unaware that Harvard Law School had been promoting her purported Native American heritage until she read about it in a newspaper several weeks ago.

But for at least six straight years during Warren’s tenure, Harvard University reported in federally mandated diversity statistics that it had a Native American woman in its senior ranks at the law school. According to both Harvard officials and federal guidelines, those statistics are almost always based on the way employees describe themselves.

In addition, both Harvard’s guidelines and federal regulations for the statistics lay out a specific definition of Native American that Warren does not meet.

The documents suggest for the first time that either Warren or a Harvard administrator classified her repeatedly as Native American in papers prepared for the government in a way that apparently did not adhere to federal diversity guidelines. They raise further questions about Warren’s statements that she was unaware Harvard was promoting her as Native American.

The Warren campaign declined Thursday to answer the Globe’s specific questions about the documents.
-------------

Parody from before scandal:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu61aU4N8mM&feature=related
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 26, 2012, 09:53:18 AM
ROTFLMAO
Title: Elizabeth "Forked Tongue" Warren at it again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 02, 2012, 06:39:27 AM
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/01/Exclusive-Video-Shows-Elizabeth-Warren-Telling-Tall-Tale-of-Composite-Grandmother
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Elizabeth Warren
Post by: DougMacG on June 02, 2012, 10:59:46 AM
It should have been the smallest of meaningless mistakes but it builds and grows and spreads as she stubbornly sticks to it.  2 days ago the Boston Globe finally jumped in and said she needed address it.  Yesterday she was doubling down on her falsehood.  Today we see more from Brietbart, Crafty's post.  Her lips move and no truth comes out.  Also today she will be endorsed by her state party to run for the U.S. Senate, to seek truth and a more perfect union, ratify treaties and confirm Supreme Court Justices.  

It's only be a Massachusetts race and seat but these elections are national.  The story is about things broken in politics, like government, logic and honesty. 

Mass. Dems were thrilled to field a nationally prominent liberal with close ties to Obama to run for the 'Kennedy' senate seat.  It was the only obvious pickup in the senate for the Dems before Olympia Snowe announced she was leaving in Maine

Obama and Warren are both personally enthralled with their own personal stories.  Why would we care who their ancestors are, but Obama's must tell us his freed the Auschwitz camp - apparently fighting for the Soviets.  He put out the most autobiographies of any President in history, and that was before he was President and without even writing them.  She is at least 31/32nds Caucasian- white irish? anglo-saxon? protestant.  BORING.  The girl needed some color and a story to match it.  She needed to share old family recipes even if they just come from research aid plagiarists.

Assuming people have a short attention span and we need reform on every aspect of public policy, why would either of these people, Obama or Warren, spend a precious second talking about themselves instead of their ideas?

Did Harvard or anyone else rely on her false story to hire her, promote her, tenure her and raise her to national prominence?  We will get that information the same day we see President Obama's complete educational records.
Title: Filibuster question
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 04, 2012, 08:16:07 AM
Normally I avoid the Bill Maher show, but, expecting fireworks, I tuned in to watch when I saw both Paul Krugman and Art Laffer would be on.  Laffer really didn't do or say that much, but I did run across an argument, pushed my Maher, that I had not seen before.

The gist of it is that due to a change in the filibuster rules, a bunch of bills that would have passed under the old rules failed to pass under the new rules (which require 60 votes).

I'm hoping BD or someone can shed some light on this.

Edited to add this from today's WSJ

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By BRIAN REARDON And ERIC UELAND
There's a growing chorus complaining that the Senate is broken, that Republicans are to blame, and that the rules of procedure need to be changed. This argument has any number of flaws, but at its core it relies on a general misrepresentation of how the Senate, and the filibuster in particular, works.

For example, here's how Politico's congressional reporter Scott Wong characterized the situation as part of a recent story on a lawsuit brought against the Senate by Common Cause to declare the filibuster unconstitutional:

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
."From 1981 to 2006, both parties used the filibuster when they were in the minority. During that period, the majority party in each Congress filed fewer than 90 cloture motions to overcome a filibuster by the minority.

"But since Democrats seized power in fall 2006, Republicans have turned to the filibuster far more frequently. The majority has averaged about 140 cloture motions in both the 110th and 111th Congress. And Democrats are on pace to repeat that feat again this Congress."

So Republicans are to blame for all those cloture petitions to end filibusters, right? Wrong. The fact that the majority has filed so many cloture petitions is as much a symptom of its own efforts to block the Senate from working its will as anything the minority has done. Consider this example.

On March 19, Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) introduced legislation (S. 2204) to promote renewable energy with the cost offset by a tax hike on large oil producers. The normal process would have been for this legislation to be referred to committee for action.

Majority Leader Harry Reid bypassed the committee process, however, and using something called Rule 14 had the bill placed directly on the Senate calendar. Two days later, he started the process to call up the bill by moving to "proceed to it" and immediately filed a cloture petition to end debate on that motion.

The following Monday, the Senate then voted 92-4 to curtail debate on the motion to proceed to the bill. The next day, as soon as the bill was before the Senate, Mr. Reid offered five consecutive amendments and one motion in order to effectively block the consideration of any competing amendments or motions.

He then filed a cloture motion to close out debate on the bill. Two days later, the Senate rejected cloture on a party-line vote and moved on to other business, leaving the Menendez bill adrift.

Now go back to the Politico story and ask yourself how exactly Republicans filibustered this bill? They didn't have time to filibuster anything, it was over so quickly. Moreover, their ability to take meaningful action was effectively nullified by four specific parliamentary maneuvers taken by Mr. Reid.

Why does the majority go to all this trouble? The simple answer is to protect its members from tough votes.

The Senate is a wide open forum where almost any issue can be raised and voted on at almost any time. This environment is a function of the Senate's tradition of unlimited debate, but it does leave members vulnerable to having to vote on difficult issues at inconvenient times, like when they are up for re-election.

In response, Majority Leader Reid has adopted the practice of blocking amendments from being offered. No amendments, no surprises, and no tough votes.


Taken alone, Sen. Reid's actions on S. 2204 are not historically unique. Every recent majority leader has used them on occasion. But what used to be relatively rare has been repeated dozens of times in recent years.

The very first bill considered by the Senate after the election of President Obama and a filibuster-proof Democratic majority was adopted under exactly the same truncated process used for S. 2204—Rule 14, cloture, block out any competing amendments, cloture. Since that time, the Senate has voted on cloture repeatedly, yet has very little to show for it: By some measures, 2011 was the least productive session in modern congressional history.

So where does that leave us?

Lawsuits like the one filed by Common Cause are frivolous public-relations efforts and will be rejected by the courts—the Constitution grants the Senate the right to craft its own rules, after all. But the possibility that the Democratic majority, threatened at the polls and frustrated by the current legislative stalemate, will move to change long-standing Senate rules to further limit debate and make it harder for senators to offer amendments on behalf of their beliefs is very real and must be strenuously opposed.

As we have seen, any systematic effort to block amendments, short-circuit debate, and force a preordained outcome turns the Senate into a legislative dead end. The salutary news is that on bills where the Democratic majority actually worked with the Republican minority to respect their rights to help craft bills and to debate and propose amendments, the Senate has been able to work its will and pass legislation—for example, the recent reauthorization of the Food and Drug Administration's user-fee program.

The Senate is the most uniquely American of all our federal institutions. It is a powerful and proud body that has protected us and our freedoms for more than 200 years. In order to work properly, however, senators must have their freedom too—the freedom to debate and offer amendments and, ultimately, vote. That is what they were elected to do, and that is how the Senate should work.

Mr. Reardon is a principal at Venn Strategies, and served on the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush. Mr. Ueland is vice president of the Duberstein Group and was chief of staff to former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on June 04, 2012, 03:29:57 PM
Budgets only take a simple majority and they haven't passed one of those either.  Blame Republicans all they want but Senators like Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, Jim Demint, etc did not go to Washington to support Harry Reid's agenda.  The majority needs to find common ground and attract crossover votes.  A lot of that bridge was burned in the shenanigans of Pelosi-Obamacare where they sought out no Republican vote.

The most government we should (IMHO) ever have is what 60 Senators can agree on.

Wikipedia has a nice summary of the changes in cloture.  As I understand it, a real filibuster used to require someone actually continuing the debate while less than 60 support cutting off debate and calling the question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_%28United_States_Senate%29

Dems are hesitant to reduce the power of the minority in the Senate back just months before becoming the minority.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on June 04, 2012, 05:48:44 PM

The most government we should (IMHO) ever have is what 60 Senators can agree on.

As I understand it, a real filibuster used to require someone actually continuing the debate while less than 60 support cutting off debate and calling the question.

Both of these points are excellent.  The Senate, by design, is supposed to be a slow moving, contentious body. 

And, yes, it used to be that the filibuster was rare because a senator, or group of senators, would stand in front of the Senate and orate about something (or nothing).  However, "filibuster" at this point really only means a procedural block on a particular Senate action.  Recently, these actions have included primarily bills, but also appointments and the like.  Rather than stopping Senate action cold, it only serves to cease discussion on the particular action.

I have a good article related to this, but can't find it on line tonight.  I'll look at an old syllabus for it tomorrow. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on June 05, 2012, 07:47:21 AM

The most government we should (IMHO) ever have is what 60 Senators can agree on.

As I understand it, a real filibuster used to require someone actually continuing the debate while less than 60 support cutting off debate and calling the question.

Both of these points are excellent.  The Senate, by design, is supposed to be a slow moving, contentious body. 

And, yes, it used to be that the filibuster was rare because a senator, or group of senators, would stand in front of the Senate and orate about something (or nothing).  However, "filibuster" at this point really only means a procedural block on a particular Senate action.  Recently, these actions have included primarily bills, but also appointments and the like.  Rather than stopping Senate action cold, it only serves to cease discussion on the particular action.

I have a good article related to this, but can't find it on line tonight.  I'll look at an old syllabus for it tomorrow. 

From Madison, Federalist 62: “The necessity of the Senate is… indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies to yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions, and to be seduced by factious leaders into intemperate and pernicious resolutions.”

Here is a link to the article: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1967034,00.html.  From the article: "It has been more than two decades since the last time we saw the majority actually make the minority put up or shut up on a filibuster. In 1988, while attempting to shut down a Republican filibuster of campaign finance reform legislation, then majority leader Robert Byrd even went so far as to invoke a power that hadn't been used since 1942: he dispatched the Senate sergeant-at-arms to arrest missing Senators and escort them to the floor. Oregon's Bob Packwood was carried onto the floor at 1:19 a.m., after a scuffle in which he attempted to jam his office door and ended up reinjuring a broken finger. Byrd didn't give up until a record-setting eighth cloture vote failed to end the debate."


Title: Dems in close races buck Obama, Bob Kerrey's wife disses Nebraska
Post by: DougMacG on July 10, 2012, 07:21:44 AM
Polico reports that "Embattled Dems buck President Obama on taxes".  Looks to me like they are just quibbling over details, wanting to make cuts permanent for all lower brackets instead of a one year extension and getting the soak the rich definition up higher than 250k.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78315.html

Bob Kerrey's wife disses Nebraska.  They are raising a 10 year old son in Greenwich Village, NYC.  She hates football.  Probably doesn't know that the largest city in Nebraska in Cornhusker Stadium on an October Saturday afternoon.

“The Midwest is a strange land for an Easterner of my ilk,”

She is "outraged...that he would choose his country over his family”

Don't worry Mrs. Kerrey (that's not her last name), he won't be representing Nebraska in the Senate, nor ever visit Nebraska if he were to win.  This will pass.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/bob-kerreys-wife-sarah-paley-rues-his-political-career-disses-nebraska-in-vogue-essay/2012/07/09/gJQAhWAzYW_blog.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on July 10, 2012, 08:03:58 AM
"Probably doesn't know that the largest city in Nebraska in Cornhusker Stadium on an October Saturday afternoon."

Third largest.

Official census data:

Omaha, 408,958 (2010)

Lincoln, 258,379 (2010)

Memorial Stadium, with Tom Osbourne field, minimum of 81,067 every home game Saturday (317 consecutive home sellouts)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on July 10, 2012, 08:13:30 AM
 :-)

I stand corrected!  That must be just urban myth in NE.  Of course I also got the name of the stadium wrong but to me Nebraska is just drive-through country, and a place where control of the Senate in 2013 and the Supreme Court for the next three decades might be determined.

My second try at that point:  Combine the stadium attendance with the Nebraska football television audience and see how those towns compare.  
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on July 10, 2012, 10:21:04 AM
I don't think it is an urban myth; I think you misremember  :wink:. According to the UNL website, for example, in describing an on campus event in April, "UNLPD will be hosting a look at what a Husker Game Day is like for police. This program will give you a behind-the-scenes look at Memorial Stadium, the 3rd largest city in Nebraska on game day."

I love that you described it as an "urban myth" and then said the Nebraska is drive through country. Crack me up!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races: Wisconsin Senate
Post by: DougMacG on July 12, 2012, 07:37:34 AM
Very good coverage of the Wisconsin Senate race at the link, very interesting:

http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.com/news/article/wisconsin-senate-race-will-be-test-of-political-mood

Dem retiring.  Dems picked a far left lesbian activist from the state's most liberal city.  R's have establishment candidate Tommy Thompson a 3 term Governor and former Health and Human Services Secretary plus 3 tea party types competing for an August primary win.

As with each close race, control of the Senate is presumed to be at stake.
Title: Cherokee Drumbeat continues against Elizabeth Warren: Stepping Stones
Post by: DougMacG on July 16, 2012, 06:05:01 PM
In this case some beautiful flute music accompanies the Cherokee message to Warren:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnkHNqTdWhc&feature=player_embedded
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races: Charlie Rangel
Post by: DougMacG on July 17, 2012, 08:56:39 PM
"whatever happened in Charlie Rangel's race?  I remember reading it was very close and that the results were not immediately available"


He won his primary with a thin margin. They didn't call the winner right away.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/07/rep-charles-rangel-had-heavy-financial-advantage-over-adriano-espaillat-for-de


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 18, 2012, 06:19:26 AM
Ugh.  :cry:
Title: Congressional races: Elizabeth Warren, You didn't build that
Post by: DougMacG on July 18, 2012, 11:18:37 AM
I had not seen the real video of Elizabeth Warren when I posted the parody.  OMG.

Actual Warren:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=htX2usfqMEs

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own!  Nobody!  You built a factory out there?  Good for you!  But I want to be clear.  You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for!"

(Not to be confused with the parody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu61aU4N8mM&feature=related)
Title: Morris: Reps to take Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 07, 2012, 04:52:52 PM

http://www.dickmorris.com/gop-set-to-win-senate-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - Sen. candidate Todd Akin, R-Mo
Post by: DougMacG on August 24, 2012, 12:03:32 PM
Big scandal, the woman shuts down conception during a real rape? I've had more radio access than internet this week and this was the only story.  It will hurt Republicans in more than this one race.  It plays perfectly into the war against women false accusation being propagated.

Rounding to the nearest point, abortion that  follow rape make up 0% of total abortions while convenience abortions make up 98%.  If the federal govt issue of 2012 was abortion (it isn't), the focus should be on the latter.

This guy should go just for sloppy research and messaging,  Call it a self-inflicted wound or an unforced error.  Sort of a Bachmann moment.   To take that extreme of a stand, one better have their facts and studies in order, not 'I think I read it somewhere' pass around email? 

A write-in campaign won in Alaska in 2010 with a name Murkowsky way harder to spell than Kit Bond.

GOP doesn't need a loose cannon in a swing state damaging the brand and stepping on the message nationwide in the final stretch of a crucial election.
Title: Sen. Feinstein won't debate challenger
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 11, 2012, 10:04:04 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gDvV_zHHk
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 11, 2012, 10:14:27 AM
Why should she?  I mean, yes, it would be nice, but frankly at this point, she has absolutely no incentive to do so.
Why give your opponent who no one has ever even heard of, a public forum and free publicity?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 11, 2012, 12:10:29 PM
Why should she?

Surely you jest.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 11, 2012, 12:31:24 PM
Why should she?

Surely you jest.

No, while as I said, it would be nice if she did, always nice to hear the topics debated, practically speaking, since she is WAY out in front, she has no incentive; only downside to give her opponent free publicity.   She gets nothing out of it.  So politically, as I said, "Why should she"?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 11, 2012, 01:28:30 PM
Ummm , , , out of respect for her constituents?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 11, 2012, 02:13:46 PM
Saddam's Iraq, Putin's Russia, even the PRC at least pretend to have two party, contested elections, but not the Calif US senate race. Shame on her and the miserable losers who accept that.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 11, 2012, 02:25:01 PM
While I am not necessarily a Feinstein fan (she is better than Boxer) why do you say, "shame on her" because her opponents are inept and/or poorly supported?  The majority of Californians really like Feinstein; they will vote for her.  Why blame her for her popularity?  instead, kudo's to her for being popular in the State.  That is how you get re-elected; not by debating a nobody opponent.

Shame on the losers perhaps; it is their incompetence that enables Feinstein to ignore them.  But don't blame Feinstein for being popular.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races. Feinstein won't debate?
Post by: DougMacG on September 11, 2012, 03:20:30 PM
"don't blame Feinstein for being popular"

I clearly blamed her for refusing to debate her opponent and I compared her unfavorably to Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin and Mao.  If you need to change my words in order to argue against them, that means you actually agree with me?

Is there precedent for no debate because you are popular and your competitors are poorly funded and the media refuses to cover their campaigns?  In our state (MN), minor parties who get 15% of the vote in one election get a seat at the table in the debates of the next election.  (That law or tradition made possible the election of a wrestler as Governor while the two major parties were bickering.)

In the People's Republic of California, even a measure that gets 52.24% of the vote cannot become law if it is not liberal orthodoxy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8)

Romney needs to release more tax returns than Ronald Reagan (says same poster) but Diane Feinstein does not need to even agree to a liberal hosted and moderated debate.  We need to know more personal stuff about a man accused of doing nothing wrong since high school but we don't need to have the views and votes of an incumbent Senator challenged whatsoever.  The blatant hypocrisy makes discussion useless.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 11, 2012, 03:48:15 PM
Doug, don't be ridiculous.

You know as well as I do that front runners, if they are clearly front runners rarely debate their opponents.  Strategically, it doesn't make sense.
There is no upset, only downside.  That is politics played both both parties.  Perhaps regrettable, but fact.  There are quite a few precedents. 

And she is freely elected; overwhelmingly I might point out.   So why compare her to despots? 

As for Prop 8; it did not become law because it was considered by the Appeals Court to be Unconstitutional.  If I recollect, The Supreme Court may here this case; at the moment, it is only "stayed".  As for 52% approving it, well, to raise taxes, California requires a 2/3 vote in favor.  Hardly the will of the "majority" or the liberal orthodoxy. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 11, 2012, 03:54:16 PM
"You know as well as I do that front runners, if they are clearly front runners rarely debate their opponents."

Where I come from we have debates and at the national level level we have debates.  Why don't you post what you8 know and I'll post what I know.  More efficient that way.

"There are quite a few precedents."   - On both sides I presume.  All those words but you don't cite any.  When was the last time a Republican incumbent in Calif refused to debate to hold high office? 

You did not address the blatant hypocrisy point. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 12, 2012, 08:17:02 AM
Doug, there is NO hypocrisy.  Each politician chooses how to run their campaign.  Each politician is different.  That Feinstein sees no merit in giving attention to her unknown opponent mades good strategy.
Don't blame her. 

As for MN law, I am a bit vague, but as you phrased it, "In our state (MN), minor parties who get 15% of the vote in one election get a seat at the table in the debates of the next election."
That begs the question, IF there are no debates, well I guess you don't get a seat.  Further, as a side note, in the primary election Feinstein's opponent didn't even get 15%.  She is a no body
begging for attention; no wonder Feinstein won't give her any time.

I notice even in MN there is an argument about how many debates.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2012/08/bills_call_for.shtml

It reminds me of our Presidential debates; Gingrich (a good debater) offered to debate Obama at every bus stop, Romney, given his marginal speaking ability if I had to guess is
grateful that he only has to meet Obama 2-3 times.   :-)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 12, 2012, 12:43:57 PM
JDN, you missed the pronoun in front of 'dont blame Feinstein'. You don't blame her. I do and you won't be dictating my view. You also missed completely the point about blatant hypocrisy. Might want to go back and read it before saying it isn't there.

I keep reading but don't see an example of an R incumbent in Calif getting away with no debate or any recent MN contest having no debate. Unresponsive replies make our own debates less fun.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: JDN on September 12, 2012, 01:51:39 PM

I keep reading but don't see an example of an R incumbent in Calif getting away with no debate or any recent MN contest having no debate. Unresponsive replies make our own debates less fun.

Doug, again, it's their choice.  Maybe in the instances you cited they were not favored overwhelmingly?  But I don't think any more or any less of them if they choose not to participate.  They, with the advice of their political consultants decide what to do.  It's a strategic decision.  There is no legal or moral obligation.

Further, it seems Republicans and Democrats avail themselves of the option to debate or not.

http://lemont.patch.com/blog_posts/should-be-no-debate-about-debates

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/orlando_opinionators/2012/06/no-debate-for-gop-senate-race.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 12, 2012, 02:54:57 PM
When I ran for the US Congress in the 32d District of CA in 1984 the incumbent was long timer and Chairman of the Public Works (a.k.a. Pork) Committee which meant he got lots of donations from lots of lobbyists and trade groups and such from around the country.  The district's silhouette on a map was such an extreme example of gerrymandering that the WSJ, which was then on a mission against the high incumbency re-election rate (>98%!!! :-o :-o :-o ) of the House of Representatives due to gerrymandering to incumbents' favor, used the silhouette as part of its editorials to help it make its point.

Incumbent Anderson never showed up for the debates around the district, which were broadcast on local cable TV with a few hundred in the audience.

My performance in the debates (vs. the Republican and some stand-in for Anderson) was such that then Congressman Dan Lungren (later CA AG and , , , Lt. Governor?) of the 42d (which was the neighboring district) asked me to run for the Reps the next time around.  Lungren had run his brother in '82 because of the strong working class Reagan vote in 1980 hoping that name recognition for the Lungren name would help.  The meeting in his office overlooking the harbor lasted about two hours.  I asked him how much seed money I would need to kick off my campaign.  "About $100,000" he said.

And that was that.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 10, 2012, 07:58:47 AM
Cong. Allen West's fundraisers are claiming he's 9 points down , , ,  :cry:
Title: Oy vey
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 12, 2012, 10:23:55 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iERg3EgUMvE

If I have it right both of these men are Dem congressman fighting for a redistricted seat.
Title: The US Congress; Congressional races: RCP has 11 tossup races in the Senate!
Post by: DougMacG on October 15, 2012, 08:46:08 AM
Republicans lead in the House.

Presidential race is now extremely close with the popular vote poll average exactly tied.

Either party could win the majority in the Senate.  The Senate with no toss ups right now goes to the Dems 52-48, with Republicans picking up only net one seat.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/senate/2012_elections_senate_map_no_toss_ups.html

Neither party has any chance at 60 votes needed to control the Senate or the 67 votes needed in the Senate to turn our sovereignty over to the UN.

Get ready for (more) divided government where nothing good gets done.

Our last Senate race here was decided by 300 votes on recount.  Now is the time to get out and help somebody win one of these close elections!
Title: Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband cut business deals in Senate Dining Room
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2012, 04:00:37 PM
Whistle-blower audio: Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband cut business deals in Senate Dining Room

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband used the U.S. Senate Dining Room to cut business deals selling tax credits tied to stimulus money, a whistle-blowing executive inside his company alleged on an audio recording exclusively obtained by The Daily Caller.

“The thing that irritated me about this was he [McCaskill’s husband Joseph Shepard] entertained these outside investors in the Senate Dining Room,” the whistle-blower said. “That’s where he closed the deal.”

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/18/whistle-blower-audio-sen-claire-mccaskills-husband-cut-business-deals-in-senate-dining-room/
Title: Sen. Klobuchar took Ponzi schemer’s campaign contributions, didn’t prosecute
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2012, 04:03:34 PM
Documents: Sen. Klobuchar took Ponzi schemer’s campaign contributions, didn’t prosecute

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/19/documents-sen-klobuchar-took-ponzi-schemers-campaign-contributions-didnt-prosecute/

Documents obtained by The Daily Caller show that U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar helped keep a multibillion-dollar Ponzi schemer out of prison in the late 1990s when she was the County Attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

That financial criminal, Tom Petters, presided over companies whose employees gave Klobuchar $8,500 for her re-election campaign, and would later contribute more than $120,000 toward her U.S. Senate run.

One of those companies’ vice presidents was Ted Mondale, a former state senator and son of former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale. Before taking office as Hennepin County Attorney, Klobuchar was a partner at the Minneapolis law form of Dorsey & Whitney, where Walter Mondale has practiced law since 1987.

Perhaps because of the lure of Petters’ campaign cash or his deep connection to Minnesota Democratic politics, Klobuchar used the power of her office in 1999 to ensure Petters was not charged with financial crimes. And despite significant evidence against him, she cleared the way for Petters to build his multibillion-dollar illegal empire by prosecuting only his early co-conspirators.

One of those co-conspirators, Richard Hettler, told The Daily Caller that Klobuchar was aware of what Petters was doing, yet willingly accepted campaign donations from Petters’ company and its employees.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/19/documents-sen-klobuchar-took-ponzi-schemers-campaign-contributions-didnt-prosecute/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 19, 2012, 04:43:12 PM
That would also fit here:  http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1872.0
Title: WSJ: Reid's Graveyard
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 29, 2012, 05:17:09 AM
 
Even if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win on November 6, his agenda will be stymied if Republicans can't pick up at least three more seats than their current 47 and control the Senate. That's clear from the last two years, when Harry Reid's not-so-deliberative body became the graveyard for fiscal and other reform.

House Republicans won an historic midterm election in 2010, picking up 63 seats. They also gained six Senate seats, but a handful of weak GOP candidates (Sharron Angle, Ken Buck, Christine O'Donnell) cost them control of the upper body. Back in charge in 2011, Mr. Reid proceeded to stop nearly everything that House Republicans passed. President Obama hasn't even had to sweat a veto fight because nothing escapes Mr. Reid's lost world.

. ..Consider the record. In 2011 and 2012 the House passed more than three-dozen economic or jobs-related bills and with only a few exceptions they died in the Senate without a vote. The bills dealt with regulatory relief, tax reduction, domestic drilling for energy, offshore drilling, a jobs bill for veterans, repeal of ObamaCare and many more. Many passed the House with significant Democratic support, as the nearby list shows.

Then there is the Democratic failure on their constitutional obligation of passing a budget. House Republicans passed their budgets in each of the past two years in the spring. The latest one, crafted by Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, contained $4.5 trillion in deficit reduction—at least twice as much as Mr. Obama's budget proposal.

By contrast, the Senate failed to pass any budget in 2012. Or 2011. Or 2010. The Senate hasn't passed a budget in more than 1,200 days. Sorry, Harry, you can't blame that on a Republican filibuster, because it takes only 51 votes to pass a Senate budget resolution. In 2011 and 2012 the Senate Budget Committee never even drafted a budget, thus inspiring a House bill to dock the pay of Senate Budget Committee Members for not doing their job.

Mr. Reid even declared in 2011 that it would be "foolish for us to do a budget," no doubt because he thought that would allow voters to see that what Democrats really want is even more spending and higher taxes. This would have made life difficult for vulnerable Democratic incumbents who pass themselves off as moderates in election years, such as Pennsylvania's Bob Casey, Montana's Jon Tester and Florida's Bill Nelson.

So Democrats simply sat back and took shots at the Ryan budget. Meanwhile, these same incumbents are now campaigning at home as champions of domestic energy, lower taxes, spending restraint and regulatory relief—everything the Democratic Senate helped to kill.

The Senate also failed in 2010 and 2012 to pass a single appropriations bill. According to an analysis by Senate Republicans, that hadn't happened before in the 150-year history of the current spending process. This year the Senate even failed to enact a national defense authorization bill, which almost never happens.

The House passed a bill to avert the tax cliff looming in January, but the Senate failed to act on that too. Last week Mr. Reid's chief Senate lieutenant, Chuck Schumer of New York, warned that Democrats will stop any attempt at bipartisan tax reform next year, calling the idea "obsolete." He's essentially promising pre-emptive gridlock in 2013 no matter who wins.

Voters can be forgiven for not knowing all this because the media mostly ignore Senate obstructionism these days. Instead, they dutifully follow Mr. Obama's lead when he says of Congress that "I think the American people will run them out of town because they are frustrated and they know we need to do something big and bold." He means Republicans.

But if it's big and bold that voters want, House Republicans have passed it. What stands in their way are Senate Democrats. One reason the Reagan policy revolution became law in 1981 is because Republicans scared enough Democrats into cooperating by picking up a net gain of 12 Senate seats in 1980 to gain control 53-46.

If voters want to break the gridlock of the past two years and start addressing the country's urgent fiscal and economic problems, they're going to have to elect a Republican Senate as well as Mr. Romney.
Title: Morris on the Senate races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 01, 2012, 01:44:23 PM
http://www.dickmorris.com/senate-races-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
Title: A Liberal Fantasy
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 07, 2012, 08:06:16 AM

November 7, 2012, 12:24 am75 Comments

A Liberal Fantasy
 
By DAVID FIRESTONE


It’s rarely wise to make upbeat predictions about a group of lawmakers as reliably disappointing as the United States Senate. But with President Obama winning re-election and Democrats having a strong night in several states, this is not an impossible political fantasy:

The Democratic-controlled Senate is likely to be considerably more liberal than the one it replaces. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Angus King of Maine (nominally an independent) replace Republicans. Tim Kaine of Virginia is more liberal than Jim Webb, the Democrat who retired, just as Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Chris Murphy of Connecticut are more liberal than Herb Kohl and Joe Lieberman. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will be one of the strongest voices in support of Mr. Obama’s policies, and may even push the president leftward. Democrats could also win a few other races too close to call.
 
So what will the reshaped chamber mean? Possibly a stronger backbone, and one of the first places to show it will be filibuster reform. A more vibrant Democratic caucus could push Majority Leader Harry Reid to do what he should have done two years ago, and use a simple majority to curb the routine abuse of the filibuster as practiced by the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.

That, in turn, could free up the president to appoint the kinds of judges and Supreme Court justices he wants, without worrying about constant Republican obstruction. And it could give the Senate fortitude in dealing with issues of taxes and budgets, putting the House, which will still be controlled by Republicans, in a corner.

A possible example: Let’s say the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule on New Year’s Day for everyone. President Obama could then propose that taxes be lowered on incomes of less than $250,000, and a Senate unencumbered by a filibuster could go along. That would leave only the House insisting that taxes be lowered on everyone, essentially blocking a tax cut for the middle class. The political pressure would be enormous, and it’s possible that a somewhat less rigid House would buckle. A similar outcome might hold true on another debt-ceiling confrontation.

The House will reject further financial reform, environmental regulation, campaign finance laws, etc., but a Senate and White House that are more closely aligned might be able to make the case for an agenda more forcefully than was seen in the first term. It may be just a fantasy, but for now it’s a pleasant one.
Title: Re: Congressional races plus state/local - 21 pieces of good news
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2012, 10:15:08 PM
The results of the Senate races are shocking, but Michelle Malkin compiles a list of good news, depending on the side you come at this from...

1. Republicans retained control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

2. Voters in Alabama, Montana, and Wyoming all passed measures limiting Obamacare.

3. Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz, one of the conservative movement’s brightest rising stars, overcame establishment GOP opposition to clinch a U.S. Senate victory in Texas.

4. Corruptocrat Beltway barnacle Rep. Pete Stark was finally kicked out of office in California.

5. Despite entrenched teachers’ union opposition, a charter school initiative in Washington state triumphed.

6. Despite entrenched Big Labor support, a radical collective bargaining power grab in Michigan failed.

7. Oklahoma voters said no to government race-based preferences in college admissions, public contracting, and government hiring.

8. Montana voters said no to boundless benefits for illegal aliens.

9. Washington state approved taxpayer-empowering limitations on its state legislature’s ability to raise taxes.

10. For the first time since Reconstruction, the GOP won control of the Arkansas state house.

11. Voters rejected tax hike ballot measures in Arizona, South Dakota, and Missouri.

12. Louisiana voted to protect gun rights.

13. Kentucky voted to protect hunting and fishing rights.

14. Parental notification for minors’ abortion prevailed in Montana.

15. North Carolina Republicans claimed the governor’s office, congressional gains, and control of the state’s general assembly.

16. Paul Ryan will return to Congress after winning re-election and continue to carry the torch for entitlement reform and budget discipline.

17. Conservatives won big victories in the Kansas state legislature.

18. Republicans won historic supermajorities in Tennessee.

19.Across the country, Republicans reached a post-2000 record number of gubernatorial victories.

20. Conservatives who were devastated by the national election results demonstrated how to lose with dignity and grace. There will be finger-pointing and recriminations and soul-searching, but committed activists can’t and won’t lose heart. We’ll regroup, recover, and keep fighting for our country.

21. Wisconsin: GOP wins back the state Senate.
Title: Allen West demanding recount
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2012, 08:40:42 PM
I gave money to Cong. West's campaign and have given to his recount efforts:



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Important Update on Allen West Recount
 
Dear Fellow American:
 
I would like to give you a brief update with the very latest on Allen
West’s recount.
 
As of this morning, Congressman West refuses to concede and is demanding
a full recount.
 
No winner has officially been declared, although West’s liberal
opponent Patrick Murphy not surprisingly has already “spiked the
ball”. (Murphy credits his alleged “win” to the endorsement of
turncoat Republican Bob Crowder, who West crushed in the GOP primary with
75% of the vote.)
 
Congressman West has filed a lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court
requiring the County Election Board to “impound all paper ballots and
voting machines”.
 
The suit also seeks the impoundment of “documentary or record
evidence… to prevent further voting and/or to declare the intent of
voters for votes cast on the voting machines.”
 
Congressman West has filed a similar suit in St. Lucie County, and has
also asked for a hand recount of paper ballots.
 
Florida state law provides for an automatic recount if election night
results are within 0.5%. The current vote tally is outside of this
threshold (50.5% to 49.6%).
 
The fact is we’re going to need Allen West’s leadership to fight
Obama in his dreadful second term.
 
If there’s ever been a time we’ve needed a man of principle to lead
Republicans on Capitol Hill, it is now.
 
Just yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner said there’s no mandate for
“new taxes”. But he also said House Republicans are “willing to
accept new revenue, under the right conditions.”
 
I know you’re exhausted in every respect. The past 48 hours have been
heartbreaking.
 
But please consider supporting an Allen West recount, if you think
that’s the right thing to do, with a donation of $5, $25, $100, $500 or
more. 
Go Here Now
http://ttpmail.theteaparty.net/e/16542/donate-html-key-PV8GI9DRQ9PO/gbkf/264686222

 
I’ve included below an article from NewsMax, which is based out of West
Palm Beach (part of West's congressional district), that gives additional
details about Congressman Allen West’s recount.
 
Thank you for all that you do.
 
Yours for America,
 
Bob Adams
Founder & Chief Strategist
 
P.S. -- The conservative President Downgrade PAC is considering a major
effort to support an Allen West recount.  If you think it’s the right
thing to do, please show your support with a donation of $5, $25, $100,
$500 or any amount. 
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NewsMax Media
 
Allen West Refuses to Concede, Files Lawsuit to Impound Voting Machines
By Stephen Feller
 
Fiery congressman Allen West refused to concede defeat Wednesday and has
filed a lawsuit demanding a full recount of votes in his Florida
district
after his efforts to get re-elected to the House of Representatives
appeared to fall some 2,500 votes short.
 
The Republican's lawsuit, filed in court in Palm Beach County, called for
paper ballots to be counted and voting machines “impounded.”
 
A recount of early votes flipped the results from 2,000 in his favor to a
win for Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy, West’s campaign manager
Tim Edson alleged in a press release the day after the election.
 
“This race is far from decided and there is no rush to declare an
outcome,” Edson said. “Ensuring a fair and accurate counting of all
ballots is of the utmost importance.”
 
Though a winner has not officially been declared, with all precincts
reporting, Murphy garnered 160,328 votes to West’s 157,872, a
difference of 2,456, according to the official results
 
The state of Florida requires that election results be within 0.5 of a
percentage point to trigger an automatic recount. The 50.4 percent to
49.6 percent result of Tuesday’s election, a 0.9 difference, is not
close enough for that to happen.
 
West’s suit seeks specifically to prevent any tampering with ballots or
machines as he works with St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections
Gertrude Walker on recounting votes.
 
In the release, Edson claims the recount flipped the election, as did
“numerous other disturbing irregularities reported at polls across St.
Lucie County including the doors to polling places being locked when the
polls closed, in direct violation of Florida law, thereby preventing the
public from witnessing the procedures used to tabulate results.”
 
“The St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections office clearly ignored
proper rules and procedures,” Edson said, “and the scene at the
Supervisor's office last night could only be described as complete chaos.
Given the hostility and demonstrated incompetence of the St. Lucie County
Supervisor of Elections, we believe it is critical that a full hand
recount of the ballots take place in St. Lucie County."
 
Provisional and absentee ballots have not yet been counted, but there are
not enough to swing the election back to West, reported the Palm Beach
Post, which caused Murphy to claim victory in the race on Wednesday.
 
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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Title: More on Cong. West's fraud accusations
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2012, 09:49:49 PM
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/robbins-report/2012/nov/9/allen-west-asks-recount-amid-growing-vote-count-sc/
Title: 141% voter turnout
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2012, 07:31:19 PM
http://watchdogwire.com/florida/2012/11/10/massive-voter-fraud-in-st-lucie-county-florida-141-turnout/

Same story, different source:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/robbins-report/2012/nov/10/florida-vote-twist-more-ballots-voters/
Title: More on Cong. West's race
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 12, 2012, 05:55:18 AM


>
> There has been a lot of misinformation out there about the state of the race, and
not surprisingly the local press is dutifully parroting the talking points coming
out of Patrick Murphy’s campaign proclaiming the race decided, so here’s the
truth: this race remains far from decided.
>
> Today the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, after promising to recount all
early votes, counted only ballots from the last three days of early voting,
netting Allen West over 500 votes.  The problem is those aren’t the first three
days of early voting—the days the Supervisor of Elections originally said were
compromised by faulty data cards in the machines. 
>
> We will continue to fight for a recount of all early votes.  In addition, we will
ensure that the public is able to view the poll book sign-ins to ensure the number
of early votes cast match the numbers of voters who checked-in to vote.
>
> Nothing coming out of Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker’s office adds up,
stories are constantly changing, and the hostile attitude of the Supervisor is
disturbing.  What originally looked like dangerous incompetence is looking more
and more like a willful attempt to steal an election.
>
> We will not allow a Democrat Supervisor of Elections to steal this election.  We
will pursue every legal means available to ensure a fair an accurate election. 
>
> I know you have stood with Allen every step of the way for the past four years and
I know you will continue to stand with us as we fight liberal efforts to steal
this election.  Your efforts in Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County protecting
the integrity of the election have been tremendous these past few days.   
>
>
>
> Tim Edson
> Campaign Manager
>
> P.S. Your continued financial support will help ensure we have the resources to
fight to ensure liberals don't steal this election.
Title: Mia Love lost in Utah
Post by: DougMacG on November 12, 2012, 09:01:14 AM
This was one of the most disappointing results.  The 36 year old mayor of Saratoga Springs was a big hit at the 2012 RNC, close to becoming the first African-American female Republican elected to Congress.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/08/28/utahs-mia-love-gets-enthusiastic-reception-in-tampa/
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/11/07/matheson-bests-mia-love-in-utah-house-race/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2012, 06:44:18 AM
I too noticed her, including an extensive interview on FOX.  She was part of the reason I gave money to a Black Conservatives PAC (BAMPAC IIRC) and was disappointed to see her lose.
Title: Allen West's ad calling for a recount
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 16, 2012, 08:29:30 AM
https://secure.donationreport.com/donate.html?key=UZBCVO17DBYZ
Title: Allen West gets recount!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 17, 2012, 08:59:11 AM
Now that they have the recount, I'm not sure why this group is asking for more money, but I post this here for the info it contains.

==========================

Dear Fellow American:
 
It’s been an amazing turn of events over the last 12 hours.  Late last night, the St. Lucie elections board voted 2 -1 in favor of a full recount of all eight days of early voting.
 
This is a huge victory for Allen West.
 
This unplanned vote occurred just hours after a St. Lucie County judge rejected West’s request for a full recount of early votes.  The full recount of ballots from early voting is underway.  We will continue to keep you updated as events continue unfold.
 
Meanwhile, liberal Democrat Patrick Murphy has sued for an emergency injunction to stop the counting of all votes, and state Democrats are in full panic.
 
“Allen West needs to admit defeat and move on”, snarled Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a statement with South Florida Democrats.
 
This is a major victory for Allen West, but we cannot afford to take the gas off of the pedal now!  Go Here Now to Support Our Work.
 
Yours for America,
   
Bob Adams
Founder
 
P.S. – We’re so close to victory. We can win this fight!  Support Our Campaign to Help Allen West.


Title: Re: Allen West gets recount!
Post by: DougMacG on November 17, 2012, 12:15:41 PM
Now that they have the recount, I'm not sure why this group is asking for more money...

Recounts involve (guns,) lawyers and money.  The Al Franken / Norm Coleman (Obamacare) recount was an 8 month legal battle.  Disputed ballots far outnumbered the initial and final margins of victory.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Minnesota,_2008

Recounting precincts that had 150% turnout, retrieving boxes of uncounted ballots from the trunks of cars takes time, verifying the permanent address of felons serving life without parole, these things aren't easy.  It's not like they just sit around and count valid ballots. 

Besides, raising money is what 'non-profits' do for a living!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 17, 2012, 12:45:36 PM
I suspect your last sentence gets to the essence  :lol:

Anyway, I gave $50 to West's campaign and $25 to his recount efforts.  That's about all my budget says is suitable for me.
Title: Allen West has conceded.
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 20, 2012, 08:47:54 AM
Allen West has conceded.   :cry:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/20/two-weeks-later-allen-west-concedes-election/
Title: Filibuster proposals
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 21, 2012, 08:29:38 AM
BD first posted this on the Politics forum, but I think it quite germane here as well and so post it here.  I learned quite a bit from reading the following:

=============================

http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/11/20/will-merkley-warrens-talking-filibuster-proposal-work/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+themonkeycagefeed+%28The+Monkey+Cage%29

Will Merkley & Warren’s “talking filibuster” proposal work?

by Gregory Koger on November 20, 2012 · 1 comment

in Blogs


Last Friday, our friends at Wonkblog posted the comments of two Monkey Cagers on Senator Merkley’s proposed-but-still-vague reform. I thought I would elaborate on whether Merkley’s proposed reforms will help make the Senate more effective…or at least less of a disaster.

First, some background on what the Senate reformers are talking about:  HuffPo says,
 

The critical component, though, is a mechanism that would force senators to physically take the floor and speak in order to maintain opposition to legislation. The effort to end a filibuster is called a cloture motion. Under the proposed rules, if a cloture vote failed to win a simple majority, the bill would be killed and the Senate would move to new business. But if it won a majority—though less than a supermajority of 60—the bill would remain on the floor for any senator who wished to opine on it. If at some point no senator rose to speak, after given several chances to do so, a new vote would be called—and only a simple majority would be needed to pass it.

[...]

Merkely said that the package he and his allies put together will also include more direct reforms. Reid has suggested simply eliminating the filibuster on the motion to proceed to debate, which would save the Senate many hundreds of hours of wasted time the course of a term. Merkley said such a provision was likely to make it into the final package, as well as restrictions on filibustering efforts to send a bill to conference.

 There are two ways to think about this reform, or any others that may be discussed. First, how does this change the filibustering game? And, for which proposals is this most likely to make a difference?

Q1: It could make a difference on major bills for which the pro-bill (or nomination) coalition is more intense than the anti-bill coalition. If we compare four major bills from the 111th Congress, I would guess that this would have been most helpful on the stimulus and banking reform bills, since Republicans—even with more conservative constituencies—may have faced some criticism in their home states for blocking efforts to (respectively) stop the economy’s tailspin and address the cause of the Great Recession. On the other hand, Republicans probably would have lined up all day to stop health care reform and climate change/cap & trade.

But the devil is in the details. One of the key points I make in my book and follow-up commentary is that senators can’t just wave a magic wand and revert to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-style “attrition” filibusters. There are reasons the filibustering game changed in the 1960s, and the Senate can’t go back unless it is as difficult or more difficult to conduct a filibuster as it is to fight against one. The problem with a classic  attrition filibuster is that a single obstructionist could demand the attention and disrupt the sleep of a majority of the Senate, as Smith does in the movie. That is, the costs of the two sides are asymmetrical, so it is easier to filibuster than to outlast a filibuster. A determined majority could outlast a single obstructionist, or a few senators, but an organized succession of twenty or so senators could occupy the floor one at a time, each demanding the presence of a majority of the Senate. In order to restore attrition filibusters, the Senate needs to balance the rules of the game so that only one pro-bill senator is required to stay in the chamber while an anti-bill senator filibusters.

For example, let’s say a narrow majority votes for cloture and the Senate begins a Merkley-style attrition filibuster..

(1) does post-cloture vote debate have to be germane? Let’s say the bill in question is immigration reform; can a filibustering senator give a twelve-hour speech on U.S. policy in Afghanistan? Or the Petraeus affair? If so, a Merkley filibuster simply grants the opposition a monopoly on C-SPAN to express their political message for the day.

(2) Can a filibustering senator call for a quorum? If s/he does so, does s/he lose the floor? (“Yes” is the current answer) or does a quorum call constitute the end of the debate phase altogether?

(3) What if there are votes on amendments to the bill during the debate phase—does that “end” debate? If not, what if there are hundreds of votes on amendments?

(4) can a senator raise a point of order during the debate phase and request a roll call vote? If so, what if s/he does this dozens of times?

(5) if the post-vote debate ends and there are still amendments outstanding, does the Senate immediately vote on the underlying bill? Or is there a marathon of votes on amendments until they are all disposed of? If the latter, how does the rule prevent a filibuster-by-amendment?

These are questions that can be answered, and I would expect the final draft of the proposal to address these questions. But I merely suggest that designing an effective reform can be tricky.

Q2: Which bills would benefit the most? I would guess that this reform would most benefit major bills that the minority party is willing to block covertly but not overtly. I am still stunned that the GOP did as much as it did to block Dodd-Frank, and if they had to do it in front of the cameras and take time from their fundraising schedules to actually debate the bill, it may have passed much faster. It would also benefit the middle tier of bills that are important enough to merit a cloture vote and floor time provided the opposition is not intense. This category could include legislation like appropriations bills, reauthorization of traditionally bipartisan bills (highway funding, agriculture), and possibly appellate court nominations. These bills would also benefit greatly from the elimination of filibusters against motions to proceed. Obviously, one filibuster against a bill is less than two filibusters but, more subtly, a filibuster against a bill that is on the floor of the Senate can be more politically costly than a filibuster to keep it off the floor in the first place.

The Merkley proposal (as outlined) does less to help low-priority bills and nominations that are not salient enough to merit a cloture vote. For these measures, the threat of a filibuster would still be sufficient to keep them in limbo. This is not an argument against Merkley’s proposal, but it does mean that in order for the Senate to consider these proposals more efficiently and fairly, some sort of expedited cloture process would also be helpful.
Title: POTH: End the Hastert Rule
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 10, 2013, 09:03:42 AM


I'm not familiar with the issue here, but even though this is a POTH editorial, on the first blush the argument seems plausible to me.

I wonder how/if/whether this applies to the Senate not passing a budget for the last four years?
==============================

Democracy in the House
 
Published: January 9, 2013
 


The only reason that income taxes on 99 percent of Americans did not go up this month was that Speaker John Boehner briefly broke with an iron rule of Republican control over the House. He allowed the fiscal-cliff deal to be put to a full vote of the House even though a strong majority of Republicans opposed it.

That informal rule, which bars a vote on legislation unless it has the support of a majority of Republicans, has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to progress and consensus in Congress, and, in its own way, is even more pernicious than the filibuster abuse that often ties up the Senate. Under the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster, at least, coalitions can occasionally be formed between the Democratic majority and enough Republicans to reach the three-fifths threshold.

But under the majority-of-the-majority rule in the House, Democrats are completely cut out of the governing process, not even given a chance to vote unless Republicans have decided to pass something. Since 2010, there have been enough extremist Republicans in the caucus to block consideration of most of the bills requested by the White House or sent over from the Senate. If President Obama is for something, it’s a safe bet that most House Republicans are against it, and thus won’t bring it up.

That’s why the House never took a vote on the Senate’s latest five-year farm bill. Or the Violence Against Women Act. Or a full six-year transportation bill. Republican opposition prevented consideration in the last term of the Senate’s $60 billion in providing relief from Hurricane Sandy; so far, the House has been willing to approve only a measly $9.7 billion after members claimed the Senate’s bill was full of (nonexistent) pork.

The House has always been a sprawling, unruly chamber, and its leaders have long used some form of control to choose which bills reach the floor and to push their party’s policies. The majority-of-the-majority requirement, however, is relatively new and entirely a Republican creation. Newt Gingrich occasionally used it when he was speaker, but it was institutionalized in 2004 by Speaker Dennis Hastert (and Tom DeLay, the power behind the throne).

This anti-democratic tactic, now known as the “Hastert rule,” helped turn the chamber into a one-party institution that utterly silenced the minority. A post-9/11 intelligence reform bill, urgently sought by President George W. Bush, was bottled up by Mr. Hastert and his allies, who knew it would pass if Democrats were allowed to vote.

This was not a rule used by Democrats. Speaker Tom Foley allowed the North American Free Trade Agreement to pass in 1993 on mostly Republican votes, and when Nancy Pelosi took the job in 2007, she repudiated the Hastert rule, allowing both parties to vote together on legislation. For example, she allowed a bill to pass paying for the Iraq war over the objections of most Democrats.

“I’m the speaker of the House,” she said at the time. “I have to take into consideration something broader than the majority of the majority in the Democratic caucus.”

That’s an attitude rarely expressed by Mr. Boehner. But if the country is to move forward on issues with widespread support — getting past the debt limit, immigration reform, gun control, and investments in education and infrastructure — he will have to let the two parties vote together on a solution.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 10, 2013, 10:57:16 AM
It has always been true, as far as I know, that the majority party has complete control of the House including what gets through committee and what goes to a vote.  Maybe it was only Hastert or Boehner who said it aloud or in public that bills will be passed with a majority of the majority or it won't come to a vote - except for the exceptions.  Tip O'Neill didn't have to say it; people knew who was in charge.

They gave one example of an exception with Pelosi and one with Boehner.  Not much difference.  Democrats didn't want responsibility for failure in Iraq and Republicans didn't want blame for tax rates going up.

The majority DID approve of the Speaker's handling of it, proven by reelecting him within hours.  They just wanted their 'No' vote recorded.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 10, 2013, 11:20:46 AM
It has always been true, as far as I know, that the majority party has complete control of the House including what gets through committee and what goes to a vote.  Maybe it was only Hastert or Boehner who said it aloud or in public that bills will be passed with a majority of the majority or it won't come to a vote - except for the exceptions.  Tip O'Neill didn't have to say it; people knew who was in charge.

They gave one example of an exception with Pelosi and one with Boehner.  Not much difference.  Democrats didn't want responsibility for failure in Iraq and Republicans didn't want blame for tax rates going up.

The majority DID approve of the Speaker's handling of it, proven by reelecting him within hours.  They just wanted their 'No' vote recorded.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/52_132/-18700-1.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 10, 2013, 11:40:09 AM
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/52_132/-18700-1.html

"Pelosi’s more inclusive approach" and "willingness to include Republicans"... 

Seriously?  Did anyone watch healthcare get passed?

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 10, 2013, 11:48:38 AM
I am listening and reading all this the best that I can, but I don't see anything in rules that keeps a Senate Democratic majority from passing a budget.  They can and Lew lied; that is still my opinion.

Of course it's not binding.  Nothing the Senate alone passes is.

Keeping my mind open for what I am missing here ...


Big
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/02/parliamentary-procedure


"It's true that you cannot filibuster a budget resolution in the Senate, because the Budget Act provides special rules for consideration of a budget resolution, including a time limit on debate. So the Senate can pass a resolution with only a majority vote.  However, the resolution does not take effect when the Senate passes it.  It takes effect in one of two ways: if the House and Senate pass an identical resolution, usually in the form of a conference report; or if the Senate passes a separate Senate Resolution (as opposed to a concurrent resolution, which is what a budget resolution is) that says the House is “deemed” to have agreed to the budget resolution passed by the Senate.
But there are no special procedures for the simple Senate Resolution required by this second, “deeming” process, so it is subject to the unlimited debate allowed on almost everything in the Senate.  If you do not have the support of 60 Senators to invoke cloture and end a filibuster, or prevent a filibuster from even starting (because everyone knows  60 Senators support cloture), you cannot pass such a deeming resolution in the Senate.
Because its rules are different, the House with a simple majority can pass a resolution deeming that the House and Senate have agreed to the House resolution so that it can take effect. This means the allocations in the resolution, such as for appropriations, are in effect in the House and anybody can raise a point-of-order against legislation that would cause a committee to exceed its allocation.
But this is for purposes of enforcement in the House only. What the House does has no effect whatsoever on the Senate or its budget enforcement.  And vice versa, if the Senate deems that its budget resolution has been agreed to."


The point is cloture. The implicit assumption is that GOP senator(s) will filibuster.

I believe you cannot filibuster a budget bill under current Senate rules.


"Budget bills are governed under special rules called "reconciliation" which do not allow filibusters."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Rules_of_the_United_States_Senate

Under reconciliation, bills cannot be filibustered and can thus pass the Senate by majority vote.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2009/04/20-budget-mann

The reconciliation process, by contrast, limits debate to 20 hours and bypasses the filibuster altogether. It was instituted to ensure that minority obstruction couldn't block important business like passing a budget or reducing the deficit.
http://prospect.org/article/50-vote-senate

Budget reconciliation is a procedure created in 1974 as a way of making changes in federal policy to meet fiscal guidelines set by  Congress. Because the process includes a limit of 20 hours of debate, reconciliation bills cannot be blocked by filibuster in the Senate and need only a simple majority to pass.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/congress/budget_reconciliation/index.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 11, 2013, 09:10:14 AM
Re-posting this across to Congress thread by request.  We are discussing rules of congress but my starting point was alleging that nominee Lew of the Glibness branch was misleading the people.
--------------
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=155

Step Three: Enforcing the Terms of the Budget Resolution
...
However, the budget point of order is important in the Senate, where any legislation that exceeds a committee's spending allocation — or cuts taxes below the level allowed in the budget resolution — is vulnerable to a budget point of order on the floor that requires 60 votes to waive.
...

Yes, BD, but a Budget Point of Order is a rule defined in the 3rd step, to apply to changes after a budget is passed.  The second step (same link) says this:

"Once the committees are done, their budget resolutions go to the House and Senate floors, where they can be amended (by a majority vote)...It also requires only a majority vote to pass, and its consideration is one of the few actions that cannot be filibustered in the Senate."

We never got past Step 2, to pass a budget by April 15.  Step 3 controls the process after there is a budget resolution passed.  It defines rules they must follow to change what was passed.  But there wasn't one passed in the Senate in the 3 years in question.  Right?


The original point about Lew and a lying White House is that the threat of a filibuster was not the reason the Senate had not passed a budget.  Lew said it was.  This was a Susan Rice moment.  He was sent up to create a false impression of what happened and what didn't happen.  Republicans wanted Senate Democrats to pass a budget - to show their hand; they were not trying to stop them, nor could they.  Republicans with control of the House in 2 of those years had no need to stop a budget in the Senate and no power to stop it.  This is a matter of political gamesmanship and they deserve to be called out.  Republicans wanted Democrats to 'show us your spending' as required under the 1974 law.   Show us your cuts, show us your spending and we will use that either get cuts done or for other political advantage:  'Senator so-and-so voted to cut Medicare, here is the record', or he/she refused to make any cuts at all to close a trillion dollar gap. 

But there was no need for a Dem majority Senate to follow the law and pass a budget because there is no penalty defined in the 1974 law.  They just kept the spending going without real cuts for years with continuing resolutions, blamed the Republicans, and using the cover provided by willing accomplices in the media like professional journalist Candy Crowley in the clip.
Title: 2014 Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 11, 2013, 10:24:06 AM
Yesterday I read that 6 Dem Senators are up in 2014 in states where Pres. Obama got 42% of the vote or less.  (Can't find the article now, but a similar list at the Wash Post link.) One of those was Jay Rockefeller in West Virginia.  Dems currently have 55 in the Senate.

Today's news:  Jay Rockefeller won't seek reelection.  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/jay-rockefeller-to-retire-86054.html

This Washington Post piece says that of the ten most vulnerable Senators, 9 are Democrats and the other is in Kentucky.  They didn't have Rockefeller in their top ten:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/09/senate-democrats-face-a-very-tough-2014-map/

Year 6 is where Bush lost it all and Obama is weakest when he is off the ballot.  Some of these are states where he can't do much to help.  No predictions here after the 2012 fiasco, but the opportunity for Republicans is there once again.
Title: Morris on Sen. Reid's proposed modifications of filibuster rules
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 11, 2013, 10:29:24 AM
Rockefeller is 75 now.

==========

"Re-posting this across to Congress thread by request.  We are discussing rules of congress but my starting point was alleging that nominee Lew of the Glibness branch was misleading the people."

Understood; but due to understandable thread drift the conversation definitely has entered into material of lasting research value in the context of Congressional procedures and so I am glad to have it here.
==============
http://www.dickmorris.com/filibuster-reform-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:54:16 AM
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxzQUyZu_U&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Do you believe that the former Director of OMB / Office of Management and Budget, Chief of staff, graduate of Harvard and Georgetown, does not know that passing a budget in the Senate requires only 51 votes?

Does Candy Crowley not know that either?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:54:39 AM
The point is cloture. The implicit assumption is that GOP senator(s) will filibuster.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:55:08 AM
The point is cloture. The implicit assumption is that GOP senator(s) will filibuster.

I believe you cannot filibuster a budget bill under current Senate rules.


"Budget bills are governed under special rules called "reconciliation" which do not allow filibusters."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Rules_of_the_United_States_Senate

Under reconciliation, bills cannot be filibustered and can thus pass the Senate by majority vote.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2009/04/20-budget-mann

The reconciliation process, by contrast, limits debate to 20 hours and bypasses the filibuster altogether. It was instituted to ensure that minority obstruction couldn't block important business like passing a budget or reducing the deficit.
http://prospect.org/article/50-vote-senate

Budget reconciliation is a procedure created in 1974 as a way of making changes in federal policy to meet fiscal guidelines set by  Congress. Because the process includes a limit of 20 hours of debate, reconciliation bills cannot be blocked by filibuster in the Senate and need only a simple majority to pass.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/congress/budget_reconciliation/index.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:55:54 AM
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/02/parliamentary-procedure


"It's true that you cannot filibuster a budget resolution in the Senate, because the Budget Act provides special rules for consideration of a budget resolution, including a time limit on debate. So the Senate can pass a resolution with only a majority vote.  However, the resolution does not take effect when the Senate passes it.  It takes effect in one of two ways: if the House and Senate pass an identical resolution, usually in the form of a conference report; or if the Senate passes a separate Senate Resolution (as opposed to a concurrent resolution, which is what a budget resolution is) that says the House is “deemed” to have agreed to the budget resolution passed by the Senate.
But there are no special procedures for the simple Senate Resolution required by this second, “deeming” process, so it is subject to the unlimited debate allowed on almost everything in the Senate.  If you do not have the support of 60 Senators to invoke cloture and end a filibuster, or prevent a filibuster from even starting (because everyone knows  60 Senators support cloture), you cannot pass such a deeming resolution in the Senate.
Because its rules are different, the House with a simple majority can pass a resolution deeming that the House and Senate have agreed to the House resolution so that it can take effect. This means the allocations in the resolution, such as for appropriations, are in effect in the House and anybody can raise a point-of-order against legislation that would cause a committee to exceed its allocation.
But this is for purposes of enforcement in the House only. What the House does has no effect whatsoever on the Senate or its budget enforcement.  And vice versa, if the Senate deems that its budget resolution has been agreed to."


The point is cloture. The implicit assumption is that GOP senator(s) will filibuster.

I believe you cannot filibuster a budget bill under current Senate rules.


"Budget bills are governed under special rules called "reconciliation" which do not allow filibusters."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Rules_of_the_United_States_Senate

Under reconciliation, bills cannot be filibustered and can thus pass the Senate by majority vote.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2009/04/20-budget-mann

The reconciliation process, by contrast, limits debate to 20 hours and bypasses the filibuster altogether. It was instituted to ensure that minority obstruction couldn't block important business like passing a budget or reducing the deficit.
http://prospect.org/article/50-vote-senate

Budget reconciliation is a procedure created in 1974 as a way of making changes in federal policy to meet fiscal guidelines set by  Congress. Because the process includes a limit of 20 hours of debate, reconciliation bills cannot be blocked by filibuster in the Senate and need only a simple majority to pass.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/congress/budget_reconciliation/index.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:56:19 AM
Total first person pronouns used in his eulogy of Sen Inouye: 63.  So we know he knows how to use them.

"... will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324081704578231542240171394.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLESecond


What did Harry Truman say?  The buck stops ... ... over there!?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:56:39 AM
Ummm , , , the fact is that under the Constitution the Congress must pass spending that originates in the House.  The Reps control the House.  They lack the testicles to stand erect.


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:57:10 AM
, , , the fact is that under the Constitution the Congress must pass spending that originates in the House...

All the Senate needs to do is pick up a House bill, change the amounts until they can pass it in good faith under the terms of the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act that created CBO and most of the current process.  The House has passed a budget every year.  The Senate has not passed a budget other than "continuing resolutions" since April 2009, roughly 5 trillion dollars of debt ago.  It cannot be filibustered under  Senate rules in effect since 1974.

Crafty, yours is not the reason that Lew gave.  He gave a false reason for why they haven't passed a budget, putting blame on Republicans in the Democratic controlled chamber.  It is a lie and a deception.  As an expert on the process (OMB Director under two Presidents!), he knew that was false.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/145259-house-passes-republican-budget-for-fy-2011-in-x-y-vote
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/us/politics/house-passes-ryan-budget-blueprint-along-party-lines.html?_r=0
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/u-s-house-passes-budget-bill-averts-most-tax-increases.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/jack-lews-misleading-claim-about-the-senates-failure-to-pass-a-budget-resolution/2012/02/12/gIQAs11z8Q_blog.html?wprss=fact-checker
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/021012-600854-democrats-refusal-to-pass-budget-is-illegal.htm
http://www.dailypaul.com/269094/the-law-requires-congress-to-pass-a-budget-every-america-hasnt-had-since-2009

It's true that you cannot filibuster a budget resolution in the Senate, because the Budget Act provides special rules for consideration of a budget resolution, including a time limit on debate. So the Senate can pass a resolution with only a majority vote. 
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/02/parliamentary-procedure

Budget resolutions are not subject to a filibuster.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/206309-gop-well-pass-budget-every-year-#ixzz2HcHcSPvT

“But we also need to be honest. You can’t pass a budget in the Senate of the United States without 60 votes and you can’t get 60 votes without bipartisan support. So unless Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in the Senate, Harry Reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed. And I think he was reflecting the reality of that that could be a challenge.”

--White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, on CNN, Feb. 12. 2012 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/jack-lews-misleading-claim-about-the-senates-failure-to-pass-a-budget-resolution/2012/02/12/gIQAs11z8Q_blog.html?wprss=fact-checker
"Four Pinocchios"
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/fact-checker/StandingArt/pinocchio_4.jpg?uuid=zmHlfEniEeCn1tWe_T6KGA)
"We wavered between three and four Pinocchios, in part because the budget resolution is only a blueprint, not a law, but ultimately decided a two-time budget director really should know better."  - The hard-right Washington Post


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:57:33 AM
I thank you for continuing my education (no snarkiness at all, this is 100% sincere).  I find what you post to be persuasive.

My post was responding to:

"What did Harry Truman say?  The buck stops ... ... over there!?"

My intention is to underline just how much power and RESPONSIBILTY the Constitution imbues in the House of Representatives with regard to budgetary matters.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:57:59 AM
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=155

Step Three: Enforcing the Terms of the Budget Resolution


The main enforcement mechanism that prevents Congress from passing legislation that violates the terms of the budget resolution is the ability of a single member of the House or the Senate to raise a budget "point of order" on the floor to block such legislation. In some recent years, this point of order has not been particularly important in the House because it can be waived there by a simple majority vote on a resolution developed by the leadership-appointed Rules Committee, which sets the conditions under which each bill will be considered on the floor.

However, the budget point of order is important in the Senate, where any legislation that exceeds a committee's spending allocation — or cuts taxes below the level allowed in the budget resolution — is vulnerable to a budget point of order on the floor that requires 60 votes to waive.

Appropriations bills (or amendments to them) must fit within the 302(a) allocation given to the Appropriations Committee as well as the Committee-determined 302(b) sub-allocation for the coming fiscal year. Tax or entitlement bills (or any amendments offered to them) must fit within the budget resolution's spending limit for the relevant committee or within the revenue floor, both in the first year and over the total multi-year period covered by the budget resolution. The cost of a tax or entitlement bill is determined (or "scored") by the Budget Committees, nearly always by relying on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which measures the bill against a budgetary "baseline" that projects entitlement spending or tax receipts under current law.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 11:58:30 AM
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=155

Step Three: Enforcing the Terms of the Budget Resolution
...
However, the budget point of order is important in the Senate, where any legislation that exceeds a committee's spending allocation — or cuts taxes below the level allowed in the budget resolution — is vulnerable to a budget point of order on the floor that requires 60 votes to waive.
...

Yes, BD, but a Budget Point of Order is a rule defined in the 3rd step, to apply to changes after a budget is passed.  The second step (same link) says this:

"Once the committees are done, their budget resolutions go to the House and Senate floors, where they can be amended (by a majority vote)...It also requires only a majority vote to pass, and its consideration is one of the few actions that cannot be filibustered in the Senate."

We never got past Step 2, to pass a budget by April 15.  Step 3 controls the process after there is a budget resolution passed.  It defines rules they must follow to change what was passed.  But there wasn't one passed in the Senate in the 3 years in question.  Right?


The original point about Lew and a lying White House is that the threat of a filibuster was not the reason the Senate had not passed a budget.  Lew said it was.  This was a Susan Rice moment.  He was sent up to create a false impression of what happened and what didn't happen.  Republicans wanted Senate Democrats to pass a budget - to show their hand; they were not trying to stop them, nor could they.  Republicans with control of the House in 2 of those years had no need to stop a budget in the Senate and no power to stop it.  This is a matter of political gamesmanship and they deserve to be called out.  Republicans wanted Democrats to 'show us your spending' as required under the 1974 law.   Show us your cuts, show us your spending and we will use that either get cuts done or for other political advantage:  'Senator so-and-so voted to cut Medicare, here is the record', or he/she refused to make any cuts at all to close a trillion dollar gap. 

But there was no need for a Dem majority Senate to follow the law and pass a budget because there is no penalty defined in the 1974 law.  They just kept the spending going without real cuts for years with continuing resolutions, blamed the Republicans, and using the cover provided by willing accomplices in the media like professional journalist Candy Crowley in the clip.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 11, 2013, 12:01:04 PM
So, had Lew said "enacted" he would have been exactly right. But, since he said "passed" you think he is a complete moron. That strikes me as silly, Doug. He knows the procedure; it was his verb choice that was awry.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 11, 2013, 04:40:13 PM
Lew was admitting they didn't pass a budget and blaming it on Republicans, not claiming they enacted one.  He could have said the 1974 law isn't binding or that they enacted a continuing resolution at the end having the same effect, but he didn't.  He said "unless Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in the Senate, Harry Reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed".  After looking at all that is posted on procedure, I still find that statement to be false and a politically motivated, intentionally deceptive response to the question that was asked. Silly you say.  I wouldn't put him in charge of the Treasury.

Bigdog,  Do you think Republicans were blocking Harry Reid from passing a budget, as Lew alleging.  Wouldn't Reid have called them out on that for obstructionism if it were the case?  Instead, Republicans have been calling on Senate Democrats publicly for years to pass one:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG0stsk3Ljs[/youtube]
This ad is from Heritage a year ago.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 11, 2013, 05:03:56 PM
Over to you BD :-)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 12, 2013, 03:28:10 AM
Over to you BD :-)

It always seems to be, Crafty.

The point, Doug, is that for a Senate budget to be enacted (meaning to come to fruition) there is a further step (the step after step two, passage). Just because a bill is "passed" does not mean that it "comes to pass."

Also, I'll post this again:

"The main enforcement mechanism that prevents Congress from passing legislation that violates the terms of the budget resolution is the ability of a single member of the House or the Senate to raise a budget "point of order" on the floor to block such legislation. In some recent years, this point of order has not been particularly important in the House because it can be waived there by a simple majority vote on a resolution developed by the leadership-appointed Rules Committee, which sets the conditions under which each bill will be considered on the floor.

However, the budget point of order is important in the Senate, where any legislation that exceeds a committee's spending allocation — or cuts taxes below the level allowed in the budget resolution — is vulnerable to a budget point of order on the floor that requires 60 votes to waive."

See how the Senate may very well need 60 votes even to "pass" a budget? Since there is an "enforcement mechanism that prevents Congress from passing legislation"? Or, how a "single member of the... Senate" can block such legislation?

I agree, Doug, that my case might be strengthened if I could find some evidence of Reid accusing the GOP of obstruction.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80954.html

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/reid-calls-on-republicans-to-drop-obstruction-strategy-in-wake-of-senate-defeat.php

http://democrats.senate.gov/page/2/?s=republican+obstruction&submit=Go (295 times when Reid accuses the Senate GOP of "obstruction")

I know you want me to get more specific:

Not Reid, Dick Durbin: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/dick-durbin-democrats-never-passed-budget

                     BAIER: Senator Durbin, why haven't the Senate Democrats passed a budget?
 
                     DURBIN: It's called 60 votes. And what it boils down to is this: we have 53 Democratic senators.


http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/227697-reid-gop-would-filibuster-bills-declaring-the-sky-is-blue-the-earth-is-round

Incidentally, the 4 Pinocchios story you posted to refute the Economist article I posted is interesting, since the article I posted was written to refute that story.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 12, 2013, 08:45:18 AM
Excellent conversation!  Over to you Doug.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 12, 2013, 09:43:27 AM
Thanks Crafty, but I am out of new material. 

Harry Reid calls Republicans "obstructionists" generally for sure but doesn't point to a time, place or procedure where the Republican minority prevented him from passing a budget resolution - because it didn't happen.

Durbin made the same argument as Lew, they don't have 60 votes, a known talking point like spontaneous demonstrations in Benghazi, then failed to back it up.  He didn't go from saying they only have 53 votes to pointing to the incident where a Republican member invoked the "Budget Point of Order" and stopped them - because it didn't happen.  Instead he went on to change the subject to deficit commission etc.

Out of 380 named and counted filibusters, none were to stop a budget resolution. (?)

The threat of a filibuster is what stopped them?  But did not stop them on 380 other issues?  

Your link to the Hill tells it pretty well, what Harry Reid calls "show-votes".  The Republicans wanted Senate Democrats to pass a budget to show their hand and they refused, pointing to the continuing resolutions enacted as meeting their legal requirement (but not the procedure laid out in the 1974 law).

The Hill:  "None of the GOP budgets are expected to pass today, as Democrats will vote against them all. One of the five GOP resolutions reflects President Obama's budget, which already went down in a unanimous vote earlier this year."

No filibuster on those.  As 'The Economist' piece 'refuting' the Washington Post most clearly states: "It is true that the Senate can pass a budget resolution with a simple majority vote."  

"See how the Senate may very well need 60 votes even to "pass" a budget?"  No I don't, even repeated.  The bold and underlined sections refer to procedures later in the process for  "legislation that violates the terms of the budget resolution".   How could that have applied in this situation, procedures to prevent any legislation that violates the terms of a passed budget resolution that never existed?

I am out of arguments that don't involve repetition of those that were already unpersuasive, but willing to agree to disagree.   :wink:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 12, 2013, 11:04:37 AM
The threat of a filibuster is what stopped them?  But did not stop them on 380 other issues?  

I am out of arguments that don't involve repetition of those that were already unpersuasive, but willing to agree to disagree.   :wink:


I am fine with Doug's willingness to agree to disagree; however, the Economist article says MUCH more than the sentence you choose to quote.

The threat of actions have been known to impact actions in Congress and elsewhere. For more on this see:

http://www.amazon.com/Veto-Bargaining-Presidents-Political-Institutions/dp/0521625505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358017357&sr=8-1&keywords=charles+cameron+veto+bargaining

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/notes07/Level4/SO4530/Assigned-Readings/Reading%205.1.pdf

BTW, DMG, you have a PM.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 12, 2013, 02:24:20 PM
Was this the same Senate that rammed through obamacare?
Title: Stop filibuster changes deal!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 22, 2013, 11:28:48 PM


http://capwiz.com/gunowners/issues/alert/?alertid=62344801
Title: Filibuster changes in the Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 25, 2013, 03:04:50 PM
I gather that some sort of a deal was reached on changing the Senate rules for filibuster.  Does anyone have the details and analysis of the implications of the changes?
Title: Re: Filibuster changes in the Senate
Post by: DougMacG on January 25, 2013, 08:30:40 PM
I gather that some sort of a deal was reached on changing the Senate rules for filibuster.  Does anyone have the details and analysis of the implications of the changes?

This piece covers it.  Now what excuse will they use for not passing a budget?  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/24/reid-and-mcconnell-agree-on-filibuster-reform-measures/comment-page-3/

(Most other pieces say major reforms did NOT happen, like this one: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/24/why-filibuster-reform-didnt-happen/)

Senators agree to Reid and McConnell’s filibuster reform measures
Posted by
CNN Senior Congressional Producer Ted Barrett

(CNN) - Democrats and Republicans in the Senate overwhelmingly agreed late Thursday on language reforming filibusters, passing the measures agreed to earlier in the day by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

The two leaders proposed to their caucuses earlier a list of reforms to curb the use of filibusters and streamline other procedures in order to speed up floor action. The measures required the support of each party's caucus.

Neither Democratic senators nor a GOP aide said members had voiced major issues with the proposals prior to the vote.

A filibuster is a tactic used in the Senate to delay or prevent a vote on legislation. Reid and McConnell's measure, according to one Senate aide, offered a compromise to reduce the number of filibusters while ensuring the minority party gets votes on some amendments.

The proposal allows for two paths that could be used to begin debate on legislation, avoiding filibusters designed to prevent debate from actually taking place.

In the first path, Reid would allow two amendments from both parties to be presented, with the caveat that if an amendment isn't relevant to the legislation at hand, it would be subject to a 60-vote threshold.

On measures where Reid and McConnell agree, a second path allows votes to overcome filibusters to be held the day after Reid files a procedural petition, instead of the two-day period currently in place. That change would disallow stalled votes on consensus legislation.

The new procedure also limits debate on some presidential nominations that require Senate approval.

Senate Democrats have complained that the minority Republicans deliberately overused the filibuster to block Democratic legislation.

A group of junior Senate Democrats pushed Reid to pass broad reforms - including reinstating the requirement that senators conducting a filibuster speak continuously on the floor - by using a controversial method to change the body’s rules that Republicans called the “nuclear option.” That method to change the Senate rules would require just 51 votes instead of the 67 customarily required.

Republicans, furious they might be jammed, argued the filibuster is the only leverage they have to get roll call votes on amendments that otherwise are routinely denied them by the majority Democrats.

The measure went to a vote and passed without Democrats invoking the “nuclear option.”

"No party has ever broken the rules of the Senate to change those rules. I’m glad such an irreparably damaging precedent will not be set today," McConnell said in a statement as the vote became clear. "We’ve avoided the nuclear option, and we’ve reiterated that any changes to the Standing Rules of the Senate still require 67 votes to end debate."

Republicans had said if Democrats pushed the reforms through the "nuclear option," it would have destroyed relations between the two parties and lead to massive gridlock in the chamber.

President Barack Obama issued a statement after the vote saying he hoped "today’s bipartisan agreement will pave the way for the Senate to take meaningful action in the days and weeks ahead."

"Too often over the past four years, a single senator or a handful of senators has been able to unilaterally block or delay bipartisan legislation for the sole purpose of making a political point," he said. The statement specifically identified Obama’s desire the Senate consider legislation on gun violence, immigration and the economy.

A bipartisan group of senior members, led by Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Carl Levin, D-Michigan, offered the alternative compromise that became part of Reid and McConnell's proposal.

"We are going to change the way we do business here," Reid said Wednesday. "We can do it either the easy way or the hard way but it's going to change."
Title: Dems to support Tea Party efforts to challenge McConnell?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 29, 2013, 08:48:52 AM
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/democrats-tea-party-unite-to-defeat-mitch-mcconnell-86787.html
Title: Morris: Reps' Pas de Deux
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2013, 12:08:42 PM
Republicans' Pas De Deux
By DICK MORRIS
Published on TheHill.com on January 29, 2013

Printer-Friendly Version
House Republicans and Speaker John Boehner have hit upon a de facto solution to the problems of governing while seeming to keep faith with their ideologically driven constituents.

Here's the deal: Boehner (R-Ohio) first stakes out a good position on spending and budget issues by passing a bill he knows will not go anywhere in the Senate or win presidential approval. But the one-house bill gives his Republican members something to vote for and to cite to angry voters back home.

Once his members are safely on record supporting cuts in spending, the Speaker then caves in to Obama and the Senate, passing the financial bills the mainstream media say the country needs. But he does so with a majority that consists of almost unanimous Democratic support and 40 or 50 of his best supporters in the GOP caucus. The rest of the House Republican Conference -- Tea Party and others -- votes against the bill. It seems that they are defying their Speaker and, back home, their votes pass for courage. But, in reality, they are simply acting out their part of a carefully choreographed pas de deux.

Some of the "no" votes on Boehner's bills come from sincere and true believers who genuinely want to demand more spending cuts before they allow the debt limit to be raised or the government to continue to function. Members like Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Steve King (R-Iowa), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and a few dozen like them are true believers. But the rest of the class of 2010 is riding along on their coattails, voting no and keeping their fingers crossed that they get outvoted so they don't have to face a firestorm in the media by beating the administration's bill.

For his part, Boehner has become the de facto coalition Speaker, representing a combination of the entire Democratic Party and a sprinkling of loyal Republicans.

His historical analogue is former British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald, who became the first-ever Labour Party prime minister in 1924 and presided again from 1929-31. Like Boehner and the Tea Party, he first attained power at the head of the brand-new Labour Party in 1924. While Boehner's Speakership came about as a reaction to ObamaCare, MacDonald's majority stemmed from the pacifist reaction to World War I. After nine months, however, he lost to a resurgent Conservative Party.  When he returned to power in 1929, he found it impossible to reconcile the demands of his Labour Party base with the conventional wisdom favoring austerity, so he formed a coalition government in 1931 with only a handful of Labour members but backed by a united Tory Party. That's roughly Boehner's situation today. Just as the Conservatives pulled the strings behind the former first-ever Labour prime minister, so Obama and Reid are calling the shots for the Speaker elected with Tea Party votes.

MacDonald's Labour Party fell in 1931 because it was split between those who went along with the Conservative Party's demand to keep the gold standard through spending cuts and his own Labour base, which demanded higher spending to counter the Depression. Boehner's Republican Party is similarly divided between those who are willing to continue to see spending grow and the GOP base, which demands deep cuts. And, like MacDonald, Boehner would rather cling to power and be manipulated by the demands of his opposition than to stand on principle with his own party.

What is the likely future of the House Republican majority? It depends on the outcome of the president's policies. If they lead to the economic disaster we conservatives have been predicting, the GOP will capture the Senate and gain in the House. Then the stage will be set for Boehner to stand on principle, as he tried to do in 2009-10, or to be pushed aside. But, if the stagnation in which we are now mired turns out to be permanent (as it is in Japan and Europe), then the Republicans are likely to lose their majority.
Title: GOA on the Filibuster changes
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 05, 2013, 03:10:33 PM
Update on Two Battles
GOA scores partial victory on Rules
Solicits horror stories from its members
 
Events have been moving so fast and furiously (no pun intended) that we have not had an opportunity to give you an update on the rules fight -- or to solicit your help in connection with a pivotal ongoing battle.

RULES

The Senate has reached its decision on what to do about its rules.  And the outcome is neither a complete victory nor a complete loss. 

On the good side:  The Senate DID NOT pull the “nuclear trigger.”  It did not do what we feared most -- and that was to decide that 51 senators could, by brute force, do whatever they wanted, irrespective of the rules.   

As for the bad:  The most serious change is a two-year “special order” -- which will expire in two years at the end of the 113th Congress.  (How convenient.  The Democrats put a time limit on this onerous rule in case they are no longer in the majority after the next elections.)  That “special order” allows Harry Reid to proceed to the text of legislation without a filibuster of the “motion to proceed” -- but only if he pays the penalty of allowing Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to offer the first amendment. 

In addition, the Senate “deal” would allow a bill to be sent to House/Senate conference with virtually no ability to resist.  That's important because a House/Senate conference report is generally un-amendable -- and must be dealt with on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

What this means, as a practical matter, is that we cannot afford for ONE WORD of gun control to pass the Senate -- NOT ONE WORD.  In the past, pro-gun Senators could have filibustered a gun bill and prevented it from going to conference (when it was suspected that conferees would take a relatively harmless bill and make it worse).  But under the new rules, there is nothing we can do to keep a so-called “innocuous” gun bill from going to conference where legislators can then write the Feinstein amendment or a national gun registry into the bill.
Title: Ashley Judd's Arsenal
Post by: bigdog on February 15, 2013, 11:24:47 AM
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112420/ashley-judd-senate-kentucky-actress-makes-mcconnell-sweat
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on February 15, 2013, 11:55:45 AM
This is the attack ad referred at the link:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgYzGc_T3-Q[/youtube]

Obama lost Kentucky by 23 points, not a rounding error or charisma deficiency.

The model (IMHO) for Dem victory in KY is probably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota who ran with distance from Obama (http://heidifornorthdakota.com/issues/health-care/), not a Hollywood actress who would start from his left.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on February 15, 2013, 11:57:48 AM
Her name recognition, the number of times she's sighted at KU basketball games and money won't hurt her though. And the fact the attack ads have begun so early means something, I think.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - KY Senate 2014
Post by: DougMacG on February 15, 2013, 12:16:25 PM
Good points.  I am wondering who the Republican nominee will be.  Much of the dissatisfaction with McConnell in his home state comes from the right.

Also wondering what the Obama economy will look like 6 years into it while he takes one last shot at consolidating power.  If Democrats nationalize the election, it won't help candidates in the most conservative states.  Unemployment in KY is currently 8.1%.
Title: Why voter studies are a good public investment
Post by: bigdog on February 16, 2013, 10:07:16 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/02/15/why-voter-studies/

From the article:

Either way, however, and as with all regulation, good working knowledge of the facts of the situation should lead to better law. Of course, much of our political regulation is motivated by partisanship (and one might say that the public owes the parties no market research, and I’d agree). But not all. Most lawmakers claim that even when it comes to political regulation they are out for the public good, and many of them really mean it — at least in part.

Title: real filibuster right now!!!
Post by: bigdog on March 06, 2013, 03:25:58 PM
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/6/rand-paul-filibusters-brennan-nomination-cia-direc/

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2013, 06:40:48 PM
http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2013/03/07/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on March 06, 2013, 07:53:57 PM
Cruz is killing this.  8-)
Title: Re: The US Congress- Ted Cruz questioning Eric Holder in committee
Post by: DougMacG on March 07, 2013, 07:55:28 AM
Cruz is killing this.  8-)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsy01ljGcy0&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

Watch this to the end.  The last question is on Fast and Furious and Executive Privilege.
Title: 2 on KY, Judd
Post by: bigdog on March 12, 2013, 01:46:19 PM
Both support Doug's original take.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ashley-judd-is-a-30-second-ad-waiting-to-happen-20130312

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ashley-judd-is-making-kentucky-democrats-nervous-20130312
Title: Re: 2 on KY, Judd
Post by: DougMacG on March 12, 2013, 02:37:41 PM
Both support Doug's original take.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ashley-judd-is-a-30-second-ad-waiting-to-happen-20130312
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ashley-judd-is-making-kentucky-democrats-nervous-20130312

Thanks Bigdog.  This link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/how-ashley-judd-can-win tells 'How Ashley Judd Can Win', but they compare what she needs to do in conservative Kentucky with what Al Franken did to win his 0.0% victory in liberal Minnesota.  Franken was actually to the right of Obama and his fellow Dem.  Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Ashley Judd is cute and smart, charismatic I presume.  She is also extremely liberal, perhaps to the left of Obama.  The carpet bagger attacks may get old but the idiological questions will not.

Mitch McConnell comes across old, worn out and has lousy approval numbers.  The challenge for Judd and any Democrat is that there will be serious liberal vs. conservative questions at stake and Romney beat Obama in 2012 in KY by roughly 60-38%.  Conservatives and libertarians tired of McConnell will see Rand Paul at his side with his own national reputation on the line trying to deliver a Republican victory in his home state. 

Based on the analysis in BD's second link, tying Dems nationally to some of her statements and tying Democrats in KY to the Obama agenda, I hope she runs.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 12, 2013, 04:54:56 PM

""Ashley Judd is cute and smart, charismatic I presume. , , ,Mitch McConnell comes across old, worn out and has lousy approval numbers"

Hard to think of a worse face for the Reps tan MMcC or a less articulate communicator for that matter and contrast that with a pretty, professional liar-- excuse me I meant actress-- who has been an appealing figure in many movies that many women have seen.  If AJ has a Harvard masters degree in publc affairs, she may be utterly wrong on the issues, but she is no bimbo.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Ashley Judd
Post by: DougMacG on March 12, 2013, 11:27:08 PM

""Ashley Judd is cute and smart, charismatic I presume. , , ,Mitch McConnell comes across old, worn out and has lousy approval numbers"

Hard to think of a worse face for the Reps than MMcC or a less articulate communicator for that matter and contrast that with a pretty, professional liar-- excuse me I meant actress-- who has been an appealing figure in many movies that many women have seen.  If AJ has a Harvard masters degree in public affairs, she may be utterly wrong on the issues, but she is no bimbo.

Yes, by smart I meant well educated.  I don't see many movies so I googled her work:  http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/9/actress-nude-ashley-judd-1265460  http://www.break.com/usercontent/2010/3/8/judd-nude-1774642

John Kerry running for President fell into a trap.  He was too liberal for the country and had already been pegged as a flip flopper.  The only way he could alleviate the too liberal charge was further toward flipflopper, and lose either way.

Ashley Judd's views are off the charts liberal: "It's unconscionable to breed with the number of children who are starving to death in impoverished countries."  For one thing I wonder how many families call it "breeding".

What is refreshing in a liberal like Ashley Judd is the purity of their views.  A beautiful actress working with impoverished kids doesn't have to compromise.  But if she tries to move toward the political center of Kentucky the purity will be gone and she will have to answer like Mitt Romney for the contradictions from previous positions and statements.

If she is so smart, she will not run.  MHO
Title: Re: US Congressional races 2014, Sen Tim Johnson (D-SD) out
Post by: DougMacG on March 26, 2013, 09:11:35 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/tim-johnson-retirement_n_2954549.html

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson was expected to announce his retirement Tuesday, making the state the fifth where Democrats will have to defend a seat without an incumbent seeking re-election. The decision opens up a 2014 race that Republicans had already labeled as a top target to grab a seat.
...
Johnson joins Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey as seasoned and influential Democrats departing the chamber, where Republicans need to gain six seats to take control.
-----

Former Gov. Mike Rounds and current Rep Kristi Noem would be possible replacements.  )
Title: Mia Love
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 18, 2013, 04:56:50 AM


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/17/rising-gop-star-ponders-another-run-in-utah/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 23, 2013, 12:00:06 PM
Ashley Judd out.  Why?  Can't win in a 'freedom' state.  Tim Johnson (D-SD) out.  Same reason.  Now Max Baucus out.  Ditto.  He tested the waters for reelection with an anti-Obamacare statement last week.  Maybe he learned that he can win in Montana but would lose power in his party because of his anti-gun-control vote and the other positioning moves needed to win again.

Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will retire from the Senate after 36 years, becoming the sixth Senate Democrat to leave the chamber in the 2014 elections...Democrats will now be defending open seats in Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and West Virginia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/us/politics/baucus-wont-seek-re-election-to-senate.html?_r=0
Title: 90% of life is a matter of showing up: Quorum vel non
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 24, 2013, 10:19:04 AM
WSJ

Congress Ought to at Least Show Up to Vote
The House and Senate both violate the Constitution's quorum requirement..
By THOMAS BECK

Congress's approval rating continues to hover just above all-time lows, an abysmal 15% in the most recent Gallup poll. Americans are clearly frustrated by the apparent inability of elected representatives in Washington to address critical issues like government overspending. Yet even when Congress does act, it is often acting unconstitutionally—because it lacks a quorum.

The Constitution imposes a straightforward quorum requirement on both houses of the legislative branch. Article I, Section 5 states that "a majority of each [house] shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number of them may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members . . ."

The plain meaning is that a majority of the membership must be in attendance to conduct legislative business. When any group smaller than a majority is present, it can do only two things: adjourn and compel the attendance of absent members.

Yet Congress—particularly the Senate—too often proceeds without a quorum. The Senate conducts much of its business by "unanimous consent." This is a procedural device that allows virtually any action to be taken so long as no senator actively objects.

A classic example is the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. This was important legislation, but the Senate passed it on Sept. 11, 2008, as the result of a unanimous consent motion by Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) with only a handful of senators present. Shortly after passage, Mr. Harkin himself formally suggested the absence of a quorum.

The majority of presidential appointees are confirmed by unanimous consent in a chamber containing far fewer than 51 senators. For instance, at the time of this writing, all of the presidentially appointed members of the Securities and Exchange Commission were confirmed by unanimous consent without a quorum present, as were four of the five members of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The House of Representatives also occasionally disregards the Constitution's quorum requirement—as it did on Dec. 23, 2011, when it extended the payroll tax cut by unanimous consent with nowhere close to a majority of members present.

Congress has ignored the quorum requirement for decades, yet neither the president nor the courts has questioned the practice. The one time the Supreme Court was called upon to apply the quorum requirement was in the 1892 case of United States v. Ballin. A statute was challenged on the basis that, while a majority was present in the House when the act was passed, a majority didn't cast votes on it. A unanimous Supreme Court explained that what matters is whether a majority is present: "All that the Constitution requires is the presence of a majority, and when that majority are present the power of the House arises."

How do the Senate and House sidestep the need for this majority requirement? They presume that a quorum is present unless the absence of a quorum is affirmatively established. Yet while the Constitution grants each chamber the authority to establish its own procedural rules, this authority isn't a license to avoid constitutional mandates. In Ballin the court noted that a chamber "may not by its rules ignore constitutional restraints or violate fundamental rights."

More recent cases have confirmed this principle. In Powell v. McCormack (1969), the Supreme Court prohibited the House from imposing qualifications for membership beyond those expressly set forth in the Constitution.

James Madison's journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 chronicles the Framers' thinking about the quorum requirement. As the Constitution was being drafted and debated, Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts suggested that a quorum should be less than a majority, "otherwise great delay might happen in business."

In response, George Mason of Virginia explained that "it would be dangerous . . . to allow a small number of members of the two houses to make laws." Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut supported the majority quorum requirement as a way to assure the people that "no law or burden could be imposed on them by a few men."

Mason and Ellsworth had it right. The cumbersome procedural requirements in the Constitution were designed to elevate the freedom of the people over the convenience of the government. This is why a new law must pass through two legislative chambers instead of one, and it is why the executive is given veto power even after legislation has cleared both chambers.

These constraints create delay and often block legislation. Yet the Framers understood what is sometimes overlooked today: Government functions through legalized coercion. The Framers crafted a Constitution that would make it difficult for the government to exercise its coercive power.

Simply put, if a matter is important enough to deserve congressional attention, taking action warrants the attendance of at least a majority of our elected representatives.

Mr. Beck is the author of "Constitutional Separation of Powers: Cases & Commentary" (Vandeplas Publishing, 2010).
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - Mark Sanford
Post by: DougMacG on May 09, 2013, 11:44:16 AM
The Mark Sanford candidacy and election could be harmful to the Republican brand elsewhere and his personal baggage cost him at least 5 points Tuesday, but his win of that seat means the House will be one seat harder for Democrats and Obama to capture and that the polls are back to over-estimating Dem support by between 5-10 points.  Sanford was favored by 1% and won by 9%.

Sean Trende of RCP predicts 2014 House results will be between a 5 seat gain and a 10 seat loss for Democrats.  They need a 17 seat gain to gain control.  The vast majority of the seats on both sides are a match for the electorate of that district, meaning that most are not very vulnerable in the upcoming, mid-term election.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/05/08/the_meaning_of_mark_sanfords_win_118328.html
Title: Congressional races, 17 months to go, the ads are up
Post by: DougMacG on May 23, 2013, 11:13:13 PM
First ad of the cycle is Michelle Bachmann touting that the House passed her bill, repealing Obamacare for the 37th time.  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/16/house-votes-to-repeal-obamacare-in-22-125-vote/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/michele-bachmann-obamacare_n_3293331.html
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/michele-bachmann-launches-tv-ads-17-months-before-election-91510.html

My first reaction is Oh no!  But on second thought at least it is an issue ad.  It doesn't really try to persuade but it makes clear her opposition as well as the importance and urgency of the issue. The ad should lead viewers to ask themselves, are we really going to change over our health care system to one that people don't want that is loaded with problems?
Title: Bachmann won’t seek reelection
Post by: bigdog on May 29, 2013, 04:51:18 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/302277-bachmann-wont-seek-reelection-in-2014
Title: Re: Bachmann won’t seek reelection
Post by: DougMacG on May 29, 2013, 06:49:41 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/302277-bachmann-wont-seek-reelection-in-2014

Bigdog, that is quite shocking.  A week ago she was running reelection ads?  I believe she was the number one fundraiser in congress.  The money gets mostly wasted because about 90% of the twin cities media market is not in her district.

Could mean a number of things.  Perhaps her ethics problem is larger than it looks or that she wants out of public service.  More likely is that she will enter a statewide race against the weak incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton or Sen. Al Franken. 

Bachmann: "I want you to be assured that is no future option or opportunity — be it directly in the political arena or otherwise that I won’t be giving serious consideration — if it can help save and protect our great nation for future generations.”   http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/michele-bachmanns-exit-strategy-the-note/

Other candidates stepping forward to run in Minnesota's most conservative district: http://www.letfreedomringblog.com/?p=14843
Matt Dean announces interest in Michele Bachmann’s seat
May 29th, 2013
Matt Dean has confirmed that he’s thinking about running for the seat left open by Michele Bachmann’s retirement.  Matt Dean is a formidable candidate. First, he’s got a good understanding of the Sixth District. He’s participated in townhall meetings throughout the District, including in St. Cloud. Second, his message is a great fit for the Sixth District. Third, Matt’s got the ability to work across the aisle without sacrificing his principles...
Third, he’s got a great understanding of two issues that are important to the Sixth District: health care and education. Fourth, he’s got a track record of being the taxpayers’ watchdog...
Title: T. Paine
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 03, 2013, 04:39:31 AM
"No country can be called free which is governed by an absolute power; and it
matters not whether it be an absolute royal power or an absolute legislative power,
as the consequences will be the same to the people."

--Thomas Paine, Four Letters on Interesting Subjects, 1776
Title: MAdison, Federalist 63, 1788
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 18, 2013, 12:30:02 PM
"The people can never willfully betray their own interests: But they may possibly be betrayed by the representatives of the people; and the danger will be evidently greater where the whole legislative trust is lodged in the hands of one body of men, than where the concurrence of separate and dissimilar bodies is required in every public act."
--James Madison, Federalist No. 63, 1788
Title: Reid moves to change Senate Rules
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 10, 2013, 06:58:04 PM
Perhaps BD could add some light to the heat here:

Harry Reid Moves to Destroy the Senate Rules that are Blocking Passage of Gun Control

You can’t be “just a little bit pregnant.”
Similarly, you can’t cheat “just a little.”
Once you have made it clear that you are willing to break the rules in order to win, the rules are meaningless.
So it is with some alarm that we note that Harry Reid -- in an exercise of raw power -- intends within the next week to try to openly break the Senate rules in order to confirm all pending Executive Branch nominees.
You may remember that, at the beginning of the year, Reid made the specious argument that you could change the rules at the beginning of a two-year congressional session -- and only at the beginning of the congressional session.
Well, we are no longer at the start of the term.
A quarter of the 113th Congress had now come and gone. And even the pseudo-intellectual arguments for obliterating the Senate rules are gone.
This is an exercise in raw political power. This is an effort by Reid to say: “I can cheat whenever I want. And no one can stop me.”
The first showdown case will occur over efforts to fill the National Labor Relations Board. You may remember that Obama was slapped down by the courts for appointing these “members” as “recess appointments” when Congress wasn’t in recess.
Now, having been caught cheating, Obama and Reid are threatening to tip over the chess board in order to confirm these illegal “recess appointments.”
But that’s just the beginning.
Once it is impossible to filibuster Executive Branch appointments, Obama will soon carry through on his word to slam through a rabidly anti-gun zealot to head the ATF.
And does anyone think that the Senate would comply with the niceties of the rules it has obliterated -- if what was at stake was an anti-gun zealot nominated to the Supreme Court in order to overturn the Heller and McDonald decisions?
Finally, it is just not credible for Reid to say: “I’m going to cheat. But I’m going to define the way in which I cheat to limit my cheating to this narrow way.”
All year, MSNBC has been whining that Democrat gun control has been thwarted by the Senate filibuster rules.
If the Senate’s filibuster rules are obliterated, you can be sure that the Toomey-Manchin amendment -- with its universal gun registries -- would soon be brought up again and passed.
Gun owners should realize that the Feinstein gun and magazine bans lost by such a large margin only because a lot of anti-gun senators knew they would not muster the 60 votes needed. If there were a 50-vote margin -- and their votes made a difference -- many of these anti-gunners would switch their votes and pass Feinstein.
So the reason gun control did not pass is because the Senate rules allowing us to filibuster it. They may seem dry and boring, but the question of whether we win or lose will depend on them.
ACTION:  Contact Your Senator. Tell him to oppose Harry Reid’s “cheat scheme” to violate the Senate rules in order to change the Senate rules.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on July 12, 2013, 04:47:48 AM
http://democrats.senate.gov/2005/04/26/floor-statement-of-senator-reid-on-nuclear-option/ (Reid on nuclear option, in 2005)

I believe the rules can be changed at any time, but that Reid's initial comment about rules changes only at the beginning of a new Congress is tradition.

At the heart of it, Article I, section 5: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings...".

Stupid, shortsighted idea, regardless of political ideology.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 12, 2013, 06:26:56 AM
Thank you BD.

Just to be clear, exactly what is the "stupid short sighted idea"?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on July 12, 2013, 07:26:00 AM
"Just to be clear, exactly what is the 'stupid short sighted idea'?"

The proposed rules change. First, like it or not, it is Senate precedent. Second of all, there will come a time when Dems will regret the change, if it comes to pass. And then complain about it. The time horizon that politicians are able to see is remarkably short.
Title: Speak softly … and carry a nuclear stick
Post by: bigdog on July 14, 2013, 02:40:35 AM
More on Reid and the nuclear option:

http://themonkeycage.org/2013/07/14/speak-softly-and-carry-a-nuclear-stick/
Title: Re: Speak softly … and carry a nuclear stick
Post by: DougMacG on July 14, 2013, 08:06:51 AM
More on Reid and the nuclear option:
http://themonkeycage.org/2013/07/14/speak-softly-and-carry-a-nuclear-stick/

Interesting commentary.  Meet the Press just had both Harry Reid and then Mitch McConnell on this morning.  Both were rather cautious and evasive on the rules point.  Reid making that point that it is only about this and not that, etc. Both had served as minority leader under the other and majority leader over the other.  Both were caught up with their own opposing positions made previously.  Neither knows which one will be in the majority after the Senate elections in 2014 and 2016 nor under which party's President they will serve after 2016.  

Bottom line seems to be that the Senate can make its own rules (other than treaties, veto overrides etc.) at anytime but has to live with the public perception of that and the aftermath of it in the pendulum swings of power.
Title: US Congressional races, Sweitzer out, Senate up for grabs in 2014
Post by: DougMacG on July 14, 2013, 09:01:43 AM
 'stupid short sighted idea' ..."there will come a time when Dems will regret the change, if it comes to pass. And then complain about it. The time horizon that politicians are able to see is remarkably short."


In 2014, Republicans again have opportunity knocking to take back the Senate, having blown the chance in 2010 and 2012 with a few lousy candidates in a few states running lousy campaigns. 

Former Montana Gov. (Dem) Brian Schweitzer announced he will not run for that open seat, greatly helping Republicans chances to win that open seat.  Romney won that state by 14 points. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/13/former-montana-governor-schweitzer-wont-run-for-senate/

One analyst predicts Republicans will win all three, the House, Senate and Presidency in 2016, then lose the Senate back in 2018.  (Hence the tap dance of both parties in the Senate over rules.)  http://meganmcardle.com/2013/07/12/why-i-think-the-gop-will-have-control-in-2017/


National Journal: Why Republicans Think They've Got the Math for a Senate Majority
Brian Schweitzer's decision not to run for the Senate greatly increases the odds of a GOP takeover in 2014.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-republicans-think-they-ve-got-the-math-for-a-senate-majority-20130713

For the first time this year, Republican strategists believe they're within striking distance of taking back control of the Senate, thanks to untimely Democratic Senate retirements and red-state Democratic recruits deciding not to run for Congress. The latest blow to Democrats: former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's surprising decision Saturday to pass up a campaign.

Republican recognize that they only need to win three Senate seats in the most of conservative of states -- Arkansas, Louisiana and Alaska -- and Mitch McConnell could be a Majority Leader in 2015. (That is, if McConnell can hold onto his own Kentucky seat.) The latest developments underline how punishing the map is for Democrats for 2014, and little margin for error they have.

Democrats can afford to lose up to five Senate seats and still maintain their majority, but they already risk conceding over half that number before campaigning even gets underway.

...Schweitzer's backing out is illustrative to a mounting recruiting problem for Senate Democrats in conservative states, which make up a disproportionate share of the battleground matchups in 2014. The party has failed to persuade any of its top choices in West Virginia, where Rep. Nick Rahall and attorney Nick Preservati passed on bids. In South Dakota, the party missed out on former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and the son of retiring Sen. Tim Johnson. In Georgia, Rep. John Barrow decided not to run, but the party rallied behind Michelle Nunn, daughter of former senator Sam Nunn. The party's biggest red-state recruit is Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, whose campaign against McConnell has gotten off to a rocky start.

...Republicans have struggled to recruit top candidates in the traditional battlegrounds -- against Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado and for open seats in Iowa and Michigan.

But if Democrats struggle to put Montana in play without Schweitzer, that means the path to a majority will run through Louisiana and Alaska, not the more Obama-friendly confines of the Midwest and Northeast. That's an unnerving proposition for Democrats, given how badly the party has struggled outside their comfort zone lately.

Title: Vital Statistics on Congress
Post by: bigdog on July 25, 2013, 04:37:40 AM
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/07/vital-statistics-congress-mann-ornstein

And I quote:


Vital Statistics’ purpose has always been to collect useful data on our first branch of government – in the election and composition of its membership as well as its formal procedure, such as the use of the filibuster, informal norms, party structure and staff. This dataset also documents the increasing polarization of Congress and the demographics of those who serve in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Over the years, we’ve received innumerable requests for updated versions of the chapters in between printings of the published book. We heard you and have now changed the way we present Vital Statistics’ data: We’ve put the book online, making each chapter available online as a collection of spreadsheets for download at no cost. This new interactive format allows us to update and correct the data more frequently and make it accessible to anyone interested in learning about Congress. We’ve formatted the tables so that each is both printer-friendly and read-writable.
Title: US Congress/Senate: Rep Tom Cotton running in Arkansas
Post by: DougMacG on July 31, 2013, 09:46:51 PM
Republicans just picked up a seat in my read of this.  Besides helping the partisan chase the majority in the Senate, this is a big break for America and the survival of the republic IMHO.  Arkansans already know who Tom Cotton is.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-arks-cotton-run-us-senate
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Republican Rep. Tom Cotton plans to announce his bid next week to challenge two-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in next year's elections, according to a person familiar with the congressman's plans.

Cotton was elected to the U.S. House in 2012, ... Cotton, 36, is a former management consultant who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pryor is viewed by many Republicans as the most vulnerable Senate incumbent next year, especially after recent GOP gains in Arkansas. Republicans in November took over the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction and swept all four of the state's U.S. House seats.

Republicans are trying to unseat Pryor and three other Democratic incumbents who represent states that Republican Mitt Romney won in last year's presidential race: Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.  Democrats need to defend 21 seats, including seven in largely rural states that Obama lost in 2012.  Republicans need to pick up six seats to regain Senate control.

Since taking office in January, Cotton has enjoyed a high profile with multiple appearances on national programs such as Meet the Press. Cotton in July wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal opposing Senate immigration legislation.

Cotton's appeal to conservative activists stems from his resume as a Harvard-educated veteran who's known for his rhetorical flourishes.



___
Title: Sen. (ret) Fred Thompson; Absence of Congressional oversight
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 12, 2013, 10:00:43 AM
Back when Glenn Beck had his show on FOX, he spoke frequently and well about the increasing weakness of Congress as an institution.  Here Fred Thompson makes a similar point:

http://www.fredthompsonsamerica.com/2013/08/12/time-for-oversight-of-congress-lack-of-oversight/#?RID=35136363C1
Title: Re: Congressional races - Lindsey Graham, Too much DC in SC
Post by: DougMacG on August 26, 2013, 01:03:51 PM
Speaking of incumbents reelected that don't serve their constituencies well, look at South Carolina Republicans scramble to replace (RINO?) Lindsey Graham.

"Too much DC in SC" says Carolina Conservative Union Chairman, Bruce Carroll:
http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/lindsey-graham-too-much-dc-for-sc-says-ccu-chairman-bruce-carroll-10505/
Title: The Top 8 Most Fascinating Recruits (So Far)
Post by: bigdog on September 13, 2013, 09:31:45 AM
http://atr.rollcall.com/top-8-most-fascinating-recruits-so-far/?pos=epol

Some background on some congressional hopefuls.
Title: NJ's Cory Booker, compulsive liar, hypocrite, should make a good Senator
Post by: DougMacG on September 22, 2013, 10:37:27 AM
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/09/on-the-booker-beat.php

http://nypost.com/2013/09/21/a-big-act-newark-mayors-urban-tall-tales/

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/358788/empty-promise-eliana-johnson
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 15, 2013, 08:42:51 AM
Bigdog from 'Politics' today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jd-iaYLO1A&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0Jd-iaYLO1A&app=desktop

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/328413-dems-decry-midnight-rule-change
----------------------

One thing missing in the story is when did the Dems last use that same House rule they now decry?  Never?  They just state that it was a "long standing" rule. I thought it was well-known fact that under either party the majority controls what goes to the floor for a vote in the House.

"arguing it shows GOP leaders closed agencies intentionally"...

Does it argue that?  One doesn't have to look deep to know that, other than the controversial healthcare program, the House already voted to fund the agencies that the story implies were "intentionally" closed.  Unfortunately that is another fact not mentioned in the story.  As the title said, it was a story about Dems Decrying, not about journalists digging.

"Oh mercy, it just gets deeper and deeper".  - Yes it does.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on October 15, 2013, 12:00:15 PM
"I thought it was well-known fact that under either party the majority controls what goes to the floor for a vote in the House."

I look forward to the Democrat takeover in the House, so you can say this again. Literally, of course, you are right about the rulemaking in the House, but when the House majority takes this step, you wonder why the GOP is "losing" the shutdown. Moves like this might explain it.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 15, 2013, 02:34:48 PM
I look forward to the Democrat takeover in the House, so you can say this again. [The majority controls what goes to a vote in the House.]

You don't strike me as someone who would prefer total Dem Politburo rule to divided government.  (Is this just to see me squirm?) Obviously I don't like Dem control of the House but I do know who controls the House when Dems win it.  This President, this Senate and this media think their own wins in these other venues mean they also control the House.  But that is only true when Republicans hand the keys to them.

I missed where in the rules it says all agencies must be funded in one bill, much less where it says one congress is bound by law or conscience to fully fund the programs of the previous.

Republicans don't need untimely or unsightly rule changes to lose PR battles.  They have been losing these since at least the JFK election.  Last time Republicans lost a shutdown battle it led to a balanced budget.  Not all bad.



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on October 15, 2013, 11:31:01 PM
We (me, Doug, Crafty) had an exchange about Senate rules changes in July of this year, on this thread. Doug, I fully admit to misremembering your position. With apologies.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 16, 2013, 07:44:54 AM
Thank you Bigdog.

I think this is the July post he references:
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1273.msg73875#msg73875
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 16, 2013, 09:55:45 AM
Nice teamwork.  BTW I pat myself on the back for my decision to organize threads by subject matter  :lol:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on October 16, 2013, 02:48:54 PM
You are quite welcome, Doug.

There was actually a series of five or so posts on the topic, but yes, the link is to one of them.

Thank you Bigdog.

I think this is the July post he references:
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1273.msg73875#msg73875
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 17, 2013, 09:47:30 AM
I did wrote to my Republican congressman this morning with points I have tried to make here on the forum.

A short time ago I wrote to urge you to stand strong.

From your press release:  "...hoped for a better outcome, including the repeal of the medical device tax"

You don't get a better outcome when your opponents know that, in the end, over a third of Republicans will side with them. 

I agree with your opposition to the Medical Device Tax, but that is one small example of why Obamacare is a historic disaster for the country.  Opposing that tax but voting to fund Obamacare makes no meaningful distinction between your position and many (Minnesota) Democrats such as Al Franken.

Refusal to increase a borrower's credit limit is not default. See Rep Schweikert's comments, "none of you were math majors were you?"  http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/10/15/house_republicans_want_to_make_it_harder_for_treasury_to_avoid_a_debt_crisis.html  Accepting the opponents' framing of the arguments was a part of the loss we just witnessed.

What requires government funding to be all in one bill?  Why do we accept the premise that 113th Congress must fund all the programs passed by the 111th Congress? Does liberal control of the Presidency, Senate and media give them control of the House. Article 1 says no.  The only leverage they have is Republicans voting with Democrats.  (Everyone on our side should write to one.)

If you who oppose big government, but in the end side with them, and you know a better time, place or strategy to dismantle Obamcare before it becomes permanently entrenched, I look forward to seeing that happen.   I don't look forward to convening an angry caucus in (our town) this February and explaining why we support candidates that go to Washington and end up siding with our opponents and funding their programs.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 20, 2013, 02:03:40 PM
BD:

Coming back to what you posted a few days ago about the House changing the rules with the effect of the Dems bringing something up for a vote.  Not to argue, but out of respect for your opinion and the knowledge upon which it is based-- How is this any different from Sen. Reid blocking things from coming up for a vote in the Senate?

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on October 20, 2013, 02:13:07 PM
If I understand your question, there isn't any... which is what led to my apology to Doug of a day or two ago. I think that both parties (D in the Senate with guns; R in the HoR with budget) made a mistake by altering the rules for short-term gain, but it was their mistake to make.
Title: partisan divide in the Senate
Post by: bigdog on November 14, 2013, 03:47:04 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/the-splitting-of-the-senate--now-in-convenient-gif-form-213908185.html
Title: the (near) death of the filibuster
Post by: bigdog on November 21, 2013, 11:12:36 AM
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/harry-reid-nuclear-option-100199.html

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304607104579211881413579404

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/21/9-reasons-the-filibuster-change-is-a-huge-deal/?tid=sm_fb
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 21, 2013, 04:14:45 PM
CNN today had there guests on.  Tobin and the WH correspondent.  The latter, I cannot think of his name was claiming Reid did this because too many Obama judicial nominees were being blocked and of course they proceed to show charts that it is far more than in previous Presidents.

It seems more than coincidence that Reid does this NOW just as the Dems political fortunes have dropped since the Obamacare debacle.

Got to ram through as many liberals into the Fed Court system as possible in case they lose.  It always seems like the Dems are the ones to elevate the dirty nature of the fighting.

How many filibusters have there been all together not just judicial nominees?
Title: A different view of dirty Harry's move
Post by: ccp on November 21, 2013, 05:49:35 PM
Just as I figured.  The charts on CNN are part of the Democratic propaganda machine trying to convince that the Republicans are unprecedented in their obstructionism.
I was looking for a Conservative take and this so far fits the bill.  MSM cannot be trusted.  Reid's move is all about the Dems prospects for '14 having gone down in the last few weeks:

*****Are Republicans really blocking Obama’s judicial nominees at ‘unprecedented’ levels?

By Eric Pfeiffer 1 hour ago
    
President Obama addresses the nuclear option during a news conference on Thursday (AP)

When  President Obama gave his blessing to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to invoke the so-called “nuclear option,”  he said the effort by Republicans to block his nominees was “unprecedented.”

"Today's pattern of obstruction, it just isn't normal," Obama said. "I support the step a majority of senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business."

However, that’s only partially true.

Looking at all of Obama’s nominees across his administration, he has suffered unprecedented levels of obstruction, according to the Wall Street Journal. But when it comes to judicial nominees – the process that sparked Senate Democrats to approve the nuclear option on Thursday – he’s really just suffering from a historically negative trend going back more than two decades.

According to congressional data, former President George W. Bush actually had a lower percentage of circuit court nominees approved during his time in office than Obama.

And when it comes to the amount of time it takes for circuit court nominees to get approved, Bush and Obama are actually in surprisingly close company, with Bush fairing slightly worse. (See chart)

Obstruction of judicial nominees first became a regular practice during President Clinton’s time in office, and the amount of time it takes for a nominee to be approved skyrocketed during George W. Bush’s presidency.

According to a May report from the Congressional Research Service, President Obama had 71.4% of his circuit court nominees approved during his first term, which is slightly better than George W. Bush’s 67.3% level of success during his first term.

President Obama also didn't fare the worst when it comes to district court nominees. During his first term, 82.7% of Obama’s district court nominees were approved, George H.W. Bush had 76.9% of his nominees approved.

Interestingly, H.W. Bush is the only president during this period who had fewer court vacancies at the end of his first term than he did at the beginning. However, Obama is the only president who suffered an increased vacancy during his first term without more court positions being created.

But in recent years, it’s the amount of time it takes to get a nominee approved where the most radical change has taken place.

For example, during Reagan’s first term, it only took 45.5 days for one of his nominees to get approved. That number escalated only marginally over the next 20 years. But by the time George W. Bush was in office, the number skyrocketed to 277 days. Obama has fared slightly better than Bush, with his nominees taking 225.5 days to get approved. But historically speaking, it’s still a severe departure from most presidencies.

Obama’s district court nominees have also suffered from extended confirmation delays. Again, Reagan’s nominees breezed through, with just a 28-day waiting period during his first term, compared with 215 days for Obama.

So, at the end of the day, Obama’s experience may not be quite as unique as he wants the public to believe. But if the nuclear option does reverse the historical trend of obstruction, it’s a move that future presidents, both Republican and Democrat, will likely be thankful for.*****
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 21, 2013, 06:04:26 PM
Good discussion of this today on the Bret Baier Special Report:

All agreed that both sides have displayed extreme situational ethics e.g. Obama and Biden in 2005-2006 and now.

Krauthammer not too bothered, thinks Dems will regret it after the next elections.

George Will argues that the Founders intended for intensity of feeling to matter, not just numbers of votes. When the rule of law is that the rules change as majorities change, there is not law except that of the mob.  This makes sense to me.
Title: Sebelius is the Big Loser in Today's Filibuster Game-Changer
Post by: bigdog on November 23, 2013, 12:22:40 AM
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2013/11/21-filibuster-reform-obamacare-sebelius-hudak

From the article:

Problems exist in HHS. No one denies it. However, for many appointees in the Department, the Senate rules served as a life preserver in a torrent of poor implementation, managerial failures, and bad PR. So long as the president faced the prospect of long-term vacancies among appointees overseeing ACA, the HHS leadership would be spared.

Today, that all changed. Moving forward, President Obama needs the support of only 51 Senate Democrats to replace top-level political appointees throughout the executive branch. This offers the president substantial breathing room. Nominees no longer need the support of every Democrat and a scarcely identifiable five Republicans. Instead, nominees can draw the ire of as many as four Democrats and still be confirmed
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 23, 2013, 04:31:31 AM
Now Obama can p ut more hardcore Marxists and dem political hacks into key positions! Bill Ayers finally gets to run the Dept. of Education.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 23, 2013, 09:39:30 AM
Another strand here is that the DC circuit court overseas most regulatory matters.  Currently it is 4-4 with three vacant seats.  With Baraq getting to appoint 3 judges that becomes a 7-4 virtual sure thing for expansion of bureaucratic liberal fascism.

Of course I get that we should not play situational ethics, I but note the situational ethics of the Dems in this play.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on November 23, 2013, 10:18:14 AM
Another strand here is that the DC circuit court overseas most regulatory matters.  Currently it is 4-4 with three vacant seats.  With Baraq getting to appoint 3 judges that becomes a 7-4 virtual sure thing for expansion of bureaucratic liberal fascism.

Of course I get that we should not play situational ethics, I but note the situational ethics of the Dems in this play.



On your first point: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/191251-filibuster-change-clears-path-for-obama-climate-regulations

On your second, let's recall that the GOP wanted the rules change in '05. Both parties are guilty of "situational ethics."
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 23, 2013, 12:43:03 PM
a) Thank you.

b) Duh, of course, but I note that the Reps did compromise i.e. no nuclear option, yes?


===================================

Morris makes the case against:

Obama And Reid Stage De Facto Coup D'État
By DICK MORRIS
Published on DickMorris.com on November 21, 2013

Printer-Friendly Version
Over the past several years, conservatives have complained that President Obama was usurping power disregarding Congress and the Constitution and governing by decree.

But on Thursday, there was a virtual coup d'état on the floor of the U.S. Senate when the Democrats -- in a party-line vote -- stripped the Republicans of any role in judicial confirmations.  Added to an earlier measure that eliminated their role in confirmations of appointments to executive branch agencies, Reid and Obama have turned the confirmation process -- an essential element in the checks and balances enumerated in the Constitution -- into a meaningless ritual.

Until Thursday, confirmations to judicial positions required the assent of 60 Senators to bring them to the floor for a vote.  With the Democrats holding 55 seats -- five short of a "super-majority", this check and balance stopped the appointment of ultra-radical judges and inhibited Obama's efforts to stack the courts with like-minded judges, just as it had stopped Bush and every president before him.

But by a simple majority vote, Reid has changed the rules so that a simple majority is enough to confirm any judge other than a Supreme Court nominee.  (One suspects that the minute a vacancy on the high court occurs, the 60 vote requirement will be stripped from the rules governing the replacement's confirmation as well).
 
This horrific violation of the principles of our Constitution is specifically targeted at stopping efforts by litigants to stop other violations of the same document.  With Obama imposing environmental, immigration, labor, health care, and other rules without so much as asking Congress, those who are concerned about the concentration of executive power could look to the court system for redress.  Specifically, they focused on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the second highest court in the land.

It is before the DC Circuit that all appeals from Obama's administrative decisions come for review.  Currently the court is balanced with four Democratic and four Republican judges.  As such, we could all breathe easily knowing that a fair review of his usurpations was in the offing.

But the Court has 11 judges.  Three are vacant.  Obama has sought to fill thee three slots with fellow travelers who can be counted on to toe his line.  Republicans have blocked the confirmation of these three judges.  It is to jam them through that Reid has changed the rules.  So not only has he silenced dissent in the Senate, he has made sure there is none on the Circuit Court as well.

Republicans have pointed out that the caseload of the DC Circuit has dropped and have urged that the three vacant judgeships be eliminated, preserving the partisan balance.  But Obama doesn't want balance.  He wants absolute power. 

Now the only thing standing between him and his goal are five aging members of the US Supreme Court.

The practical implication of this coup is that we now are moving more and more toward a parliamentary system in the U.S. rather than one based on checks and balances as our forefathers set up.  We are nearing an elected dictatorship where the president can do what he wants with a compliant Senate willing to confirm judges who grant him the power to do so, Constitution or not.

It is this development, more than any specific act of the president's that has to alarm true democrats (with a small "d").  It sure alarms me.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on November 23, 2013, 02:04:34 PM
A) You are quite welcome. You made a good point, and I saw an article that supported it.

B) Yep. 2 things: 1, I've been arguing for a while here and elsewhere that if/when the Dems used the Nuke option they would eventually rue the day. I still feel this way. We'll see in a year or so if the GOP reverts to the old filibuster rule. It will be their option, I think... and I doubt they do.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 24, 2013, 10:28:51 PM
This view agrees with BD that Democrats will 'rue the day'...

"For conservatives upset about the filibuster changes, consider this: since the nationwide direct election of Senators started in 1913, the Republican Party has never held sixty seats in the Senate following an election. The filibuster, when used as a partisan weapon, forces a national grand coalition government that sanctifies minor changes to status quo. Its demise means it’s now possible for conservatives to pass their agenda."  - Henry Olsen, AEI
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 24, 2013, 10:39:07 PM
Agreed.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on November 25, 2013, 03:12:58 AM
Agreed.

I think I just saw flying pigs!  :lol:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 25, 2013, 03:23:26 AM
With the new rules, it's very possible to run on the promise to repeal obamacare. Should be very promising the next few elections.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on November 25, 2013, 05:53:03 AM
I understood where you are coming from. I am surprised sometimes when we agree on an issue or point.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 25, 2013, 06:54:20 AM
"With the new rules, it's very possible to run on the promise to repeal Obamacare"

A very interesting point , , , if we beat Hillary
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 25, 2013, 07:14:52 AM
"With the new rules, it's very possible to run on the promise to repeal Obamacare"

A very interesting point , , , if we beat Hillary

Will Hill run on repealing Obamacare?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 25, 2013, 07:54:07 AM
"With the new rules, it's very possible to run on the promise to repeal Obamacare"

A very interesting point , , , if we beat Hillary

Yes.  the keyword is possible.  Also possible is that Republicans will blow the third straight chance to re-take the Senate, the second straight chance to take back the Presidency, and live under a growing, cancerous statism forever.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 25, 2013, 07:56:19 AM
No one can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the 'pubs.
Title: Is Tom Cotton the Future of the GOP?
Post by: bigdog on December 06, 2013, 09:37:48 AM
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-this-36-year-old-veteran-the-future-of-the-gop-20131206

From the article:


Deuschle never found anything to justify her suspicion, but she did touch on what's thrilled Republicans and captivated Washingtonians since Cotton arrived just 11 months ago as the newest representative of Arkansas's 4th District: He seems too good to be true. With his sterling résumé—he has undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard and served in both of America's post-9/11 wars—Cotton seems like a throwback to another era, when military service and an Ivy League pedigree were common plot points on the road to elected office
Title: Tea Party challenge to incumbent Rep Sen from Mississippi
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 07, 2013, 05:58:48 AM
http://app.nytimes.com/?hp=&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131207#2013/12/07/us/challenged-by-tea-party-veteran-mississippi-senator-decides-to-run-again
Title: Senate Seats That Could Flip Parties in 2014, Sean Trende, RCP
Post by: DougMacG on December 12, 2013, 09:06:32 AM
The good news, if this is a real sweep year, R's could pick up 9 or 10 seats.  The bad news, in order to hold onto the Senate in 2016, R's will HAVE to pick up 9 or 10 seats this year.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/12/12/senate_seats_that_could_flip_parties_in_2014.html
Read it all, if interested.  I'll post one chart.  R's have some shot at winning up to about  'D+2' and maybe Michigan, D+4.
(http://www.realclearpolitics.com/images/wysiwyg_images/Senate-Chart-12-12B.jpg)

---------------

Robert Gibbs (former Obama spokesman) said "if these numbers hold up, it's going to be very, very tough to get around that and see somehow that Democrats retain the Senate or have a reasonable chance of winning the House"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/12/12/gibbs_if_numbers_hold_up_its_tough_to_see_how_dems_keep_senate.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 12, 2013, 10:08:17 AM
The Republicans are on target to win by default.  Not win with an agenda as far as I can see.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 12, 2013, 10:16:23 AM
The same was said here by some of us with regard to the 2012 presidential election.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 12, 2013, 10:57:55 AM
"The Republicans are on target to win by default.  Not win with an agenda as far as I can see."

"The same was said here by some of us with regard to the 2012 presidential election."
---------------

That's right.  Thomas Sowell made a point that I took a rare disagreement with, that politics is zero-sum.  When R's screw up, Dems gain. That makes sense.  But when Dems screw up, it only opens an opportunity, and is not an automatic vote for Republicans nor does their failure alone create any new conservatives, libertarians or Republicans.  On this, Crafty has been right on the money in asking, what is our answer, what is our message, what is our policy that would replace theirs and why, how do we explain this better.  Here on the forum, we are constantly agonizing over how to do that.  In Washington it seems they are not.

In 2012, Romney spent the final stretch on defense, I'm not as bad of a guy as you think I am and that they told you that I am, he told us.  Meanwhile, unspoken and un-promoted was the fact that his economic plan would have led us out of this economic misery and that his Supreme Court appointments might have at least attempted to uphold the constitution.

In elections, you need personalities and sound bites, but during these periods in between elections it seems to me that we can take on the longer arguments as to why these philosophies and policies of theirs are misguided - and what kinds of policies will work. 

So far we are divided, confused and playing defense.


Title: Boehner lashes at conservative groups
Post by: bigdog on December 12, 2013, 11:12:19 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/192955-boehner-lashes-at-conservative-groups-theyve-lost-all-credibility

From the article:

The Speaker didn’t cite any organizations by name, but he was clearly referring to a collection of Tea Party and conservative groups that have opposed nearly every significant piece of fiscal legislation he has presented to his members. They include Heritage Action, the political arm of the influential think tank, as well as the Tea Party-aligned FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.
Title: Congress not defending the institution of the Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 16, 2013, 05:06:59 AM
A flawed piece in the part that discusses the Reps; it ignores the political consequences of the shutdown, but the larger point about the Founding Fathers design being foiled by loyalty to progressivism above loyalty to Congress seems relevant to me:

======================



http://nationalreview.com/article/365742/impeachment-lessons-andrew-c-mccarthy

Well whaddya know: The topic of impeachment reared its head at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Jonathan Strong’s report here at NRO noted the wincing consternation of GOP-leadership aides at utterances of the “i-word” during the testimony of prominent legal experts. For the Republican establishment, it seems, history begins and ends in the 1990s: No matter how times have perilously changed, any talk of shutdowns or impeachment is bad, bad, bad. Yes, the Obama “uber-presidency,” as left-of-center law professor Jonathan Turley called it, has enveloped the nation in what he conceded is “the most serious constitutional crisis . . . of my lifetime,” but GOP strategists would just as soon have us chattering about immigration “reform” and bravely balancing the federal budget by, oh, around 2040.

But as we discussed in this August column — back when the first anniversary of the Benghazi massacre loomed, back when many Americans still believed that if they liked their health-insurance plans, they could keep their health-insurance plans — it is not crazy to talk about impeaching President Obama. And if you’re going to have a congressional hearing about systematic presidential lawlessness, it is only natural that the word “impeachment” gets bandied about. Not only is impeachment the intended constitutional remedy for systematic presidential lawlessness; it is, practically speaking, the only remedy.

It is beyond cavil that the president is willfully undermining the constitutional system that he swore to preserve, protect, and defend. He presumes to rewrite, and dramatically alter, the laws he vowed to execute faithfully — not once in a blue moon but as a deliberate scheme of governance.

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Before he took office, Obama boldly promised supporters that he would “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” That is just what he is doing. There is fraud in the uber-presidency, but no mystery: Most of Obama’s unconstitutional usurpations are happening in broad daylight. He brags that his “waivers” — i.e., his unilateral amending, repealing, or non-enforcement — of statutory provisions show him to be far-seeing and pragmatic, not lawless. That, of course, is the standard dictatorial self-image. Obama is the answer to Tom Friedman’s China-envying prayers.

Just as there is no mystery in Obama’s disregard for the Constitution, there is no secret about the Constitution’s answer to executive imperialism. The Framers recognized that presidential abuse of power carried the greatest potential to wreck the republic. Adamant that the presidency they were creating must not become a monarchy, they carried on debates over the Constitution that were consumed with precluding this very real possibility. In the end, the Framers armed Congress with two responsive weapons: the power of the purse and the power of impeachment.

As we have seen through the years, the power of the purse is not a practical check on Obama. In the main, this is because the Framers, notwithstanding their prescient alarm over the problem of factions, did not anticipate the modern Left.

The Constitution assumes that the different branches of government will protect their institutional turf. That is, the Framers calculated that, faced with a Democratic president who usurps legislative prerogatives, a Democratic congressman would see himself, first and foremost, as a congressman. Valuing the duties of his office over party loyalty, he would join with other legislators to rein in executive excess.

Today’s Democrats, however, are less members of a party than of the movement Left. Their objective, like Obama’s, is fundamental transformation of a society rooted in individual liberty and private property to one modeled on top-down, redistributionist statism. Since statism advances by concentrating governmental power, Democrats — regardless of what governmental branch they happen to inhabit — rally to whatever branch holds the greatest transformative potential. Right now, that is the presidency. Thus, congressional Democrats do not insist that the president must comply with congressional statutes. Laws, after all, must be consistent with the Constitution to be valid, and are thus apt to reflect the very constitutional values the Left is trying to supplant. Democrats want the president to use the enormous raw power vested in his office by Article II to achieve statist transformation. If he does so, they will support him. They’ll get back to obsessing over the “rule of law” if, by some misfortune, the Republicans someday win another presidential election.

=======================

While Democrats quite intentionally defy the Framers’ design, Republicans frustrate it by aggressive passivity. The Constitution divides power by subject matter, not percentage of governmental control. The party that controls the House has full primacy over taxing and spending, every bit as much as the party that controls the executive branch has plenary control over prosecution decisions. Constitutional authorities are not contingent on how much, if any, control the party in question has over the rest of government. In theory, then, nothing in government can happen unless the House, with ultimate power over the purse, agrees to fund it. If a corrupt administration uses the IRS as a partisan weapon to audit and harass its detractors, the House can refuse to fund the IRS — or other parts of the executive branch — to quell executive overreach.
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Nevertheless, Republicans incessantly tell supporters that, since they control only the House (just “one-half of one-third of the government,” as the tired refrain goes), they are impotent to rein in Obama’s excesses. And when conservatives in the House or Senate urge that Republicans use their command over the purse to stop Obama’s excesses — just as congressional Democrats have historically used the power of the purse to stop Republican presidents from prosecuting the Vietnam War and aiding the Nicaraguan Contras — Republican leadership turns on those conservatives with a ferocity rarely evident in their dealings with the president.

With Democrats energized by Obama’s lawbreaking, and Republicans paralyzed by the prospect of government shutdowns, there is no realistic prospect that Congress will starve Obama of funding. That leaves impeachment as the sole remaining constitutional safeguard against executive imperialism.

There is nothing else.

Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing was enlightening. To the extent that members needed educating on impeachment standards, the experts affirmed the principles we outlined in August. “High crimes and misdemeanors,” the Constitution’s standard for impeachment, are the misdeeds of high officials — what Hamilton referred to as abuses of the “public trust,” violations of a “political” nature in the sense that “they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”

Hamilton’s emphasis on “political” is salient. It is the point that Republican leaders, still licking their wounds 13 years after Bill Clinton left the Oval Office, must grasp if they are ever to take the right lesson from the Nineties.

Impeachment is a political remedy, not a legal one. Thus the quasi-legal component — proving high crimes and misdemeanors — is the easy part. As a practical matter, fundamental transformation cannot occur without high crimes and misdemeanors being committed against the constitutional order that is being transformed. That’s the whole point.

So, as one would expect, President Obama is intentionally and sweepingly violating his oath of office. He is not faithfully executing federal law — he picks, chooses, “waives,” and generally makes up law as he goes along. He has willfully and materially misled the American people — his Obamacare and Benghazi lies being only the most notorious examples. He has been woefully derelict in his duty to protect and defend Americans overseas. His administration trumped up a shameful prosecution (under the guise of a “supervised release violation”) against a filmmaker in order to bolster the “Benghazi massacre was caused by an anti-Muslim video” charade. His administration has used the federal bureaucracy to usurp Congress’s legislative powers and to punish political enemies. Obama has presumed to make recess appointments when Congress was not in recess. His administration intentionally allowed firearms to be transferred to Mexican drug cartels, predictably resulting in numerous violent crimes, including the murder of a Border Patrol agent. His administration — and, in particular, the Justice Department — has routinely stonewalled lawmakers and frustrated their capacity to perform agency oversight, to the point that the attorney general has been held in contempt of Congress. The Obama Justice Department, moreover, has filed vexatious lawsuits against sovereign states over their attempts to vindicate their constitutional authorities (and, indeed, to enforce federal immigration laws), while the Justice Department itself adheres to racially discriminatory enforcement policies in violation of the Constitution and federal civil-rights laws.

This is not an exhaustive list of Obama abuses, but you get the idea. If the only issue were commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, the Constitution requires only one for impeachment — not the Obama pace, which is more like one per week.

But here is the important thing: High crimes and misdemeanors are a subordinate consideration. In an impeachment case, they are necessary but they are not close to being sufficient. Because impeachment is a political remedy, its most essential component is the popular political will to remove a president from power.

The charges against Bill Clinton plainly satisfied the “high crimes and misdemeanors” threshold, and he was clearly guilty of them. But the American people obviously did not want Clinton removed over them. That is the lesson of the Clinton impeachment. It doesn’t matter what can be proved. You can have a hundred articles of impeachment; what counts is what Americans think of their president. The question is not whether the president has done wrong — that will rarely be in dispute. The question is how convinced the public is that a president’s continued hold on power profoundly threatens their safety, prosperity, and sense of what kind of country we should be.

As things now stand, the public is not convinced. There is no political will to remove the president.

Could things change? Of course they could. Richard Nixon won a landslide reelection in 1972 — prevailing by 503 electoral votes and 18 million popular votes — and resigned to avoid certain impeachment and removal less than two years later. Obama, by contrast, won a fairly close reelection (in which his popular-vote tally dropped by about 4 million from his initial election), and his approval ratings are now tanking. Yet, he remains defiant about his agenda — desperately pivoting this week from the Obamacare debacle to that old class-warfare favorite, U.S. “income inequality.” He has signaled every intention to plow ahead for the next three years with unpopular edicts. As he does so, the hard truths about his legacy health-care “reform” will be visited on tens of millions of Americans. Concurrently, his stewardship is making the world an increasingly unstable place. Obama is causing pain, and pain can change people’s minds.

Two things, however, are certain. Absent the political will to remove the president, he will remain president no matter how many high crimes and misdemeanors he stacks up. And absent the removal of the president, the United States will be fundamentally transformed.
Title: Congressional Races: former Sen. Scott Brown moving to New Hampshire
Post by: DougMacG on December 17, 2013, 06:55:51 PM
Scott Brown reportedly has a buyer for his house in Mass.  He already owns one in NH.  Brown will likely continue to work in Boston (unless running for Senate becomes a full time job).  He does not have a license to practice law in NH.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-16/brown-s-move-to-new-hampshire-fuels-talk-of-senate-race.html
Title: US Congress: Sen. Jeff Sessions speaks out on the nuclear, Harry Reid Senate
Post by: DougMacG on December 23, 2013, 10:08:50 AM
If you would like to hear a conservative Senator speak out on what has happened in the Senate, please listen to this interview.  Go to about 28:50 for the introduction and interview conducted by John Hinderacker of Powerline Blog.  They cover the Murray-Ryan budget, amendments blocking, supporting illegal aliens over veterans and the rule changes.  Go to 44:50 for the part on Senate rules.

http://media.ricochet.com/hinderaker-ward-experience-episode-61.mp3  (Commercial-free radio program)

It takes a 3/5ths majority to cut off debate.  Rule 22.  It takes 2/3rds majority to change the rules of the Senate.  The Senate changed the rules with a simple majority.  The Parliamentarian ruled against them and then by simple majority they reversed the ruling of the parliamentarian.

Sen. Carl Levin D-Mich:If the rules can be changed by simple majority, there are no rules - simply majority rule.  Cloture and filibuster used to slow down that process and give some power to the minority.

What will R's do if they take back the majority?  I would hope they reverse some policy damage before restoring traditional rules.
Title: Ted Cruz' will gain a new friend: Meet US Senate candidate Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska
Post by: DougMacG on January 13, 2014, 09:31:14 AM
Good, long article on one of the US Senate seats that Dems will most certainly lose this year. 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368081/obamacares-cornhusker-nemesis-john-j-miller

41-year-old Benjamin Eric Sasse is a fifth-generation Nebraskan
high-school valedictorian
Harvard, “Not because of superior academics, but because of inferior athletics,”
Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md
Ph.D. in history from Yale,  (For the record, I selectively admire good academic credentials!)
Spent his summers “walking beans and detasseling corn” (weeding soybean fields and controlling corn pollination)
Chief of staff at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy
Assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services
During the final two years of the Bush administration, Sasse dealt with health policy every day
Held debates with former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean
President of Midland University, in his home town of Fremont, one of the fastest-growing colleges in the Midwest
String of high-profile endorsements: Senate Conservatives Fund, Club for Growth in November, and congressman Paul Ryan

"One of the reasons we wound up with Obamacare is because conservatives didn’t communicate an alternative.”
Sasse recommends a three-point approach: End the tax bias that has turned health insurance into a perk of employment, allow consumers to buy policies across state lines, and give states more responsibility for their social safety nets. “Democrats may be the party of bad ideas, but Republicans too often are the party of no ideas — and bad ideas will beat no ideas every time,”
Title: Another Senate Dem in trouble, Kay Hagan will not join Obama on visit to NC
Post by: DougMacG on January 14, 2014, 07:11:19 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/195248-hagan-wont-join-obama-in-nc
Hagan won't join Obama in North Carolina

President Obama won't be joined by Sen. Kay Hagan aboard Air Force One when he travels to Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday for a speech on the economy.

A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Democrat, who faces a tough reelection battle this fall, told The Associated Press the senator will remain in Washington to attend to Senate business.

Last week, Obama said he would join with companies and colleges at the speech to promote high-tech manufacturing programs. The address will be held on the campus of North Carolina State University.

Recent polls in the state suggest Hagan's reelection chances are a tossup, with the lawmaker garnering 43 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval in a Public Policy Polling survey released last month.

Hagan held a 2-point lead over state House Speaker Thom Tillis and was tied with the Rev. Mark Harris and nurse Heather Grant in hypothetical head-to-head match-ups addressed by PPP, a Democratic-leaning firm.

Obama didn't fare much better in the survey, with 44 percent of North Carolina residents saying they approve of his job performance. Half of the state's residents say they disapprove of ObamaCare, and 65 percent say the implementation has been unsuccessful.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz' will gain a new friend: Meet US Senate candidate Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska
Post by: bigdog on January 14, 2014, 09:34:35 AM
He looks interesting, but he is running as a Washington outsider. Is this true, given these:

Chief of staff at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy
Assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services
During the final two years of the Bush administration, Sasse dealt with health policy every day

Good, long article on one of the US Senate seats that Dems will most certainly lose this year. 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368081/obamacares-cornhusker-nemesis-john-j-miller

41-year-old Benjamin Eric Sasse is a fifth-generation Nebraskan
high-school valedictorian
Harvard, “Not because of superior academics, but because of inferior athletics,”
Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md
Ph.D. in history from Yale,  (For the record, I selectively admire good academic credentials!)
Spent his summers “walking beans and detasseling corn” (weeding soybean fields and controlling corn pollination)
Chief of staff at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy
Assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services
During the final two years of the Bush administration, Sasse dealt with health policy every day
Held debates with former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean
President of Midland University, in his home town of Fremont, one of the fastest-growing colleges in the Midwest
String of high-profile endorsements: Senate Conservatives Fund, Club for Growth in November, and congressman Paul Ryan

"One of the reasons we wound up with Obamacare is because conservatives didn’t communicate an alternative.”
Sasse recommends a three-point approach: End the tax bias that has turned health insurance into a perk of employment, allow consumers to buy policies across state lines, and give states more responsibility for their social safety nets. “Democrats may be the party of bad ideas, but Republicans too often are the party of no ideas — and bad ideas will beat no ideas every time,”
Title: Re: Ted Cruz' will gain a new friend: Meet US Senate candidate Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska
Post by: DougMacG on January 14, 2014, 10:05:42 AM
He looks interesting, but he is running as a Washington outsider. Is this true, given these:
Chief of staff at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy
Assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services
During the final two years of the Bush administration, Sasse dealt with health policy every day

Close enough to see and know the mess.  Not close enough to have caused it.
Title: Dem think tank blames Reid and Dems for gridlock
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 16, 2014, 10:26:18 AM
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/heatherginsberg/2014/01/15/democratic-think-tank-study-finds-harry-reid-and-senate-dems-are-responsible-for-gridlock-n1779419
Title: Brown looking good in NH
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2014, 08:38:51 AM
Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty
January 30, 2014
I Wonder if Scott Brown's Truck Has New Hampshire Plates Yet
Intriguing poll numbers . . .
Scott Brown is tied in a race he hasn't entered yet.
Brown, the former senator from Massachusetts who is considering a run for a US Senate seat in New Hampshire, is neck and neck in a new poll with Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Though Brown has yet to clarify his intentions, he and Shaheen are knotted at 44 percent apiece in a poll conducted by Purple Strategies, a bipartisan public affairs firm.
The poll, which carries an error margin of 3 percent for the whole sample, was conducted Jan. 21 through Jan. 23 among 1,052 likely New Hampshire voters.
Enjoying a 9 percent lead among independents, Brown trails Shaheen, 38 percent to 46 percent, among women and leads, 51 percent to 40 percent, among men.
Title: GOP Split Laid Bare on Debt Limit Vote
Post by: bigdog on February 13, 2014, 07:37:15 AM
http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/gop-split-laid-bare-on-debt-limit-vote/

From the article:

The split between establishment Republicans and their tea party brethren over debt limit strategy boiled over on the Senate floor Wednesday, when GOP leaders scrambled to put down a filibuster threat by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

The behind-the-scenes battle over the party’s debt limit strategy between Cruz and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky ended with McConnell and Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas walking to the well of the Senate to vote to end Cruz’s filibuster attempt — a vote no Republican was eager to cast.
Title: Congressional races, Republicans now lead in Michigan
Post by: DougMacG on February 14, 2014, 08:13:11 PM
Poll Shows Republican Terri Lynn Land Leading Michigan Senate Race 
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/198400-poll-finds-gop-maintains-lead-in-michigan-senate-race
http://www.rttnews.com/2270231/poll-shows-republican-terri-lynn-land-leading-michigan-senate-race.aspx?type=glpn

A victory for the Republican candidate in Michigan could go a long way in the GOP's efforts to retake control of the Senate in 2014.

The poll also showed that Republican Gov. Rick Snyder maintains an eight-point lead over Democratic challenger Mark Schauer. 

A negative assessment of President Obama's job performance may be weighing on the Democratic candidates, as 61 percent of likely Michigan voters said they would give the president a negative rating.
-------------------

Obama carried Michigan in 2008 by 17 points.  The times they are a changin'


Title: Sen. candidate Derrick Grayson of Georgia
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 18, 2014, 11:25:33 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YyPzU8Uf30
Title: How Likely Are Democrats to Lose the Senate?
Post by: DougMacG on February 20, 2014, 09:05:38 AM
I like like the math behind this but others might just know his conclusions.  Based on analysis of previous elections and the electoral maps out there, Republicans need to pick up 8 or 9 Senate seats in 2014 in order to still hold majority after 2016.  It will take wins in the House, Senate and Presidency to even try to turn this ship around.  (This should have happened in 2012!)

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/02/20/computing_democrats_risk_of_losing_the_senate_121640.html

Over the past two cycles, the president’s job approval has explained 58 percent of the variance in competitive Senate races in any given state.

...unless 2016 turned out to be a good Republican year overall, that Republicans would probably have to win 53 or 54 seats in 2014 to feel good about their chances of holding the Senate two years later.

(http://www.realclearpolitics.com/images/wysiwyg_images/chart2-2-20.gif)

 At Obama’s current 44 percent approval rating, we’d expect Democrats to lose somewhere between nine and 13 seats.

 If we run our simulations around [his average rating 48.3 percent over his presidency], we get the following overall distribution of outcomes:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/images/wysiwyg_images/chart3-2-20.gif

(The only way Obama recovers from where he is today back to his Presidency average is if Republicans either take off the pressure or if they self-implode.  Both scenarios are possible.)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on February 20, 2014, 09:10:56 AM
(The only way Obama recovers from where he is today back to his Presidency average is if Republicans either take off the pressure or if they self-implode.  Both scenarios are possible.)

Given the GOP's history, it's an almost certainty.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on February 20, 2014, 10:45:09 AM
(The only way Obama recovers from where he is today back to his Presidency average is if Republicans either take off the pressure or if they self-implode.  Both scenarios are possible.)

Given the GOP's history, it's an almost certainty.

Yes.  Even so, with politics as usual Republicans in a sleepwalk might re-take the Senate and hold the House in 2014.  Then lose it all in 2016 without accomplishing a single thing unless we/they are able to pull together and communicate a compelling message.  It all sounds familiar, doesn't it.
Title: US Congressional races 2014, Charlie Cook: a very ugly year for Democrats
Post by: DougMacG on March 04, 2014, 03:13:11 PM
Charlie Cook
March 3, 2014

"There are now at least 10, and potentially as many as 13, Democratic-held [US Senate] seats in jeopardy."

http://www.nationaljournal.com/off-to-the-races/congressional-democrats-face-uphill-battle-in-midterms-20140303
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 04, 2014, 03:52:34 PM
"There are now at least 10, and potentially as many as 13, Democratic-held [US Senate] seats in jeopardy."


We need 15.

Otherwise we will still have a President who is ruling through stacking the agencies with cronies and dictates through them for another two years.
Title: How rare! Things get weird in Texas
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 05, 2014, 06:06:09 PM
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/05/texas-turmoil-for-dems-pro-impeachment-anti-obamacare-democrat-pulls-primary-shocker-104677
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, FL-13, Sink, Sank, Sunk
Post by: DougMacG on March 13, 2014, 07:57:23 AM
Most expensive congressional race in history ($11 million)
David Jolly (R) beat Alex Sink (D) in a district Obama carried in 2008 and 2012.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/200523-republican-jolly-wins-crucial-florida-special-election

Despite millions spent, Dems are down 4 points from Obama's 2012 vote.  Nationally, Obama received 51% of the vote in a magical turnout year.  Take away 4% and give most of it back to the Republican and Dems don't win the divided states and districts.

In this case, the Libertarian won 5% too.  Someone can explain to me how a strategy that allows Dems to win with significantly less than 50% of the vote advances libertarian ideals.  I fail to see it.
Title: "a do-nothing Congress is a conservative’s best-case scenario"
Post by: bigdog on April 09, 2014, 09:46:07 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-policy-has-gone-liberals-way-for-70-years/2014/04/08/8dffa2b2-b906-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_print.html

From the article:

In response, conservatives make two simple claims: Most policies under debate are liberal, and Republican leaders sacrifice conservative principles when they compromise. History shows they are right on both counts
Title: Congressional races: Energy State Dems in Senate Races Split From Obama
Post by: DougMacG on April 17, 2014, 10:23:27 AM
Energy State Dems in Senate Races Split From Obama

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/04/17/energy_state_dems_in_senate_races_split_from_obama_122303.html#ixzz2zAIIojQx

Obama lost all of West Virginia's 55 counties in 2012 and won just 35.5 percent of the vote statewide.

11 Democrats last week urged Obama to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline by the end of May.  Six of them face contested re-elections this year.

Title: POTH: McClintock challenged from the left
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 23, 2014, 04:02:05 PM
McClintock first came to my attention via Top Dog who recommended him as a particularly good and savvy state legislator whose advise on the various state Propositions was always well-informed and sound.  Such was my experience.  He is now a Congressman in northern CA and I continue to send some money his way every campaign, and will do so again.

----------------------------------------------

AUBURN, Calif. — A moderate Republican trying to unseat a conservative congressman from his own party, Art Moore sat a little stiffly at a Sizzler restaurant here during the monthly meeting of the Auburn Area Republican Women Federated. Appearing after the meeting’s agenda was already set, Mr. Moore was not invited to speak before the group — not that it would have made much of a difference.

He knew that many local Republican officials did not look kindly at his recent decision to challenge Representative Tom McClintock, a Tea Party favorite. One of them, Bonnie McAdams, was blunt about it.

“Don’t run against other Republicans,” Ms. McAdams, a member of the Republican Party’s central committee in Placer County, told Mr. Moore. “Go get the other guys. They’re the enemies, not the Republicans.”

Mr. Moore’s challenge in California’s Fourth Congressional District is an unusual one, even against the backdrop of the Republican Party’s internecine battles. Contested Republican primaries for the House and Senate typically feature conservative challengers, backed by motivated and enthusiastic Tea Party members, against moderate incumbents.
Photo
Art Moore, a moderate, is challenging McClintock. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

But here in California, where a top-two primary system nearly guarantees that Mr. Moore will move past the primary to the general election, the challenge is coming from the left, with Mr. Moore arguing that Mr. McClintock is too conservative even for this strongly Republican district. Conservatives are gathering to protect Mr. McClintock, one of the few congressmen whose voting record is considered perfect by prominent conservative groups like Club for Growth and Freedom Works. In response, Mr. Moore has hired Rob Stutzman, a onetime aide to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — a moderate Republican himself — as a political consultant.

The two candidates have been busy taking jabs at each other. Mr. McClintock criticized Mr. Moore for failing to vote in past elections; Mr. Moore said he had not voted because of a belief that career military officers like him should not be involved in politics, adding that he is no longer in the military. Mr. Moore faulted Mr. McClintock for living in Elk Grove, outside his congressional district; Mr. McClintock said he would like to move into his district but could not sell his house until it regained the value it had lost during the housing crisis.

Mr. Moore, 35, and his campaign manager, Jeff Wyly, laid out the reasoning behind his run: unhappiness among typical voters at the gridlock in Washington and with conservatives like Mr. McClintock, who last fall voted to shut down the federal government to prevent financing for President Obama’s health care program. The primary is scheduled for June 3.

“It’s healthy for the party to have competition,” Mr. Moore said. “This shouldn’t be seen as destructive. It’s a win-win situation for the Republicans because if I win, I think I bring a much better brand and future to the party. If he wins, he’ll at least have gotten some competition that might make him rethink his role as a representative.”

Still, Mr. Moore is not likely to sway people like Ms. McAdams, who became politically active five years ago by joining the Tea Party. She said she was upset that Mr. Moore was targeting a conservative like Mr. McClintock, who “is standing up for the people” along with Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
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Mr. McClintock said that his conservative principles would appeal to all Republicans and that his strong positions on civil liberties, including his stance against spying by the National Security Agency, would win over some Democrats. “I’m quite content to go toe to toe for every vote in this district,” he said.

Analysts said the race was difficult to handicap, in part because it does not fit the pattern of what has been going on around the country.

“Given the mood of the Republican base, it’s still more likely that a conservative challenger beats a moderate incumbent, rather than vice versa,” said David Wasserman, who follows House races for the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter.

Mr. Wasserman added, however, that most incumbents were likely to survive challenges from a fellow Republican. “The power of incumbency is very strong,” he said. “Local groups and organizations are very hesitant to get involved against an incumbent.”

The Fourth District occupies a large swath in central and Northern California, from the politically moderate suburbs of Sacramento to the conservative towns of the Central Valley and the rural communities of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Mr. McClintock, 57, who was first elected in 2008, won 61 percent of the votes in the 2012 general election against a little-known Democrat.

Allan Hoffenblum, who has worked for three decades as a Republican consultant and analyst in California, said many moderate Republicans in the district were displeased with Mr. McClintock, who, like many conservatives, favors spending cuts and smaller government. The district includes many farming communities, and Mr. McClintock voted against the recent farm bill, which he described as giving giant subsidies to agricultural businesses.

“There’s been unhappiness in that district because of McClintock’s rigid ideas. He’s not sending any money back to the district,” Mr. Hoffenblum said. “So if Moore can actually do well in the crossover vote, he can actually give McClintock a serious challenge.”

In California’s system, the two candidates who get the most votes in the June primary will move on to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The third candidate is an independent; three Democrats who had considered running decided not to. So Mr. McClintock and Mr. Moore are almost guaranteed to face off in November.

Mr. Moore grew up here and returned to the area in December with a view toward running for Congress. A graduate of West Point, he served for 14 years in the National Guard, including 30 months of deployment overseas. He lived in Washington until December, working as a consultant in intelligence.

Mr. Moore hopes to succeed in November by drawing moderate Republicans away from Mr. McClintock and winning overwhelmingly among non-Republicans.

After a town-hall meeting in San Andreas, a small town in the district, Mr. McClintock dismissed the idea that the Republican rivalry here echoed the larger one within the party. Instead, he said, he sees a cynical attempt at exploiting California’s top-two primary system by Mr. Moore and the Democrats.

“It’s obvious that he coordinated closely with the Democrats to manipulate the new primary system in California to keep a Democrat off the ballot,” Mr. McClintock said. “When we watch one Democrat after another pull papers and then suddenly decide not to file, I think it’s a pretty good guess that there is coordination going on.”

Mr. Moore, who is seeking elected office for the first time, denied any coordination with Democrats. He said that about half a dozen Republican officials and businessmen in the district, as well as Democrats and independents, had encouraged him to run, and that friends from childhood and his Boy Scout days had introduced him to Republican operatives, including his consultant, Mr. Stutzman.

But as an indication of the difficulties in challenging an incumbent, Mr. Moore said his supporters were not ready yet to endorse him publicly, which Mr. McClintock pointed to as evidence of his challenger’s lack of credibility.

Mr. Moore said he hoped that the first of the endorsements would be made soon.

“I’m hoping it’ll come before the primary,” he said. “But I don’t have it solidified yet.”
Title: US Congressional races, Dr. Wehby for US Senate, R-Oregon
Post by: DougMacG on April 23, 2014, 08:11:50 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXqHI059n90
Title: NYT polls: Dems are ok; don't worry socialists all is ok.
Post by: ccp on April 24, 2014, 07:09:13 AM


By Scott Conroy - April 23, 2014

A new round of polls released on Wednesday offered generally upbeat news for Democrats in four U.S. Senate contests in Southern states considered key to the party's hopes of retaining its majority in November.  

According to the New York Times/Kaiser Family Foundation surveys, vulnerable incumbent Democrats are holding on to leads in Louisiana and Arkansas and effectively tied in North Carolina. Upstart challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes, meanwhile, is trailing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell by just a single point in Kentucky.

All four races are critical to Republicans’ hopes of netting the six seats they need to regain control of the upper chamber.

Though he narrowly lost North Carolina in 2012, President Obama was blown out by margins ranging from 17 to 24 percentage points in the other three states, suggesting that the Democratic Senate candidates are running strong campaigns in a region that has grown increasingly hostile to their party in federal elections.  

In North Carolina, Sen. Kay Hagan leads state House Speaker Thom Tillis -- the frontrunner in the Republican primary -- 42 percent to 40 percent, according to the new poll.

In Louisiana’s still largely unsettled contest, in which there are no primaries, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu leads the Republican frontrunner, Rep. Bill Cassidy, by a 42 percent to 18 percent margin, with 20 percent of respondents having no opinion.

The most surprising result of the new surveys comes in Arkansas, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor enjoys a 10-point advantage over Republican Rep. Tom Cotton. Pryor has long been considered the most vulnerable Senate Democrat this November, but he leads Cotton by 2.2 percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.  

National Democratic operatives moved quickly to highlight the Arkansas poll, in particular, on Wednesday morning. “DC convention wisdom is flat out wrong in Arkansas and there’s mounting evidence of Mark Pryor’s strength,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Justin Barasky said in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, Republicans were eager to cast doubt on the polls’ methodology, noting, among other concerns, that the head-to-head surveys measured support among registered voters rather than likely voters. They also questioned the validity of the samplings.

The Weekly Standard noted that the percentage of respondents in each of the four Southern states who said they had voted for Obama was much higher than the actual 2012 results.

Scott Conroy is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics. He can be reached at sconroy@realclearpolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter @RealClearScott.

Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/04/23/senate_polls_buoy_southern_dems_gop_is_skeptical_122387.html#ixzz2zoRfkrK8
Follow us: @RCP_Articles on Twitter
Title: Drag queen past surfaces
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 06, 2014, 09:13:03 AM
http://firebrandprogressives.org/steve-wiles-drag-queen-past-surfaces-before-election/
Title: Re: Drag queen past surfaces
Post by: G M on May 06, 2014, 09:26:26 AM
http://firebrandprogressives.org/steve-wiles-drag-queen-past-surfaces-before-election/

Ooof. Although it's nice to see candidates being vetted by the media. Too bad it only happens when there is a R after their name.
Title: WSJ: Rand Paul's Odd Choice
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 06, 2014, 02:48:10 PM
Rand Paul's Odd Choice
By Allysia Finley
May 6, 2014 2:21 p.m. ET

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis, along with GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, has led nothing short of a Copernican revolution in government reform this past year. Strange then that Rand Paul should be allying with liberal groups and rallying tea party groups against Mr. Tillis in Tuesday's GOP Senate primary.

Few Republican primaries are as significant and hotly contested as North Carolina's. A new Public Policy Polling survey shows Mr. Tillis leading obstetrician Greg Brannon by 12 points and Baptist pastor Mark Harris by 25. But here's the rub: Mr. Tillis is sitting right on the 40% cusp necessary to avoid a runoff, and as the poll notes the momentum is "on the anti-establishment candidates' side." A week ago Mr. Tillis was leading the doctor by 26 points and preacher by 35.

However, Mr. Paul and his second fiddle, Utah Senator Mike Lee, have been urging local tea party groups to back Mr. Brannon. And Mike Huckabee —who, recall, was Todd Akin's biggest supporter—has anointed Mr. Harris as the choice for Christian conservatives. Liberal groups have also poured $4 million into ads against Mr. Tillis, whom they perceive as the most viable candidate to take on Kay Hagan in the fall.

Their common goal is to force Mr. Tillis into a runoff with the hopes of unifying his opponents and eroding his financial advantage. A runoff would also give them an additional two months to campaign and build their momentum. The PPP survey showed the speaker leading Mr. Brannon by just six points in a run-off with non-Tillis primary voters breaking 47-29 for the tea party candidate.

Mr. Paul and his tea-party phalanx appear to oppose Mr. Tillis for no other reason than he's the choice of the "establishment," including Mr. McCrory, Mitt Romney, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens of Republican legislators. The irony is that the "establishment" is backing Mr. Tillis because as speaker he's quarterbacked government reforms championed by tea party groups.

Last year, he helped pass a tax reform that cut the state's income tax, ranging from 6.0% to 7.75%, to a flat 5.8%; slashed the corporate rate to 5% from 6.9%; and killed the state's death tax. He also rounded up votes for education reforms that eliminated teacher tenure; created vouchers for low-income and special-needs students; and lifted the state's 100-school cap on charters. Don't forget the national ruckus that the North Carolina legislature sparked last summer by scaling back weekly unemployment benefits, which cut off federally funded extended payments.

Behold the results: In just the last six months, North Carolina has added 56,000 jobs after averaging 60,000 annually between 2010 and 2012. Since January 2013, its unemployment rate has dropped to 6.3% from 8.8%, the largest percentage-point decline of any state.

Mr. Paul ought to be singing the speaker's praises, not stumping for Mr. Brannon—a candidate with no distinguishing political qualifications other than an apparent subservience to the Kentucky senator.
Title: Congressional races: Income Inequality won't help Dems in the House
Post by: DougMacG on May 13, 2014, 07:02:16 AM
Democrats trying to win back the U.S. House of Representatives this year have seized on the issue of income inequality to beat Republicans.

There’s just one problem: the districts where Democrats have the best shot to win Republican-held seats show some of the smallest gaps between rich and poor in the U.S., an indication of just how hard it will be for their message to take hold with voters.

Of the 100 congressional districts ranked as having the greatest gap between rich and poor, not one is held by a Republican whose seat is considered up for grabs this November
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-12/closing-wealth-gap-may-not-help-democrats-win-back-house.html
Title: WSJ: A Dem War on One Woman
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 23, 2014, 08:22:58 PM
A Democratic War on One Woman
Democrats resort to character assassination in the Senate race against Dr. Monica Wehby in Oregon.
By Kimberley A. Strassel


May 22, 2014 7:05 p.m. ET

It doesn't take a neurosurgeon to work out what Democrats are doing to Monica Wehby in Oregon. It's more useful to realize they are doing it precisely because she is a neurosurgeon—a successful female one, to be precise.

Dr. Wehby, a 52-year-old pediatric specialist, won the Oregon Republican primary Tuesday and will face Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in November. She won despite planted, pre-primary media hits that detailed police "incident" reports from her divorce and from a later breakup. The Oregonian discovered at least one of these reports was first requested from police by a researcher for the Democratic Party of Oregon. Jamal Raad, spokesman for that organization, used to work for Mr. Merkley and this week rejoined his team.

The reports themselves don't merit much comment, beyond pointing out the willingness of the national press to sensationalize some trivial moments in Dr. Wehby's private life. A Politico story about Dr. Wehby in 2013 visiting the house (to which she had a key) of a boyfriend who wasn't returning her calls was run under the headline: "Oregon Senate Hopeful Accused of Stalking Boyfriend." Never mind that the story (at the end) quoted the boyfriend, a businessman, as saying he had been "emotional," regretted calling the police, and that they remain friends.

A story about how the man she was divorcing, Jim Grant, called in 2007 to complain that she had "slapped" him with a note pad (she denied it and police acknowledged that the "slight red dot" on his face might have been a "zit") was run under headlines in numerous papers about Dr. Wehby's "harassment" of Mr. Grant. Never mind (again) that Mr. Grant now lives four doors from her, donated to her campaign, and calls her a "good friend."
Enlarge Image

Dr. Monica Wehby, Oregon's Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. www.monicafororegon.com

Some conservative commentators have noted that this is the Democratic "war on women," but that doesn't give near enough credit to what is a broader and now-staple Democratic strategy. When faced with a Republican who they cannot beat on policy questions, Democrats move to character assassination. It gives them something to say, while softening up voters to believe their worst accusations about the GOP. The assault is particularly vicious against a Republican woman or minority who threatens to pull votes from their base.

Oregon is a perfect example. The liberal state is competitive because it is a stunning microcosm of the ObamaCare disaster. The FBI is investigating "Cover Oregon," the state online exchange that officials spent three years and $250 million creating, yet which never signed up a person. The cost of health care has soared in the state, and many Oregonians have lost their doctors. The majority of residents hate ObamaCare, and Mr. Merkley—a freshman senator who has done little in D.C.—is sitting on way-upside-down approval ratings.

Dr. Wehby is therefore Democrats' worst nightmare. A nationally recognized pediatric neurosurgeon who was on the board of the American Medical Association, she got into this race to fight ObamaCare. She's a policy wonk, able to run rings around Oregon's junior senator, especially on health-care reform. She's pro-choice (personally pro-life) and supports gay marriage and medical marijuana—so the left can't hit her with the social-issue agenda. She's a fiscal conservative and a tort reformer—positions that hold appeal even among Oregon's more liberal electorate.

She's also a savvy campaigner. In April she ran a remarkable ad featuring a woman recounting how Dr. Wehby had saved her from having to terminate her pregnancy and then saved her infant daughter's life. The spot resonated particularly with women, of all political stripes. Some 57% of Oregon women voted for President Obama in 2012, and if Dr. Wehby pulls some of that group, Mr. Merkley is in a world of hurt. An early May poll had her leading by two points. Democrats are bitter at possibly having to divert campaign money away from more risky Senate races—Arkansas, Louisiana, Alaska—to a state they didn't expect to be in play.

Thus the Democratic decision to portray an accomplished doctor as emotionally crazed and unhinged. The hope was to tank her primary bid, so that Mr. Merkley would face her more conservative and less electable GOP opponent.

Now that she's won, Democrats will continue to pile on the "she's-nuts" stories, as we've seen this week with a new piece about an Oregon woman who is being prosecuted for conning doctors (including Dr. Wehby) into doing unnecessary medical procedures on her eight adopted children. The goal is to rebrand Dr. Wehby as Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction." Imagine if the right tried this on Hillary Clinton.

Dr. Wehby can at least take solace that she's not alone. Democrats have unleashed similar tactics in nearly every Senate race where they are vulnerable. In Arkansas, they are portraying Republican Tom Cotton as a greedy, heartless former McKinsey consultant. (The Romney redux.) In Michigan, they've labeled GOP candidate Terri Lynn Land a slum landlord. In Montana they are running an ad accusing Republican Steve Daines of being callous about rape victims. It features a woman saying she was raped at age 14, claiming Mr. Daines would make "criminals" of women who have abortions.

If Monica Wehby is whackadoodle, she's hidden it well for 30 years from a dozen schools and hospitals, dozens more boards and organizations, and thousands of parents who credit her with helping their kids. Her challenge is to embrace her history and keep the debate on the policy reforms voters care about. Because that's the last thing Democrats want.
Title: How a bill becomes a law: The DATA Act
Post by: bigdog on May 24, 2014, 11:33:59 AM
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/22/5723878/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law-in-2014

From the article:

... the DATA Act's success was often imperiled — and during which an already modest law became even weaker. It's a saga that includes lobbying, leaks to the press, bureaucratic sabotage, and last-minute twists. And crucially, it involves compromise after compromise. Put together, the story offers a new guide not just to how a bill can become a law — but why so few actually become laws, and why the ones that do are often so disappointing. In that way, it's an updated Schoolhouse Rock lesson for our polarized, dysfunctional Congress.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 25, 2014, 09:35:22 AM
The less congress does, the better.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 25, 2014, 09:47:47 AM
Will Rogers "The good thing about taxes is that we don't get all the government we pay for."
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on May 25, 2014, 11:53:10 AM
The less congress does, the better.

I am intrigued by this. It has seemed to me for a long time that the less Congress does, the wider the opportunity for presidential impact on policy. And given your view of the current president, I will admit to being confused here.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 25, 2014, 12:40:15 PM
Both congress and the president currently operate way outside the constitutional lines and spend money at unimaginable rates. The less they do, the less damage done.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 25, 2014, 04:26:10 PM
Agreed, AND at the same time, BD raises a valid point; one that, as I have noted previously, Glenn Beck has raised-- the decreasing relevance of Congress in front of Executive and Bureaucratic Power.
 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 25, 2014, 05:03:19 PM
The perfect storm of a corrupted media, a detached public and nutless (mostly) republicans.
Title: Murdered by the gay mafia; conspiracy theory
Post by: ccp on May 26, 2014, 07:14:04 AM
By/Stephanie Condon/CBS News/May 12, 2014, 5:35 PM

Keith Crisco, Clay Aiken's congressional opponent, dies
 
Keith Crisco, the North Carolina congressional candidate running in a Democratic primary election against Clay Aiken, was found dead in his home Monday. Crisco, 71, died from injuries sustained from a fall, WRAL reports.

The textile entrepreneur was running against the former American Idol star for the Democratic nomination in North Carolina's 2nd district. Crisco and Aiken both garnered about 40 percent of the vote in last Tuesday's primary. Aiken won just a 369-vote lead, leaving open the possibility of a recount or a runoff election. The winner of the primary would face off against Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C.

Aiken said in a statement that is "stunned and deeply saddened" by Crisco's death and will suspend all campaign activities "as we pray for his family and friends."

"Keith came from humble beginnings," Aiken said. "No matter how high he rose - to Harvard, to the White House and to the Governor's Cabinet - he never forgot where he came from. He was a gentleman, a good and honorable man and an extraordinary public servant. I was honored to know him."

Democratic strategist Brad Crone said that he spoke with Crisco earlier in the day and that the candidate planned to concede the race Tuesday.

"This is a shocking day," Crone said in a statement to CBS News. "At Keith's instructions, I called Gary Pearce, an advisor to Mr. Aiken, to convey that Keith was going to concede the election tomorrow morning and would be calling Mr. Aiken to congratulate him."

The North Carolina board of elections said in a statement, "The State Board of Elections is saddened to hear of the passing of Keith Crisco. A native of North Carolina, we are grateful for Mr. Crisco's service to our state and his community through the years. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Crisco family during this difficult time."

Ellmers released a statement Monday saying her thoughts and prayers are with Crisco's family and friends.

"I am deeply saddened by this sudden and painful tragedy and wish God's blessings for Keith's family through the coming days," she said. "His kindness and dedication to his principles were models we should all strive toward, and he will be dearly missed."
.
© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 26, 2014, 07:35:30 AM
I find the possibility of this being a murder very unlikely.
Title: US Congress; Congressional races,T Eric Cantor loses his Republican primary
Post by: DougMacG on June 10, 2014, 09:57:21 PM
Stunning loss!  Does anyone remember a Majority Leader losing reelection in a primary?  Brat's victory over Cantor in the primary marked the first defeat of an incumbent House Majority Leader since the position's creation in 1899.

Tea party candidate, economics professor David Brat was behind by double digits in every poll.  Eric Cantor raised over $5,400,000.  Brat spent 122,000.
Don't tell me polls tell outcomes or that politics is all about money.
I used to like Eric Cantor.  The House leadership lately has been fighting the will of its members and its constituency.  Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama ignoring the left wing of their party?  This establishment loss will have many, many repercussions.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/06/11/cantor_loses_to_tea_party_candidate_in_va_upset_122936.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/06/10/who-is-david-brat-meet-the-economics-professor-who-defeated-eric-cantor/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brat
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 11, 2014, 05:33:10 AM
 I wonder why Brat was able to win against the money and name recognition when other were not.  The Mitch McConnell.

Was it the makeup of his constituency or he was simply a better candidate?

I don't know.
Title: David Brat: The term limit of the status quo
Post by: DougMacG on June 11, 2014, 07:19:11 AM
I wonder why Brat was able to win against the money and name recognition when other were not.  The Mitch McConnell.
Was it the makeup of his constituency or he was simply a better candidate?
I don't know.

All of the above I presume.  Maybe it was his campaign slogan, "I am Eric Cantor's term limit."  Or maybe Mark Levin has good coverage in the area.

I don't know what is unique about immigration attitudes in his district.  It is conservative in the sense that Romney beat Obama 57-42 there. The district is 17% black and 5% Hispanic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia's_7th_congressional_district

There is a feeling that conservative districts should have conservative representation.

Maybe the news story about minors being dumped over the border for citizenship has pushed people over the edge.

There is a more general feeling that the status quo including everything to do with Obamacare and Obamanomics is unacceptable.  People see our country unraveling and are not content with the go-along,-get-along attitude of Republican leadership in opposition.

People see what a difference one Senator like Ted Cruz can make working in the minority in the Senate and wonder why we can have the entire majority in the House for 4 years and can't make any impact on policy or direction. 

Two days before the election, the state's largest newspaper said Cantor is “indispensable”and touted his "willingness to work across the aisle to move legislation."
http://www.timesdispatch.com/vote-for-cantor/article_db0935f4-9a93-5399-a0f1-1250218f73c7.html

No, he is not indispensable, and willingness to work across the aisle to move bad legislation is not a good quality. 

Cantor took a try at leadership and failed.  But he will easily find a job in Washington.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 27, 2014, 11:19:25 AM
It occurs to me to mention that Tea Party McDaniels, who just lost to RINO Cochran in Mississippi had quite a string of comments on issues in which race was involved that left me feeling , , , uncomfortable.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on June 27, 2014, 01:47:11 PM
It occurs to me to mention that Tea Party McDaniels, who just lost to RINO Cochran in Mississippi had quite a string of comments on issues in which race was involved that left me feeling , , , uncomfortable.

If so, then maybe it was best to defeat him in the Republican primary, but wrong to do that by undermining the process.  Republican establishment put their money into a nasty robo call campaign, aimed at Democrats,  trashing the tea party.

“The time has come to take a stand and say NO to the tea party,”
http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/22/robocall-allegedly-recruiting-dem-votes-for-gop-sen-cochran-bashes-tea-party-alleges-racism/#ixzz35sGTPirL

If McDaniel uncomfortable quotes on race, why not highlight those quotes, and target Republicans, instead of trashing the tea party and targeting black Democrats with out of state, Republican establishment money.

Club for Growth wasted about 3 million on this race, and the Republican establishment wasted even more, all that could have gone to defeating Democrats elsewhere.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 27, 2014, 01:49:46 PM
Agreed.  There was also the unsavory matter of McDaniels' people photographing Cochran's senile wife.  Plausible denial was in place but still the whiff of it was not pleasant.
Title: WSJ: All the President's Enablers
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 27, 2014, 01:59:49 PM
Third post of the day

All the President's Enablers
By Kimberley A. Strassel
June 26, 2014 6:55 p.m. ET

Congressional Democrats profess themselves scandalized that Speaker John Boehner will sue President Obama on behalf of the House. The only scandal is that congressional Democrats allowed it to come to this.

Mr. Obama does bear responsibility for an "aggressive unilateralism"—as Mr. Boehner puts it—that has stripped legislators of their constitutional role. But he has been indulged in his every excess by legislators of his own party. Call it wimpy, call it the Stockholm syndrome, call it what it is: Congressional Democrats watch supinely as the president treads on their powers. Separate branch of government? Who, us?

Call it too another disturbing reality of the Obama era. In the history of this country, there was one thing on which Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, could regularly agree: Nobody messes with Congress's powers. Political parties were happy to rally votes for a president's agenda, to slam his opponents, to excuse his failings. But should that president step on Congress's size 12 toes, all partisan bets were off.

Andrew Johnson was impeached by nearly two-thirds of the House for the "high crimes and misdemeanors" of violating a controversial law that the House had passed. Theodore Roosevelt's regulatory reaches were bitterly opposed by conservatives in his party. The Republican speaker, Joseph Gurney Cannon, famously complained of the Rough Rider: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." When FDR announced his court-packing plan, it was a Democrat, Henry Ashurst, who labeled it a "prelude to tyranny" and delayed the bill in the Senate for 165 days, contributing to its defeat.

This institutional cantankerousness was alive and well through the Bush era. In May 2006, the FBI raided the office of then-Democratic Rep. William Jefferson. Republican Speaker Denny Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a blistering joint statement denouncing it as a violation of the separation of powers. Republicans and Democrats spent much of the Bush years jointly attempting to force the president to give Congress more say in his wars and detention policies.
Enlarge Image

Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill in April. Associated Press

Scholars can and do argue over the constitutional merits of these episodes. What's clear is a long history of Congress vigorously slapping back at any intrusion on its perceived powers. Indeed, congressional touchiness has encouraged White Houses throughout U.S. history to think carefully about what powers to exercise.

Mr. Obama has not needed to think, carefully or otherwise. Name a prominent Democrat—name any Democrat—who has said boo about the president's 23 unilateral rewrites of ObamaCare. Or of immigration law. Name any who today are defending constituents in their districts against the abuses of the Obama IRS. A few congressional Democrats got their backs up with the White House over possible Syria action, but they are dwarfed by the majority who've gone silent over Mr. Obama's national-security policies—which they once berated George W. Bush for pursuing as an "imperial" president.

The main culprits here are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Ms. Pelosi, who've put themselves and their caucuses at the disposal of the White House. Winning political battles—sticking it to the GOP—is their priority, not constitutional balance. Mr. Reid has made himself White House gatekeeper, sitting on thorny votes, earning Congress public scorn for dysfunction. His members are meanwhile happy for Mr. Obama to pervert the law, since it saves them taking tough votes.

It hasn't helped that much of the institutional memory of the Democratic Party has retired or died this past decade. Nearly half of today's Democratic Senate was elected with or since Mr. Obama and has never known institutional leadership.

West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd —onetime Senate majority leader and fierce defender of congressional power—would have laid down on train tracks to protest Mr. Obama's recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess. The current Senate Democrats cheered the president on. It was left to Republicans and a unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday to restore the Senate's constitutional rights.

Yet it is probably asking too much of Senate Democrats to protest the president's diminution of their powers when they won't protest Mr. Reid's. Alaska's Mark Begich has yet to have a vote on a single one of his amendments in six years. Louisiana's Mary Landrieu now runs the "powerful" Senate Energy Committee, but as Mr. Reid has neutered committees, she has as much luck getting a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline as she does if she were running the Senate cafeteria. The majority leader last year stripped the Senate of filibuster powers. The Obama senators cheered the dismantling of their institutional power.

Mr. Boehner's lawsuit was put down by some as a cynical attempt to rally his midterm voters. What this misses is that the Boehner lawsuit, if successful, would reassert the rights of all members of Congress—regardless of party, position or president in power. Democrats might consider thanking him for doing their job.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on June 29, 2014, 08:46:50 AM
Agreed.  There was also the unsavory matter of McDaniels' people photographing Cochran's senile wife.  Plausible denial was in place but still the whiff of it was not pleasant.

It is strange to see which gaffes take down which politicians.  That was going to be way out of bounds.  Yet these politicians parade their families in front of the delegates and voters with the 'explicit implication' that it makes them a better man.  Then go to Washington, party with the young lovelies while leaving spouse back home to fend for herself.

WashPost has a negative piece on McDaniel again today.  There won't be enough Cochran voters this time who voted in the Dem primary to overturn this.  Still the tea party made an impact!  A sitting, popular Republican Senator was defeated if you only count Republican votes in a Republican primary, by a flawed candidate and campaign, for the express reason of straying from conservative principles.

A few others should take note.
Title: Senate predictions
Post by: ccp on July 05, 2014, 09:28:29 AM
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2014-senate/
Title: In the US Senate races, Minnesota looks familiar except upside down
Post by: DougMacG on July 07, 2014, 06:02:43 AM
A lot of predicted Republican Senate pickup races are still close or still led by the Democrat.  The Republicans need to nearly run the board in 2014 in order to hold the majority in 2016 and give a new Presideent a chance at reforming the federal government.  Putting MN in play is one step in the right direction.  Here the far right, the establishment right, and the common sense right all agreed on the same candidate, while the incumbent Al Franken has a vulnerable record of agreeing 100% with a failed President.  Democrats also have a weak incumbent Governor and a one-party-rule legislature to reelect.  Energy and turnout could favor the challengers.
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www3.atr.rollcall.com/al-franken-mike-mcfadden-minnesota-senate-2014/?dcz=

Al Franken knows the story — just not from this side.

In 2008, a first-time candidate dogged by his career history faced a formidable incumbent dragged down by an unpopular second-term president. The result: now-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., defeated then-Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, in a shockingly close race that only ended after a months-long contentious recount and legal battle.

Now Coleman’s handpicked candidate wants to return the favor in 2014. Franken will face a wealthy investment banker and first-time candidate, Mike McFadden, in November — and this time, he’s the senator battling an unpopular president’s drag on the ballot.

“The atmosphere right now is pretty toxic,” Coleman said in a recent phone interview. “This is a time when it’s good to not be of Washington. Mike is part of a solution, and Franken is part of the problem.”
...
“Every sentence about Norm Coleman in 2008 was a verb, a noun, and George W. Bush,” mused one former Coleman adviser.
...
A recent survey by the Democratic autodial firm Public Policy Polling showed Obama with a 44 percent approval rating in Minnesota, down from 50 percent in May of 2013.
Title: There goes another Senate seat, Iowa Dem couldn't be bothered with VA oversight
Post by: DougMacG on July 24, 2014, 10:50:42 AM
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/07/22/bruce-braley-three-fundraisers-on-day-of-missed-hearing/13004385/?sf28880685=%5B%22%5B%271%27%5D%22%5D

Braley under fire for missing VA oversight meetings

Des Moines Register, July 23, 2014

"Over a two-year period, Democratic (Senate candidate) U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley missed 75 percent of meetings for a committee that provides oversight over the Veterans Administration, including one meeting on a day he attended three fundraisers for his 2012 campaign."

Hey, he won that campaign.  Who needs oversight?
Title: Maybe it was the Dems this year who didn't fully vet their Senate candidates
Post by: DougMacG on July 29, 2014, 08:08:15 AM
National Review writer Eliana Johnson (daughter of the Powerline co-founder who helped take down Dan Rather) breaks the story of Michelle Nunn, Georgia Dem Senate candidate and her charity's ties to terrorism and Hamas, and other extremist work.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/383894/michelle-nunns-campaign-plan-eliana-johnson/page/0/1

Though the campaign plan recommends emphasizing Nunn’s accomplishments at the Points of Light Foundation, which she has done on the campaign trail, her strategists express enormous concern about attacks that might arise from her work there. She has served as CEO of Points of Light since 2007 and, according to the document, it has made grants to “terrorists” and “inmates” during her tenure. The document also makes reference to a 2010 audit that concluded Points of Light’s accounting system was “not adequate to account for federal funds.”

According to the IRS Form 990s that Points of Light filed in 2008 and 2011, the organization gave a grant of over $33,000 to Islamic Relief USA, a charity that says it strives to alleviate “hunger, illiteracy, and diseases worldwide.” Islamic Relief USA is part of a global network of charities that operate under the umbrella of Islamic Relief Worldwide. Islamic Relief USA says on its website that it is a legally separate entity from its parent organization, but that they share “a common vision, mission, and family identity.”

Islamic Relief Worldwide has ties to Hamas, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization. In June, Israel banned the charity from operating in the country because, according to Israeli officials, it was funneling cash to Hamas. In 2006, Israelis arrested Islamic Relief Worldwide’s Gaza coordinator, Ayaz Ali. They said he was working to “transfer funds and assistance to various Hamas institutions and organizations.” Ali admitted to cooperating with local Hamas operatives while working in Jordan and, on his computer, Israeli officials found photographs of “swastikas superimposed on IDF symbols,” and of Nazi officials, Osama bin Laden, and al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Islamic Relief USA highlighted the work of Islamic Relief Worldwide in Palestine in its 2012 annual report, in which it talks generally about the work of Islamic Relief charities in the region without drawing a distinction between the branches. The organization has raised eyebrows before. According to a 2012 report, its bank account was closed by UBS and it was “under constant scrutiny by other banks due to nervousness about counterterrorist regulations.” The group’s terror ties extend beyond Hamas, according to a former Israeli intelligence official. He says that Islamic Relief Worldwide’s country director in Palestine, Muneed Abugazaleh, met in April 2012 with Dr. Omar Shalah, a leader of the terror group Islamic Jihad and of the Riyad al-Saleheen Charitable Society, which is affiliated with the group. He is also the brother of Ramadan Shalah, the leader of Islamic Jihad.


But she has such a peaceful sounding last name.

See if THIS is in the NY Times this morning, lol.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution has it!

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/07/28/leaked-doc-michelle-nunn-non-profit-charity-hamas/
Leaked doc: Michelle Nunn non-profit validated grants to charity with Hamas-tied affiliate

The National Review got hold of a 144-page internal document drafted for the Michelle Nunn campaign in December. It includes plenty of juicy revelations on campaign strategy, including a potentially serious issue with a Points of Light connection to a charity that has ties to Hamas, which is now at war with Israel.

Full document:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/235287519/2014-Michelle-Nunn-Campaign-Memo
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on July 29, 2014, 08:11:38 AM
Supporting Hamas isn't seen as a bad thing to many dems.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on July 29, 2014, 11:33:56 AM
Supporting Hamas isn't seen as a bad thing to many dems.

No, but they are fighting for that elusive Georgian swing voter.  There were quite a few other extreme left causes in that document.
Title: The Most Interesting Candidate - Jeff Bell, NJ Senate
Post by: DougMacG on August 19, 2014, 08:42:07 AM
http://freebeacon.com/columns/the-most-interesting-candidate-in-the-world/


The Most Interesting Candidate in the World
Column: Jeff Bell and the Republican future
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It's not a party unless it's a Jeff Bell party

It's not a party unless it's a Jeff Bell party

BY: Matthew Continetti
August 15, 2014 5:00 am

Jeff Bell was a reform conservative before it was cool. He’s spent his career arguing with a risk-averse Republican establishment. He pushed Ronald Reagan to embrace the supply-side doctrine of tax cuts before deficit reduction. He spent the 1990s warning the GOP that its tax policy favored investment capital over human capital, corporate interests over working families. He designed a family-friendly flat tax that reduced payroll taxes, increased the child tax credit, taxed capital gains and regular income at the same rate, and ended business expensing. Payroll tax relief and a generous child tax credit are elements of today’s reform conservatism. Bell was there first.

Bell’s career has been a mix of thought and action. He was born and raised in New Jersey, and graduated from Columbia University. He fought in Vietnam. He was an aide to Richard Nixon and to Ronald Reagan, and was active in the conservative movement more generally. In 1978, he upset liberal Republican Clifford Case in the New Jersey Senate primary, losing to Bill Bradley in the general election. He’s the rare political consultant whose views of the world are more expansive than those expressed on Morning Joe.

While advising clients, Bell published two books—both recommended—and articles for National Review and the Weekly Standard. I got to know him when I joined the Standard in 2003. I’ve been in awe of his theoretical and practical intelligence ever since.

I once asked Bell which books best represent the future-oriented, dynamic, cheerfully populist, optimistic, supply-side worldview of President Reagan and Jack Kemp. He thought for a moment and told me to read The Cultural Pattern in American Politics and The Transatlantic Persuasion by Robert Kelly, and The Economy in Mind by Warren Brookes. Try getting that response from James Carville.

Bell repeated history in June of this year when he won, for the second time, the New Jersey Republican primary for Senate. He’s continued to surprise a lot of people by keeping the race between him and incumbent Cory Booker within 10 points. The press has largely ignored his campaign for horserace reasons. Washingtonians don’t think he’ll win.

The other day I watched an interview Bell gave to NJTV news. The questions dealt with process: where the polls stood, how much money has been raised, what the “ground game” looks like. But the questions missed the point. The reason to study Bell’s campaign isn’t his social media strategy. It’s his agenda.

Bell isn’t just running against Booker. He’s also running against the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy, which began in 2008 under Ben Bernanke and continues under Janet Yellen. Defenders of the Fed say its actions since the financial crisis have prevented a depression and sustained the recovery that began in June 2009. Bell says the Fed is responsible for the dreariness of that recovery—its shallow growth, its mediocre job creation. He says the Fed has helped deficit spenders in government, CEOs, and Wall Street bankers and investors. It’s harmed consumers and savers.

“While Washington has gotten free financing from the Fed, families planning for college, retirees living on a fixed income, and everyone else hoping to earn a decent return on their savings rather than speculating in the markets have fallen behind,” Bell writes on his website. “It is a travesty that our monetary policy has deprived seniors, parents, and savers in billions of income so Congress can rack up more debt.”

The value of the dollar is the top issue of his campaign. Bell attacks Yellen and the Fed as much as he attacks Booker. Indeed, one of his chief attacks is that Booker voted for Yellen. Bell has a plan to establish a new gold standard. Most importantly, though, he frames his agenda in terms of “restoring middle class prosperity.” The economy remains voters’ top concern, but voters continue to resist Republican economics as favoring business, the rich, and the connected. By focusing on the Federal Reserve, money, and the rising cost of living, Bell is doing more than trying to win an election. He is reshaping the Republican economic message.

Most of the GOP candidates on the trail this year will criticize the Obama economy. But, when it comes to saying what they would do differently, they won’t be more specific than calls for budget cuts and income and corporate tax cuts. They will be parroting the GOP message of the last 30 years, a message that has been producing diminishing returns.

Bell’s diagnosis is radical, comprehensive, and visceral. He knows that voters who aren’t conservative find it difficult to draw the connection between the Balanced Budget Amendment and their daily life. Talk about how these voters are paying more for less, though, and you are likely to find an audience.

I have become leery of single explanations for our troubles. I cannot say that adopting a gold standard would magically restore American prosperity. But I do think the case for the Federal Reserve has been overstated. The Fed can’t take credit for avoiding a depression while shirking responsibility for our subpar economy. The news is so disappointing that some economists have said we are in the middle of a long-term secular stagnation.

Since history runs only once, and in just one direction, there is no way of proving the counterfactual that things would be worse without zero interest rates and quantitative easing. The progressive heirs to Franklin Roosevelt’s belief in “bold, persistent experimentation” should be the last people to dismiss proposals from outside of the mainstream.

It is precisely the outlandishness of Bell’s vision that makes it worthy of attention. Even as America is rocked by domestic malaise and global crises, our elites return to the same old ideas. This should be a moment for contrarian original thinking. Confidence in government is low. The gap between the public and the caste is wide.

Obamacare is less popular than ever, yet Republicans don’t talk about it. A majority wants to see the illegal immigrant children from Central America returned home—in fact, a majority wants to see reductions in legal immigration—yet Washington’s priority remains comprehensive immigration reform. Americans overwhelmingly support Israel in its fight against terrorists, yet the picture painted by the media is one of Israeli aggression and Palestinian helplessness.

If you relied only on polling data, you’d be knowledgeable of the priorities and wishes of voters. But you wouldn’t have a clue about the priorities and wishes, the buzzwords, action items, clichés, and worldview, of the bipartisan American elite. For that, you’d have to turn to the media, whose concerns are entirely orthogonal, and even harmful, to the interests of the American people.

Nowhere is the divergence clearer than in perceptions of inflation. It’s true that the rampant inflation some conservatives predicted when the Fed announced its “extraordinary measures” has not appeared. But it is also true that inflation is difficult to measure, that growth in wages has been slow, that the cost of health care and tuition continue to rise. Voters complain about rising prices even as experts say the voters don’t know what they are talking about. Who is a politician better off siding with?

Last year, American Principles in Action, a group associated with Jeff Bell, released its own autopsy of the 2012 election. The report noted that, after unemployment, voters in the 2012 exit poll said “rising prices” were their top concern. “What voters dubbed ‘rising prices’ is really a declining standard of living,” the report said, “which many perceive to be the consequence of the ‘shrinking value of the dollar,’ as one Ohio focus group participant told us.” Experts may dismiss Jeff Bell’s calls for monetary reform, but that focus group participant in Ohio is likely to listen—and vote.

The report issued six recommendations to GOP candidates: Don’t avoid social issues but use partial-birth abortion and Common Core as wedges against your opponent; use the social issues to appeal to religious Hispanic voters; call for an end to the Fed’s inflationary policies; attack Obamacare for lessening the American standard of living; go after “the student loan racket”; and celebrate middle-class workers instead of “job creators.” As far as I can tell, Jeff Bell is the only Republican Senate nominee to adopt such an agenda wholeheartedly.

While I disagree with him on immigration reform, and believe an amnesty would hurt precisely those Americans he is trying to help, I am excited to see, for once, a candidate try something bold and original. Jeff Bell may be a lone voice in 2014, but he was also a lone voice calling for supply-side tax cuts in 1978.

Thirty-five years ago, Bell prophesied the future of conservative politics. He’s doing the same today.
Title: Congressional races: And the Least interesting...
Post by: DougMacG on August 19, 2014, 08:47:33 AM
Steven Hayward says Montana Democrats have found someone who can sit comfortably next to fellow MENSA member Barbara Boxer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X98qmvI6Ntc#t=13

Less than 2 minutes will give you a good feel for the depth of the Dem field.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/08/this-is-the-best-montana-dems-can-come-up-with.php
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/08/montana-democratic-senate-nominee-has-some-strange-video-selfies/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 20, 2014, 07:13:07 AM

Interesting article on Jeff Bell.  I like that he dials in on what I have called here "The War on Savers"-- this I think is a good issue and good way for Reps; unfortunately Cory Booker is an appealing candidate and my guess is Bell will lose.
Title: Morris on triangulating to take the Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 04, 2014, 09:01:53 AM

http://www.dickmorris.com/using-triangulation-win-senate-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports

"Illegal aliens driving down working class wages, thus creating income inequality"
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 04, 2014, 08:33:50 PM
Sean Trende at RCP knows his stuff, but doesn't know yet what will happen this year with maybe 10 tossup Senate seats.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/09/04/what_the_generic_ballot_tells_us_about_a_gop_wave.html

Democrats lead Republicans [currently] in the generic ballot, 42.5 percent to 42 percent.  Republicans had a healthy lead at this point in 2010: 47 percent to 41.7 percent.

But look closely. The difference is not found in a stronger Democratic vote at the expense of Republican votes.  It is found in a greater pool of undecided at the expense of Republicans. Democrats aren’t doing better.  Republicans are doing worse.
...
It’s ...consistent with a story that this election is not as high-interest as 2010, and that undecided voters have not yet engaged fully with the process.  When they do engage, Obama’s unpopularity will make it unlikely that they will vote Democratic.

In fact, this is roughly what we saw in 2010 [just a little earlier in the process].

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/09/04/what_the_generic_ballot_tells_us_about_a_gop_wave.html#ixzz3CPNQu2YG
Title: Correct election map for Senate 2014!!!
Post by: ccp on September 11, 2014, 07:48:48 AM
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/2014_elections_senate_map.html
Title: KS senate race up for grabs
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 12, 2014, 02:11:03 AM
http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-republican-trouble-in-kansas-1410467172
Title: US Congressional, races, MN Senate, Al Franken, Mike McFadden
Post by: DougMacG on September 15, 2014, 08:01:47 AM
Yours truly responds to Al Franken $10 million in television ads (with one free letter in the monopoly newspaper):
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/274964071.html?page=2&c=y
First under 2014 campaign.

Explanation:  Bermuda is where Mike McFadden, like Romney, is accused of avoiding taxes.  Medtronic is one of MN's most successful companies, leaving for Ireland through inversion, and Burger King is a former MN company when it was under Pillsbury ownership, allegedly leaving for Canada via inversion.
Title: Strategy: Horowitz; WSJ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 15, 2014, 08:23:54 AM
The GOP’s Missing Electoral Link


Posted By David Horowitz On September 15, 2014
To order David Horowitz’s new book, Take No Prisoners, click here.

This article is reprinted from Redstate.com.

Paul Ryan is a smart man, and probably represents the mainstream thinking of the Republican Party, though like every ambitious politician he likes to position himself as a critic of the crowd. But in a recent interview with Matthew Continetti, Ryan started out well by complaining about the GOP consultant class. “The consultant class always says play it safe, choose a risk-averse strategy. I don’t think we have the luxury of doing that.” But then when called on to provide a non-risk averse strategy, he comes up with this: “We need to treat people like adults by offering them alternatives.” But what Republican consultant would tell his candidate not to offer alternative policies and ideas? There is none.

Every Republican thinks that offering a positive vision and new policies is the key to winning elections. Of course sometimes, as in the midterms this fall, the Democrats have screwed up so big that they are practically handing Republicans a victory. Just don’t count on it for 2016. In fact, Ryan embraces the conventional GOP wisdom:

“The only way we beat an Obama third term is to offer a spirited alternative and bring it up to a crescendo where we’re really giving the country a very clear choice of policies and ideas.”

I wouldn’t bet on it. You can’t give the country a clear choice of policies and ideas when the Democrats are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to label you racists, sexists, homophobes enemies of the poor, selfish and uncaring. If Republicans are to win national elections they have to come up with an answer to these attacks. And the only answer is a counter-attack. I’ve laid out the basis for an effective counter-attack in my new book Take No Prisoners: The Battle Plan For Defeating the Left (Regnery 2014). But I’m not holding my breath that Republicans will embrace the strategy I recommend. More likely they will go into the next national election like crash-dummies as they usually do.

When you examine the Democrat attacks they are all moral indictments: racist, uncaring, anti-woman, selfish. In contrast, Republicans criticize Democrats for having unworkable policies. Who do you think is going to win this debate? If a voter thinks someone is a racist, how seriously are they going to take his policy ideas? The same reaction awaits candidates who are seen as selfish defenders of the greedy rich, namely, Republicans.

What’s the Republican counter-attack? There is none. But here’s how to think of one: Democrat policies are not merely wrong-headed, they’re destructive. Democrats control every major city in America – Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New York, Minneapolis, Milwaukee – and I could go on and on. They’ve controlled these cities for 50 to 100 years. Everything that is wrong with the inner cities of America, every policy that adversely affects the impoverished minorities who live there, Democrats are responsible for.

Democrat policies, for example, have trapped millions of poor African American and Hispanic children in schools that don’t teach them, year in and year out, because they’re run for the benefit of the leftwing teacher unions and the Democratic Party. Democrats will fight to the death to keep these children from getting scholarships known as “vouchers” that would allow them to find private schools that would teach them. Yet Democrats, including the president himself, send their own children to private schools. How racist is that? Yet when did you ever hear a Republican call a Democrat a racist over this atrocity?

Consider the consequences of Democratic misrule: millions of poor African American and Hispanic children who will never be educated and never get a shot at the American dream. Instead they will be condemned to lives of poverty and crime. The Democratic colony of Chicago is a war zone. Who is responsible for all the lost young African American lives in Chicago? But Republicans are too polite to mention it.
In Ferguson, Missouri we have witnessed the month long spectacle of a Democratic lynch mob led by one of the nation’s leading racists, Al Sharpton, who just happens to be the President’s adviser on race. Rev. Sharpton has been mightily abetted by the Democratic Attorney General of the United States, who is conducting a witch-hunt against the Ferguson police force. The Democratic Party isthe party of racism, but Republicans are too timid to mention it.

As ever on national security, Democrats have disarmed us in the face of the Islamic crusade against the West, the greatest threat we have ever faced as a nation; they have attacked our borders so that we can’t prevent terrorists and criminals from crossing them; they have forced our retreat from Iraq and the Middle East creating a vacuum that has been filled by the armies of ISIS and other well-armed barbarians who have sworn to kill us. Democrats have betrayed our country and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Syrians and Libyans slaughtered by the terrorist armies their policies have unleashed. Yet where is the Republican voice using the language appropriate to these betrayals?

Yet it is precisely this moral language that Republicans must use to push back the Democrat slanderers who have been so effective in winning elections. Barack Obama is the most incompetent, anti-American, leftwing radical ever nominated by a major political party. Democrats did that. Hold them responsible.

Whatever words Republicans finally use, they have to 1) Get used to the fact that politics is a no-holds-barred street fight and nice guys finish last; 2) Get used to the fact that they are going to have to actually attack Democrats and make it hurt: and 3) Frame their attacks as a moral indictment – or else they will be pulverized by the moral indictments framed by their opponents.

This is my advice. My bet: Paul Ryan and the Republican Party will ignore it.
===============================


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By
Jason L. Riley
Sept. 12, 2014 5:02 p.m. ET

There's a rift in the Republican Party, and I'm not referring to the one between Rand Paul isolationists and John McCain hawks.

The split is between those who think the GOP can rely on President's Obama unpopularity to win a Senate majority in November and those who think the party would do better to push a positive agenda. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is in the latter camp. In an interview this week, he told the Christian Science Monitor that if the GOP nets the six seat it needs to win control of the upper chamber, it would focus on four things: corporate tax reform, regulatory reform, giving Mr. Obama authority to fast-track trade deals and approving the final leg of a Keystone XL pipeline that would increase domestic energy production.

"By getting a Republican majority, I do believe it would get the president to the table on some of these issues," Mr. Portman told the paper. "I know I may sound naive, since everyone has decided that the next two years are going to be all about 2016," he added. "But I look at what's happened over the years. When we have divided government, that's when we've done tax reform, that's when we've done entitlement reform, that's when we've helped to move the economy forward when we take on these big issues."


The president has been very specific about his agenda, repeatedly calling for a minimum-wage increase and legislation aimed at closing a gender gap in pay that liberals believe is a reflection of employer discrimination. Republicans have made clear that they oppose such measures, but the party has failed to unite around a coherent agenda of its own.

Given the president's low approval rating, the sluggish economy and the fact that ObamaCare continues to poll poorly, many Republicans believe that a message of opposition will suffice in the fall. Politicians aren't the bravest bunch, and talking about what you're against is easier that explaining what you're for. If Republicans want a mandate from voters, they ought to follow Mr. Portman's lead and explain what they'd do with it.
Title: Why are independents always really full blown liberals in disguise
Post by: ccp on September 16, 2014, 09:17:52 AM
Meet Greg Orman, the man who could decide the Senate majority

By Sean Sullivan September 4 
 
Independent Senate candidate Greg Orman speaks with reporters Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. (AP Photo, Topeka Capital-Journal/Thad Allton)
The question of which political party will control the Senate could come down to a man who says parties are "part of the problem."

That man is Greg Orman, the independent candidate for Senate in Kansas who finds himself at the center of the political universe today. Democratic nominee Chad Taylor abruptly ended his campaign on Wednesday, clearing the way for Orman to have a clean shot at Sen. Pat Roberts (R) -- who, polls suggest, could be unexpectedly vulnerable this fall.

Orman, 45, is a political enigma. Over the years, he's donated money to both liberal Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and the National Republican Congressional Committee. He says he voted for President Obama in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. And he won't reveal which side he would choose in the Senate.

But national Democrats have been mum about Taylor's sudden departure, fueling speculation the party believes there is a very good chance Orman would side with them. Running in a deeply conservative state, Orman is carefully avoiding any move that would link him too closely with Democrats. At the same time, he's casting himself as a much more moderate alternative to Roberts, who he says has adopted "Ted Cruz's voting patterns."

In a telephone interview with The Washington Post last week, Orman decried the partisan gridlock that has seized Congress. He said that he would likely side with whichever party is in the majority and talk to both sides if he ends up the deciding vote. With a competitive battle for the majority underway, that's a possibility.

"I hold both sides equally accountable," he said.

Orman presented himself as a moderate in the mold of Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader from Kansas. He took aim at Roberts for voting against the farm bill, and lambasted him for not voting on the VA reform bill.


On immigration, he emphasized the importance of securing the border -- but also said supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and that he would have supported the comprehensive reform bill that passed the Senate last year.

"I think if you're undocumented and you are here, you should have to register with [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement], you should have to pay a small fine or perform community service as an acknowledgement that you've broken the law," he explained. "Then you should have to hold down a job, pay taxes, obey our laws. And if you do all those things, I think you should be able to continue to live here and work here."

Orman was one of five children of a nurse and a furniture store owner in Stanley, Kan. He graduated from Princeton University, where he was a member of the College Republicans, in 1991 with an degree in economics. Not long after, he founded a company that installed energy efficient lighting systems. In 2004, he co-founded Denali Partners, LLC, an investment firm.

Disillusioned by the George W. Bush administration, according to lengthy explanation of his political history posted on his campaign Web site, Orman decided to become a Democrat. His first foray into elected office was in 2007, when he briefly explored a run against Roberts as a Democrat before pulling the plug on that idea.

He's parked himself firmly in the middle in the years since that short-lived bid. Orman founded the centrist the Common Sense Coalition in 2010. He told The Post -- after initially balking -- that he voted for Obama in 2008 and Romney in 2012. Obama's "very, very partisan approach to health-care," Orman said, led him to opposing a second term.


Campaign finance records reveal that Orman has given to both Democrats and Republicans over the years. About two years after giving money to Obama, have wrote a check to a political action committee founded by Republican Scott Brown.

Orman, for his part, is not taking money from political action committees in his campaign. Through mid-July he had more than $362,000 in his campaign account -- a fairly impressive sum for an inexpensive state like Kansas. And he's left the door open to dipping into his own pockets for more.

Roberts, who is still recovering from a bruising primary campaign in which he was sharply criticized for staying with supporters when he is in Kansas instead of his own home, has signaled that he will try to portray Orman as far too liberal for Kansas.

"We are confident that Kansas voters will quickly see through this charade foisted on Kansas by Orman and his Democrat allies," said Leroy Towns, Roberts's campaign manager, in a statement.

Amid his political shifts over the years, did Orman ever vote for Roberts in a primary or general election?

"Not that I recall," he said. "But I don't remember everybody I voted for over the last 25 years."

Title: Just a poll but...
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2014, 07:18:39 AM
If this happens how does Republicans rid themselves of Rove?

*****By Chris Cillizza September 16 at 12:23 PM 
 
Democrats are now (very slightly) favored to hold the Senate majority on Nov. 4, according to Election Lab, The Post's statistical model of the 2014 midterm elections.

Election Lab puts Democrats' chances of retaining their majority at 51 percent — a huge change from even a few months ago, when the model predicted that Republicans had a better than 80 percent chance of winning the six seats they need to take control. (Worth noting: When the model showed Republicans as overwhelming favorites, our model builders — led by George Washington University's John Sides — warned that the model could and would change as more actual polling — as opposed to historical projections — played a larger and larger role in the calculations. And, in Republicans' defense, no one I talked to ever thought they had an 80 percent chance of winning the majority.)

So, what exactly has changed to move the Election Lab projection? Three big things:

* Colorado: On Aug. 27 — the last time I wrote a big piece on the model — Election Lab said Sen. Mark Udall (D) had a 64 percent chance of winning. Today he has a 94 percent chance.

* Iowa: Two weeks ago, the model gave state Sen. Joni Ernst (R) a 72 percent chance of winning. Today she has a 59 percent chance.

* Kansas: Republican Sen. Pat Roberts's reelection race wasn't even on the radar on Aug. 27. Today, Election Lab predicts that he has just a 68 percent chance of winning.

In addition to that trio of moves in Democrats' direction, Louisiana has moved slightly in Democrats' favor (from a 57 percent chance of losing to a 53 percent chance), as has North Carolina (a 97 percent chance of winning now as opposed to a 92 percent chance on Aug. 27).


By contrast, Alaska has moved in Republicans' direction (Democratic Sen. Mark Begich's chances of winning are down from 66 percent to 53 percent), and Georgia has become more of a sure-thing hold (a 91 percent GOP win vs. an 84 percent hold).

The movement toward Democrats in the Election Lab model isn't unique. LEO, the New York Times' Upshot model, gives Republicans a 51 percent chance of winning the Senate — but that is down significantly over the past few weeks.

 
Image courtesy of The Upshot
Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight model now has Republican chances of winning the Senate at 55 percent, down from 64 percent 12 days ago. "The two states with the largest shifts have been Colorado and North Carolina — in both cases, the movement has been in Democrats’ direction," Silver writes. "That accounts for most of the difference in the forecast."

It's important to note that these models change daily as new polling is released and factored in.  So, tomorrow it's possible that Election Lab will show Republicans with a very narrow edge in the battle for the Senate. What you should take away from the models then is a) all three have moved toward Democrats of late and b) all three show the battle for the Senate majority to be the truest of tossups at the moment.

What's interesting about the election models is that they are moving in the opposite direction of political handicappers. In recent days, Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook, the two best-known, nonpartisan prognosticators in Washington, have each written that the possibility of large-scale Republicans gains is increasing, not decreasing. Wrote Stu last week:

After looking at recent national, state and congressional survey data and comparing this election cycle to previous ones, I am currently expecting a sizable Republican Senate wave. The combination of an unpopular president and a midterm election (indeed, a second midterm) can produce disastrous results for the president’s party. President Barack Obama’s numbers could rally, of course, and that would change my expectations in the blink of an eye. But as long as his approval sits in the 40-percent range (the August NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll), the signs are ominous for Democrats.

These two sets of predictions are not mutually exclusive. Charlie and Stu are trying to look ahead seven weeks to predict the outcome; the election models are measuring the chances as of today. Still, it's a fascinating split — and one to watch over the final seven weeks of the 2014 election.


Chris Cillizza writes “The Fix,” a politics blog for the Washington Post. He also covers the White House.
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Title: Re: Just a poll but...
Post by: DougMacG on September 17, 2014, 08:26:42 AM
If this happens how does Republicans rid themselves of Rove?  ...

Rove was caught running amnesty ads against Grimes in the Senate race in Kentucky, when Rove and same group, Crossroads, supported the same legislation at the time.

Overall, I don't share your view that Rove is the problem, but he also isn't the solution.  Groups like his rise in importance when millions and millions and millions of conservatives don't rise up at all and do or say anything about what is happening.

I see polls moving again after Nate Silver's last report and as poll companies move from registered voters to likely voters.  GOP Ernst now leading in Tom Harkins' Iowa seat, +6.  Dem Gov Hickenlooper way down in swing state Colo. down, -10. Fla Gov GOP +5.

Of course R's could still blow this.  The bigger problem I see is if R's win too small this year to hold the Senate majority in 2016.  Eking out a win without bringing voters over to a positive agenda going forward is a tremendous and historic loss.  Failure to nationalize this race and win with purpose just sets us up for failure in the next cycle.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2014, 09:41:14 AM
"Eking out a win without bringing voters over to a positive agenda going forward is a tremendous and historic loss."

"positive agenda"

We can be sure the Clinton mob is furiously working to come up positive agendas for their voting blocks.

And they will have ones for the middle class which is key.   That is the ones who want to work.

For the benefits crowd there is little hope it seems they will ever vote ideology over cash handouts.

How do Republicans win over single mothers?   

How do they win over American workers?

How do they win over blue collars?

How do they win over other ethnic groups?

Blacks?

(Forget liberal Jews - no hope)

Spanish Speaking groups?

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 17, 2014, 10:50:21 AM
...How do Republicans win over single mothers?   
How do they win over American workers?
How do they win over blue collars?
How do they win over other ethnic groups?
Blacks?
(Forget liberal Jews - no hope)
Spanish Speaking groups?

More specifics as we go.  In short, Obama won by less than 3points in the last Presidential election and Republicans are already competitive in mid-terms.  We need to make a loud and clear and persuasive message to all of the members of these groups and get 1.5% of them to switch sides.  In addition to taking a small bite out of these groups, 4 million Republican voters stayed home instead of voting for Romney.  A flawed candidate (Romneycare?) ran a weak campaign and left votes on the table.  For example, where was his response to Candy Crowley when she butted in, what does self deportation mean, why are we conceding 47% of the vote if the argument is that the President is failing for all of us?

My thoughts to a gay person: in spite of (previous) opposition to gay marriage, conservatives offer you more liberty overall.

To Hispanics:conservatives offer you more opportunity to get ahead. 

To blacks:   a conservative agenda offers you more opportunity going forward, a move toward color blindness and will not remove the safety net for those trying to catch up.

To most Jews: conservatives support what you support.

To blue collar workers:  Conservatives respect the fruits of your labor, and your hard work is worth more in a healthy economy with a secure border.

To single moms:  Do you want your wonderful kids growing up in a failed state owing more than he/she will ever earn, or in a great country with a vibrant economy.

Asian Americans as a group hate us too.  Yet they tend to be hard working producers and strong parents, strong families.  We can do better with them.

To Americans:  Conservative offer you a better agenda for national security.

Single moms and other groups mentioned, may largely see government as their economic security.  But it is actually those who grow the economy that funds the government that provide the security.  Failure to move the economy forward hurts everyone in every economic situation.  We need to move a very small portion of each of these groups to win.

One point from Obama, stop doing stupid things.  Paul Ryan called himself out on one of those.  We aren't just makers and takers.  You aren't a taker if you are a retiree is receiving an earned benefit from the government or a disabled veteran or and entitlement recipient truly unable to work.  Broad sweeping statements are unhelpful especially when you are willing to fund almost all of the federal government anyway.  To focus and the agenda needs to much more clear and realistic if we want to take power away from the scare mongers.

If we can't make an economic or freedom argument after 8 years of Obama, ...
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2014, 11:36:39 AM
Doug,

Great start.  More specifics in the future hopefully.  Too vague but a more thorough message is more difficult.  I think the Republicans should address these divergent groups.  They should target on a national bully pulpit agenda.

Not just hire a few from each group, a gay, a black, a latin, a women and call them chairman of the gay, black, latin, women Republican "outreach" or committee of some other vague platform that no one ever sees.   They should seriously look at reaching out to these groups on the national stage and in a big way.  Explain to them whey their lives are not and will likely not get better under Crats. 

As for the perception the rich are getting richer and everyone else not the evidence suggests that is truer today than since the Gilded Age.  Hillary will have arguments for all these things.  The Cans have historically not addressed them.

"If we can't make an economic or freedom argument after 8 years of Obama, ..."

On a national level, apparently not.



Title: Trey Gowdy for Speaker
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 18, 2014, 05:41:03 AM

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/17/national-campaign-launched-in-support-of-trey-gowdy-for-speaker/
Title: Re: Trey Gowdy for Speaker
Post by: DougMacG on October 02, 2014, 11:57:42 AM
http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/17/national-campaign-launched-in-support-of-trey-gowdy-for-speaker/

Agree!  Wouldn't that be a nice change.
Title: US Senate: Meet Mike McFadden R-MN - challenging Al Franken
Post by: DougMacG on October 02, 2014, 12:06:44 PM
This could easily be put under "The Way Forward", what I would call common-sense-conservatism.  
Click on the 30 minute audio podcast at the link, interviewed by John Hinderacker at Powerline.
McFadden is supposedly losing by double digits while Franken has a 100% name recognition.  Watch this race close to within the margin of error by election day.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/10/meet-mike-mcfadden.php
mikemcfadden.com
Title: Re: Congressional races, rare bipartisan agreement
Post by: DougMacG on October 03, 2014, 09:14:11 PM
The President has announced that he would like the current mid-terms to be a referendum on his Presidency.  So be it.

Pres. Obama:  "... make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot — every single one of them.”
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Senate, A Wave Election?
Post by: DougMacG on October 23, 2014, 07:24:40 AM
I sense a lot of pessimism on our side.  The polls look pretty good but we have had this football pulled away from us so many times we don't know whether to try kicking it one more time.

No matter what, one of these three scenarios is going to happen this Nov 4:

1. Republicans under-perform (again) and get beat(again) by the Dem get out the vote, fear, envy and cheat operations.  Republicans pick up 0-5 seats resulting best case in a 50-50 tie that goes to the Dems for control with their sitting Vice President.  Then R's lose more in 2016 so that even if they win back the White House they can't effectively govern or reform or dismantle government program.

2.  Republican barely take the Senate with 51 or 52 seats.  (Most likely scenario)  Then we will have evenly divided government for the end the Obama years and have two years of competing views aired into the next Presidential election where both parties have to pick new leaders, and hopefully new directions.

3.  Republican wave election.  I'm not predicting this, but why not!  The Pres and Dems are weak on foreign policy, weak on security issues, have a horrible track record on economic issues, are completely deaf to the electorate and have been caught governing recklessly.  Republicans OTOH have pretty good candidates running nationwide and are running with pretty good messages.  No child molesters and no one leading with a rape abortion platform this time.

A wave election is when nearly all of the tossups fall in one direction, instead of falling randomly or on local personalities and issues.  Real Clear Politics shows 9 tossups right now.  That is  a lot!  Nearly all are losable for the R's, but all 9 and perhaps two more are winnable in a wave.  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/2014_elections_senate_map.html

It is a two step process (again) to save the republic.  Separate some of these faithful Dem groups from their misguided loyalties this year, then win a few of them over to a message of economic freedom and growth in the next cycle.  If Republicans win a majority or 53, 54 or 55 Senate seats this year and if a true leader with a compelling message emerges next year, this country hase a fighting chance of turning things around!

-----------------------------------------------------
One possible indicator of a problem in the polls is the left has sent all their heaviest hitters to Minnesota to defend a Governor and Senator (Al Franken) who are both not considered by anyone to be in contested races.  They have sent President Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Bill Maher and Elizabeth Warren - twice.  All for uncontested races.  Maybe they see something we don't or maybe it just means they are not welcome anywhere else...
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 23, 2014, 09:08:03 AM
" They have sent President Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Bill Maher and Elizabeth Warren - twice.  All for uncontested races.  Maybe they see something we don't or maybe it just means they are not welcome anywhere else..."

Bill Maher?  Heavy hitter?

12 days for Obama to get Jihadi John for his November/October surprise.

By the way, will Romney listen to Trump?  Perhaps if Trump promises HIMSELF not to run again Romney would listen.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 23, 2014, 10:28:32 AM
"Bill Maher?  Heavy hitter?"

   LOL!

For that matter, Joe Biden?  And the school lunch lady??   :-)

I wonder what would be an example of someone important and credible on the far left?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 03, 2014, 09:58:06 PM
Predictions before the polls open/close?

In the House, people say double digit (barely) gains for Republicans.  (Hard to track 435 of these.)

In the Senate, as it sits now with polling, R's hold two close ones,Kentucky and Georgia,  lose Kansas (?)  and pick up 7, West Virginia, South Dakota. Montana, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa and eventually Louisiana IF this really is a so-called national wave election, that number needs to jump to 9, possibly 10.  So add to that: Kansas and New Hampshire for nine, and then one of the following:  North Carolina, New Mexico, Virginia or Minnesota to make ten. (It is also possible that the Dem ground game combining smart strategies with hard work and cheating again bursts the Republican bubble.) 

R's need a pickup of 8 or more IMO to have a decent chance of holding the Senate in 2016 when they have to defend something like 23 seats to their opponents 9.

Go vote, everybody.  Margin of victory matters.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 03, 2014, 11:37:49 PM
Repubiclicans have to win beyond the margin of fraud and litigation.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races. ELECTION DAY TODAY
Post by: DougMacG on November 04, 2014, 05:50:22 AM
Republicans have to win beyond the margin of fraud and litigation.

Sad but true and so many of these races look to be extremely close.

It will be interesting to see how well the pollsters got it this year.  They have been all over the map but only get judged for accuracy by their final tally.

VOTE.
Title: Byron York - Results of Election Repudiate Democrat Myths...
Post by: objectivist1 on November 05, 2014, 08:59:12 AM
Voters' verdict explodes Democratic myths

BY BYRON YORK | NOVEMBER 5, 2014 | 8:30 AM

As Democratic losses mounted in Senate races across the country on election night, some liberal commentators clung to the idea that dissatisfied voters were sending a generally anti-incumbent message, and not specifically repudiating Democratic officeholders. But the facts of the election just don't support that story.

Voters replaced Democratic senators with Republicans in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia and likely in Alaska, and appear on track to do so in a runoff next month in Louisiana. At the same time, voters kept Republicans in GOP seats in heavily contested races in Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky. That is at least 10, and as many as a dozen, tough races, without a single Republican seat changing hands. Tuesday's voting was a wave alright — a very anti-Democratic wave.

In addition to demolishing the claim of bipartisan anti-incumbent sentiment, voters also exposed as myths five other ideas dear to the hearts of Democrats in the last few months:

1) The election wouldn't be a referendum on President Obama. "Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2012 and in 2008," Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in late October. "The candidates that are on the ballot are Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress." Of course, that was true, but Republicans from New Hampshire to Alaska worked tirelessly to put the president figuratively on the ballot. And they succeeded.

Every day on the stump, Republican candidates pressed the point that their Democratic opponents voted for the Obama agenda nearly all the time. "Kay Hagan has voted for President Obama's failed partisan agenda 95 percent of the time," said Thom Tillis, who defeated the incumbent Democrat in North Carolina. Mark Pryor "votes with Barack Obama 93 percent of the time," said Tom Cotton, who defeated the incumbent Democrat in Arkansas. "Mark Udall has voted with [Obama] 99 percent of the time," said Cory Gardner, who defeated the incumbent Democrat in Colorado.

On Election Day, nearly 60 percent of voters told exit pollsters they were dissatisfied or angry with the Obama administration. In retrospect, there was no more effective campaign strategy for Republicans running in 2014 than to tie an opponent to the president.

2) Obamacare wouldn't matter. Many Democrats and their liberal supporters in the press believed that the president's healthcare plan, a year into implementation, would not be a major factor in the midterms. But Republican candidates ignored the liberal pundits and pounded away on Obamacare anyway — and it contributed to their success.

"In our polling, [Obamacare] continues to be just as hot as it's been all year long," said a source in the campaign of Tom Cotton, who won a Senate seat handily in Arkansas, in an interview about ten days before the election. "If you look at a word cloud of voters' biggest hesitation in voting for Mark Pryor, the two biggest words are 'Obama' and 'Obamacare.' Everything after that is almost an afterthought." Other winning GOP candidates pushed hard on Obamacare, too. Tillis in North Carolina, Gardner in Colorado, Joni Ernst in Iowa, and several others made opposition to Obamacare a central part of their campaigns.

3) An improving economy would limit Democrats' losses. In the few places he felt confident and welcome enough to campaign, Obama devoted much of his appeal to citing the economic progress his administration has made: jobs created, growth, healthcare costs, corporate regulation.

The election results were pretty definitive proof that voters are not feeling the progress Obama feels has been made. Most importantly, it is an unhappy fact that a significant part of the decline in the unemployment rate under Obama has been the result of discouraged workers giving up the search for employment altogether. Indeed, in exit polls, nearly 70 percent of voters expressed negative feelings about the economy, many years into the Obama recovery.

4) Women would save Democrats. There were times when the midterm Senate campaigns seemed entirely devoted to seeking the approval of women voters. The Udall campaign in Colorado was almost a parody of such an appeal to women, focusing so extensively on contraception and abortion that the Denver Post called it an "obnoxious one-issue campaign."

Beyond Udall, most Democrats hoped a gender gap would boost them to victory. As it turned out, there was a gender gap in Tuesday's voting, but it favored Republicans. Exit polls showed that Democrats won women by seven points, while Republicans won men by 13 points. The numbers are definitive proof that, contrary to much conventional wisdom, Democrats have a bigger gender gap problem than the GOP. The elections showed precisely the opposite of what Democrats hoped they would.

5) The ground game would power Democrats to victory. When all else failed — and all else seemed to fail in the campaign's final days — Democrats believed that a superior ability to get voters to the polls would be their margin of victory, or at the very least would limit Democratic losses. After all, the Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012 had run rings around Republicans in voter contact and get-out-the-vote technology.

It didn't turn out that way. Republicans had upped their game; the party invested millions in an improved turnout machine, and it appears to have passed its first test. At the same time, Democrats failed to conjure that 2008 and 2012 turnout magic in 2014. "The Obama coalition that propelled the president to two victories remained cohesive, drawing on minorities, younger voters as well as women," the Wall Street Journal reported. "But Democratic efforts to boost turnout among younger and minority voters fell short."

Perhaps most importantly, Democrats learned that a solid turnout effort could not overcome the drag of Obama, Obamacare, the economy, and a generalized unhappiness with the state of the country under the Obama administration.

In the end, Tuesday's vote represented a repudiation of virtually every notion Democrats embraced in recent weeks as they tried to disregard the growing evidence that they were headed for a historic defeat. Now, the vote is in, and the voters' message can no longer be discounted.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 05, 2014, 09:07:01 AM
Nice to see such an epic asskicking!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2014, 12:14:18 PM
"Nice to see such an epic asskicking"

God, yeah!  :-D

If Brown won in NH and REpubs won governorship in Pa it would have been perfect.

But Repubs have massive work to do to save this country as we all know.

Unfortunately, the last person who will "get it" is the one with the massive personality DISORDER.  He is incapable of comprehending that it is HIM that has caused all this.  It is his pathologic nature to blame everyone else.  Not just political gamesmanship but a true disorder personality.  And the Dem party will do the opposite - blame him the messenger and guard the liberalism message with their own flesh, blood, and everyone's else's tax money.

1) I would be surprised if we don't get unilateral amnesty - unless (and quite possible) the Cans are stupid enough to make an appeasement deal with him on immigration reform that basically grants amnesty anyway.

2) The Dems are already all over the map blaming the "messenger" Obama but not the message as we knew would happen. 

3) It will be all Hillary now.  Did anyone see the breakdown of babe votes for Democrats/Repubs vs guy votes by party.

    There will be a war on babes onslaught.  Repubs will have to have a good female candidate IMHO.  Minority ones too. They are making some headway it seems.



 
Title: 100% of Elected GOP Senators Campaigned on Repeal of Obamacare...
Post by: objectivist1 on November 05, 2014, 12:18:40 PM
100% of Newly Elected GOP Senators Campaigned on Repealing Obamacare

November 5, 2014 - 11:43 AM
By Ali Meyer
(CNSNews.com) - Every new GOP senator who won in last night’s election campaigned on repealing Obamacare.

Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) all ran on a platform of repealing Obamacare.

Gardner touted patient-centered care and a full repeal and replacement of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare.

“Small businesses and the American people cannot afford President Obama’s countless new regulations and tax increases. There is a right way and a wrong to improve our country’s healthcare system, and the President’s healthcare law just isn’t working. We need patient-centered care and lower costs. It is not too late to start over with a full repeal and replacement of the President’s healthcare law,” Gardner said in a statement.

Daines echoed those statements, also calling to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“Every American wants healthcare at a reasonable cost. No American wants a complicated plan full of false promises, special political favors, and costs we cannot afford. We should repeal Obamacare and implement an affordable health care system that actually improves the quality of health care,” he said.

Perdue noted on his campaign page that he was one of the millions who had their personal health care policy cancelled and would support free market solutions to replace Obamacare.
“Obamacare is an overreaching federal program that will actually reduce the quality of health care and increase costs. I am one of the millions of Americans that had my personal policy cancelled after being told I could keep it. To make matters worse, Obamacare is discouraging full-time job creation. The consequences of politicians passing a massive bill without reading it continue to emerge. We need to repeal Obamacare and replace it with more affordable free market solutions,” Perdue said on his campaign page.

Cotton signed the Club for Growth’s “Repeal-It!” pledge which states, “I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Senate to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.”

Ernst and Tillis have said they would repeal Obamacare.

“Joni is staunchly opposed to the Obamacare law. Joni supports immediate action to repeal Obamacare and replace it with common sense, free-market alternatives that put patients first, and health care   decisions back in the hands of each of us rather than Washington bureaucrats,” Ernst said on her campaign page.
“As North Carolina’s U.S. Senator, Tillis will push for repeal of Obamacare, a balanced budget, and conservative economic policy,” Tillis’ campaign page stated.

Lankford, a former congressman, has previously vowed to repeal Obamacare.

“I vowed to repeal this vastly unpopular law and today I joined more than 240 members of the House of Representatives to honor that commitment,” Lankford said. “Americans were rightly outraged by its passage and have continued to resist the job-destroying, government takeover of health care. Those voices have not been ignored and the pledge to make government smaller and less intrusive is well underway.”

Rounds campaigned on a platform of repealing Obamacare saying, “Republicans don’t have the votes right now to repeal Obamacare. We must take over control of the Senate which will require Republicans to pick up six seats this cycle. That is why this U.S. Senate race is so important. Please join me in the fight to repeal Obamacare. Our families deserve better.”

Former congresswoman Capito voted for a full repeal of Obamacare, highlighting the massive tax increases that the law would impose on Americans.
“Americans of all ages and income brackets, and businesses across the country are learning the disturbing truth about the partisan legislation that was rammed through Congress without a single Republican vote. With the law’s full implementation looming, Americans are bracing for massive tax increases and daunting uncertainty. As health care costs soar, families’ access to care is limited and businesses contemplate closing their doors, it is time to fully repeal Obamacare,” Capito said.

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska also stated that part of his health care agenda would be to "lower costs and increase access to healthcare" with repealing Obamacare as the first bullet point to achieve that goal.

In Alaska and Louisiana where the Senate races have not been called yet, both GOP candidates have expressed that they would fight for a repeal of Obamacare.

Candidate Dan Sullivan of Alaska has said he would repeal and replace Obamacare as his campaign page reads, “As Alaska’s Attorney General, Dan sued to stop Obamacare. He will continue that fight as your U.S. Senator. It is time to repeal and replace Obamacare and empower Alaskans to make their own healthcare decisions not the federal government.

Louisiana’s Senate GOP candidate, Bill Cassidy, has also voiced support for the repeal of Obamacare, listing 10 reasons why it should be replaced. As a practicing physician, Cassidy has said that the ACA would drive up costs, endangers access to care, destroys jobs and increases taxes just to name a few.

“By definition, a law that creates over 150 boards, bureaucracies, and commissions does not empower patients. Repealing this law is the first step to enacting real health care reform that lowers costs and expands access to quality health care for all Americans,” Cassidy said.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 05, 2014, 10:05:00 PM
Nice to see such an epic asskicking!

Yes it is.  It was hard for me to realize this is a win because of the bad outcomes we had in my home state.  A very good Senate challenger in MN lost by 10 points to a very mediocre incumbent, Al Franken.  An even worse Dem Governor was re-elected.  You could write it off to it being a leftist state, but the state House did flip to Republican so being across the board Dem doesn't explain the poor choices.  Prosperous suburbs that went for Obama reelected Dems this year while the inner cities voted nearly 100% Dem.  When will they learn? 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 05, 2014, 11:47:30 PM
HERE'S WHAT A REPUBLICAN TAKEOVER LOOKS LIKE

114th Congress, House of Representatives map

http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=42726
Title: Landrieu does the anatomically impossible
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2014, 12:40:33 PM


http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/07/landrieu-attack-on-cassidy-backfires-horribly-video/
Title: Re: Landrieu does the anatomically impossible
Post by: G M on November 09, 2014, 10:50:59 PM


http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/07/landrieu-attack-on-cassidy-backfires-horribly-video/

She needs to fire whomever thought up that line of attack.
Title: POTH analyzes the data with some surprising admissions
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2014, 08:51:27 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/us/politics/gops-path-to-presidency-tight-but-real.html?emc=edit_th_20141110&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=49641193&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1
Title: Thomas Sowell: Obama Isn't Incompetent. He's Achieving His Goals.
Post by: objectivist1 on November 12, 2014, 06:00:48 AM
What Happened?

By Thomas Sowell - November 12, 2014 - washingtonexaminer.com

Just what happened last week on election day? And what is going to happen in the years ahead?

The most important thing that happened last week was that the country dodged a bullet. Had the Democrats retained control of the Senate, President Obama could have spent his last two years in office loading the federal judiciary with judges who share his contempt for the Constitution of the United States.

Such judges — perhaps including Supreme Court justices — would have been confirmed by Senate Democrats, and could spend the rest of their lifetime appointments ruling in favor of expansions of federal government power that would make the freedom of "we the people" only a distant memory and a painful mockery.

We dodged that bullet. But what about the rest of Barack Obama's term?

Pundits who depict Obama as a weak, lame duck president may be greatly misjudging him, as they have so often in the past. Despite the Republican sweep of elections across the country last week, President Obama has issued an ultimatum to Congress, to either pass the kind of immigration law he wants before the end of this year or he will issue executive orders changing the country's immigration laws unilaterally.

Does that sound like a lame duck president?

On the contrary, it sounds more like some banana republic's dictator. Nor is Obama making an idle bluff. He has already changed other laws unilaterally, including the work requirement in welfare reform laws passed during the Clinton administration.

The very idea of Congress rushing a bill into law in less than two months, on a subject as complex, and with such irreversible long-run consequences as immigration, is staggering. But there is already a precedent for such hasty action, without Congressional hearings to bring out facts or air different views. That is how Obamacare was passed. And we see how that has turned out.

People who are increasingly questioning Barack Obama's competence are continuing to ignore the alternative possibility that his fundamental values and imperatives are different from theirs. You cannot tell whether someone is failing or succeeding without knowing what they are trying to do.

When Obama made a brief public statement about Americans being beheaded by terrorists, and then went on out to play golf, that was seen as a sign of political ineptness, rather than a stark revelation of what kind of man he is, underneath the smooth image and lofty rhetoric.

The president's refusal to protect the American people by quarantining people coming from Ebola-infected areas — as was done by Britain and a number of African nations — is by no means a sign of incompetence. It is a sacrifice of Americans' interests for the sake of other people's interests, as is an assisted invasion of illegal immigrants across our southern borders.

Such actions are perfectly consistent with Obama's citizen of the world vision that has led to such statements of his in 2008: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that every other country's going to say 'okay.' "

In a similar vein, Obama said, "we consume more than 20 percent of the world's oil but have less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves." In short, Americans are undeservedly prosperous and selfishly consuming a disproportionate share of "the world's output" — at least in the vision of Barack Obama.

That Americans are producing a disproportionate share of what is called "the world's output" and consuming what we produce — while paying for our imports — is not allowed to disturb Obama's vision.

Resentment of the prosperous — whether at home or on the world stage — runs through virtually everything Barack Obama has said and done throughout his life. You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to find the clues. You have to shut your eyes tightly to keep from seeing them everywhere, in every period of his life.

The big question is whether the other branches of government — Congress and the Supreme Court — can stop him from doing irreparable damage to America in his last two years. Seeing Obama as an incompetent and weak lame duck president only makes that task harder.

Thomas Sowell, a Washington Examiner columnist, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 13, 2014, 05:34:40 PM
"banana republic dictator"

I have no doubt whatsoever if Obama was from another era and from another country he would have been a very intolerant dictator and all his enemies would be summarily disposed of.

 

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional Budget Office fell for Gruber's diversions
Post by: DougMacG on November 17, 2014, 08:56:44 AM
Is there going to be hearings and reform of this perverted, taxpayer funded, office of stooges and puppets?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbo-effectively-used-gruber-s-model-score-obamacare_819105.html?nopager=1

"Two well-placed sources on Capitol Hill say that the Congressional Budget Office effectively used Jonathan Gruber’s model to score Obamacare. "


Yes they did.  And the Supreme Court did not.  It was a budget buster if scored honestly and unconstitutional as it was sold.  Odd that it is those of us who saw through the deception who are most upset about it.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Keystone XL Pipeline, Mary Lanrdieu
Post by: DougMacG on November 19, 2014, 07:55:09 AM
+9!

The pipeline has no environmental impact and is the safest way to transport a fuel we need for transportation and her state needs economically. The House again passed it.  The Dem Senate just voted it down; got 59 votes instead of the needed 60. http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/keystone-vote-fails-in-senate-despite-major-push-by-landrieu-20141118

 Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) needed a win on this for her Dec 6 runoff.  Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer and the rest could care less (because she was going to lose anyway).  The Republican Senate coming in will pass it.  Goodbye Mary Landrieu.  The Republican takeover will now jump to +9.  Dem losses are -9.  Net shift in votes is 18.  And the margin is high enough for Republicans to have a good shot of retaining control in the next, much harder cycle.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 19, 2014, 09:30:36 AM
Sen. Joe Mancin of WV may be tempted to flip to the Reps.
Title: Re: US Congressional races - Mary Landrieu, Under the Bus
Post by: DougMacG on December 02, 2014, 05:51:42 PM
Chris Cillizza, Washington Post today,  "You'd be hard-pressed to find a single Democrat in Washington not named "Landrieu" even talking about the race and even fewer (if that's possible) who think she has any chance at winning."

Longtime aide to former Louisiana Sen. John Breaux (D),  "I don’t know anyone outside of her staff who thinks she has a chance to win next Saturday".

This lost dog has only the Humane Society backing her now.  (Not joking.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/01/what-the-heck-happened-to-mary-landrieu/

Previously, in this thread:  "Goodbye Mary Landrieu.  The Republican takeover will now jump to +9.  Dem losses are -9.  Net shift in votes is 18.  And the margin is high enough for Republicans to have a good shot of retaining control in the next, much harder cycle."
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1273.msg84642#msg84642


I don't get how you quit.  How does Obama give up? Ok, she doesn't want him there, but why don't they send money?  (The answer is because they all know she can't win.)  Why do they say this is about money?  She is a 12 year incumbent!  She can get a message out - if she had one.  Elect me and I will ... what?  Lol.  People already heard her message and saw her results of their policies.  Why doesn't Hillary care?  (No pun intended.)  http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clintons-awkward-keystone-day  Aren't they the crowned royalty of fundraising?  They can't find a couple mil?  Or they won't?!  Has Hillary conceded the Senate for the next 6 years?  How do you govern without the Senate, get everyone from cabinet to Supreme Court appointments confirmed, treaties ratified, budgets passed?  Ask Barack Obama about the fun of divided government.  There is nothing Hillary can or will do right now to win these key seat in this key state.  Or is this her best?  She is just too boxed in with failure.  Maybe Hillary isn't running either!  Maybe this was her last stand:

(http://www.msnbc.com/sites/msnbc/files/styles/ratio--3-2--830x553/public/014-11-01t230726z_728508354_gm1eab20jkv01_rtrmadp_3_usa-election-louisiana.jpg?itok=Q9mNoMjf)

I'll bet you Hillary is not booked to go down for the 'victory' party.  Mary will enjoy that one without the Obama, Clinton machines.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 02, 2014, 07:17:07 PM
Sen. Joe Mancin of WV may be tempted to flip to the Reps.

I hope you are right.  If it was only personal Washington power at stake, or if you are looking from anywhere except WV it makes perfect sense, he ran against Obama and the Dem party agenda, but according to this Redstate piece, Joe Manchim IS the Democratic party of West Virginia.
http://www.redstate.com/diary/unsilentmajority/2014/11/07/joe-manchin-will-flip-republican/

When he looks at Mary Landrieu abandoned to obscurity in Louisiana, among other things. conservative Dems in WV should see that all need to flip.

It would be a BIG deal, making the Republicans +10 for the year, Democrats -10! (By my count.)   If they aren't offering him committee assignments and prime offices, they should be.
Title: US Congressional races: Early look at the 2016 Senate races
Post by: DougMacG on December 03, 2014, 08:45:56 PM
Yes, this matters now.

Democratic Takeover of Senate in 2016 Possible but Not a Slam Dunk
Michael Barone | Dec 01, 2014
http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/2014/12/01/democratic-takeover-of-senate-in-2016-possible-but-not-a-slam-dunk-n1925769/page/full

...six of the seven seats Republicans will be defending in 2016 are in states that Obama carried with between 50 and 52 percent of the vote.  In three of these Obama states, Republican incumbents have shown a capacity to run well ahead of their party -- Charles Grassley in Iowa (52 percent Obama), Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire (52 percent) and Rob Portman in Ohio (51 percent). They may well do so again.  Three others would not have to run much ahead of party lines to prevail -- Marco Rubio in Florida (where Obama got 50 percent), Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania (52 percent) and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin (52 percent).  ...it is conceivable that Republicans could lose Richard Burr's seat in North Carolina (48 percent Obama).

Eight of the 10 seats Democrats are defending are in states Obama carried with at least 54 percent of the vote, and they don't look vulnerable. Michael Bennet in Colorado (51 percent for Obama) has been forewarned by his colleague Mark Udall's defeat. Harry Reid in Nevada (52 percent Obama) looks beatable

Democrats do look well-positioned to gain Senate seats, but not necessarily the number needed to overturn what looks to be a 54-46 Republican majority.
Title: Half of the Senators who voted for Obamacare won't be part of new Senate!
Post by: DougMacG on December 10, 2014, 08:33:21 PM
Where is Ben Nelson with his Cornhusker kickback, anyway?  (Head of lobby group.)

They used to talk about incumbents having a 98% reelection rate.  Incumbency is quite powerful; even Obama won reelection.

Yet 30 of the 60 Senators who voted for Obamacare are now gone from or leaving the Senate in just 5 years, with Mary Landrieu being the latest.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/half-of-the-senators-who-voted-for-obamacare-wont-be-part-of-new-senate/article/2555721
Title: WSJ: STrassel: Restoring Regular Ordere
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 09, 2015, 07:51:44 AM
Closing Down the Harry Reid Circus
Show that a GOP-controlled Senate can get things done, despite Democratic stonewalling.
By Kimberley A. Strassel
Jan. 8, 2015 7:04 p.m. ET
201 COMMENTS

Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get the answer: Exactly as he did in the majority. Republicans would be wise to understand what he’s up to.

The Senate these past four years has been a supermassive black hole—a place where everything good went to die. The chamber was designed as a forum for debate, amendments, deliberation and coalition-building. Mr. Reid instead wielded it as a means of party protection—using its many procedural tools to block every bill, and to shield his members and the Obama White House from tough issues.

And while he isn’t officially running the Senate anymore, he’s still running on a Senate dysfunction agenda. New Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to restore the place to “regular order,” though he recently got a taste of how hard that might prove. Mr. Reid this week again accused the former Republican minority of “gratuitous obstruction and wanton filibustering,” and vowed such tactics would not “be a hallmark of a Democratic minority.” He then proceeded to unleash all the obstruction and filibustering in Christendom to slow Mr. McConnell ’s first priority: authorization of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Tuesday morning—the first day of session—assistant Democratic leader Sen. Dick Durbin took to the floor to formally object to the Senate Energy Committee even holding a hearing on the pipeline, despite Republicans having charitably arranged for even opponents of the project to testify. Having tanked that hearing, Mr. Reid’s office turned around and publicly complained Mr. McConnell wasn’t sticking to his promise to hold a hearing and report the bill out of committee. This was doubly rich, coming from a former Senate leader who barely acknowledged committees existed.

Democrats have meanwhile indicated they intend to filibuster the Keystone bill at every turn. They’ll demand 30 hours of debate here, 30 hours there. And nearly every Democratic office is already busy writing dozens of amendments to the bill—a few designed to embarrass Republicans, though plenty aimed at wasting time. “Republicans have promised an open amendment process, and that is exactly what they’re going to get,” crowed Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who voted on only about 20 amendments over the past 20 months. That was all Mr. Reid allowed.

The obvious explanation for all this stonewalling is that the vast majority of a liberal Democratic caucus doesn’t agree with GOP priorities and doesn’t want to see Republican legislation pass. Then again, most of the bills Republicans are starting with have bipartisan support and are destined for the president’s desk. So why all the Democratic rigmarole?

The reality is that Mr. Reid has a compelling interest in ordering his members to keep the Senate looking like a circus. He spent the past four years telling the American public that nothing got done under him because Republicans were obstructionist and because the Senate was “broken.” The “broken” point he even used as an excuse to blow up the filibuster for presidential nominations.

If Mr. McConnell is successful in using regular order (including debate, amendments, conference work, the filibuster) to begin methodically moving bills to Mr. Obama’s desk, that blows up the Reid story line. It exposes Democrats as the real obstructionists of the past years, even as it proves the GOP is able to get things done. Mr. Reid can’t let that happen.

The minority leader also has a more personal interest in keeping the Senate balled up: his own credibility within his party. Mr. Reid spent the past years assuring his members his Senate shutdown was protecting them from tough votes—a strategy that backfired phenomenally in the recent midterm election. Vulnerable Senate Democrats had nothing positive to show for their time in the chamber, and were instead tagged with the label of Obama lackeys.

Mr. McConnell is betting an honest committee process and a freewheeling amendment system will induce some Democrats to buy-in to legislation—allowing them to take credit back home for getting something done and for crafting bills in ways that benefit their states. Mr. Reid, who already came under fire from some of his members for his lockdown approach, would rather those members not realize there is a better way. Could be they might just want a different, more productive, leader going forward.

These Reid motivations, however, only underline how wise Mr. McConnell was to promise to return to regular order, and how important it is that Senate Republicans soldier on with it. The process will be frustrating, slow and at times risky. But done right, this will be more than just an opportunity for Republicans to outline a vision. It will be their opportunity to show that the Senate as an institution can work—at least under GOP care. That, too, will be crucial if they want to keep it in 2016.
Title: pelosi
Post by: ccp on February 14, 2015, 07:42:38 AM
Publically she sounds so flippant and irrationally partisan I wonder how she can produce Democrats who vote in lock step "90%" of the time no matter what.

Some how she must have tremendous skills behind the scenes and certainly no ethics or morals when it comes to shoving the liberal agenda down everyone's throat:

htttp://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704534904575132032344361588
Title: 2nd post on pelosi
Post by: ccp on February 14, 2015, 07:51:15 AM
One web site claims she is worth 100 million but I am not sure it's reliability.   I have a feeling she is worth a lot more than 35 million.   With her husbands companies etc..  I am not clear how much of this wealth was made during her tenure in office or as speaker.   Her father and brother were mayors of Baltimore and father also a Congressman:

http://forbesnetworth.com/2014/02/20/nancy-pelosi-net-worth/
Title: Congress actually starting to function again?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 22, 2015, 02:02:48 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/04/21/suddenly-congress-is-actually-working-why/
Title: WSJ: Lessons from the Lynch Hold
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 23, 2015, 09:31:15 AM
Democrats on Tuesday agreed to end their choke hold on Senate business in return for a vote to confirm President Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch. There’s a lesson here for the GOP in dealing with a President who consistently exceeds his executive power.

The agreement liberated a bipartisan anti-human trafficking bill that Minority Leader Harry Reid had locked up since early March. Democrats had unanimously passed the bill out of committee, only then to “discover” language they had previously approved that reaffirmed a longstanding federal ban against public funding of abortions. They filibustered the bill five times to replay the “war on women” box-CD set.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then rallied Republicans to deny Ms. Lynch a vote until the trafficking bill was allowed a vote too. Mr. Reid accused Republicans of racism and sexism, as he always does, and Al Sharpton’s activist group vowed a hunger strike until Ms. Lynch received a vote. (Al, please go through with it.) When the public yawned, Mr. Reid blew a gasket and threatened a Senate coup. President Obama said Republicans were (place demeaning adjective here).

Republicans didn’t yield, and on Tuesday Democrats capitulated. The parties negotiated a cosmetic change that keeps the abortion language essentially intact. Ms. Lynch will now get a vote, and she is expected to be confirmed.

The episode illustrates that the Senate’s advice and consent power offers political leverage that government shutdowns and impeachment do not. Jeb Bush is right that the Senate should in most cases defer to a President’s choices to run the executive branch. But as long as Messrs. Reid and Obama show willful disregard for Congress and the law, Republicans must use their legal powers to fight back.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 25, 2015, 06:22:56 AM
"The episode illustrates that the Senate’s advice and consent power offers political leverage that government shutdowns and impeachment do not. Jeb Bush is right that the Senate should in most cases defer to a President’s choices to run the executive branch. But as long as Messrs. Reid and Obama show willful disregard for Congress and the law, Republicans must use their legal powers to fight back."

I disagree.  My response is  names:

Meese  nominated atty gen

Bork  Supreme Court

I just don't get that Bush is who the Wash Repubs want.
Title: Needs to assert itself as a co-equal branch
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 15, 2015, 10:09:17 AM
y
Cleta Mitchell
May 14, 2015 7:12 p.m. ET
251 COMMENTS

Two years ago this week, a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Information confirmed what hundreds of tea party, conservative, pro-life and pro-Israel organizations had long known: The Internal Revenue Service had stopped processing their applications for exempt status and subjected them to onerous, intrusive and discriminatory practices because of their political views.

Since the report, additional congressional investigations have revealed a lot about IRS dysfunction—and worse. But they’ve also revealed Congress’s inability to exercise its constitutional oversight responsibilities of this and other executive agencies.

Consider the repeated testimony and other statements to Congress subsequently shown to be false. The report issued in December by Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.)—then chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform—details numerous instances in which senior IRS officials, including former Commissioner Doug Shulman, Acting Commissioner Steven Miller and Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner lied to Congress, denying and covering up the targeting of tea party and conservative groups before the inspector general’s May 2013 report.

Mr. Shulman told the Ways and Means Committee in March 2012 that there was no targeting of conservative groups. Congressional investigations, the Issa committee report notes, established that at the time of his denial Mr. Schulman knew there was “a backlog of applications, delays in processing, and the use of inappropriate development questions.”

In the early months of 2012, Ms. Lerner made multiple false statements to Congress. In personal meetings, telephone interviews and written communications with congressional investigators, Ms. Lerner denied there were any changes in the criteria for evaluating applications for exempt status. She stated, falsely, that the intrusive demands from her agency for proprietary information from grass-roots organizations were “ordinary”—a characterization the inspector general’s report specifically rebutted.

Ms. Lerner also told Congress that “nothing had changed” about the way her unit handled such applications. But at the very time she said that, the IRS, including Ms. Lerner, had already identified seven types of information that it had inappropriately demanded from conservative groups between 2010 and 2013. These included donor lists, transcripts of speeches by public officials to meetings, and lists of groups to whom leaders made presentations.

Between May 2012 and May 2013, Mr. Miller testified before Congress on at least six occasions, first as deputy IRS commissioner, then as acting commissioner. He withheld information from Congress each time about the targeting. In a November 2013 interview with congressional investigators—well after the targeting had been documented in the inspector general’s report—Mr. Miller admitted that he became aware of possible IRS misconduct in February 2012.

In the 15 months since he became the IRS commissioner, John Koskinen has testified repeatedly, sparring with members of Congress on a variety of subjects. In June 2014, after the IRS informed the Senate Finance Committee of the “missing Lois Lerner emails,” he told the Ways and Means Committee of the yeoman, but unsuccessful, efforts by various people within the agency to recover the Lerner emails. He claimed that it would cost “$10 million to upgrade the IRS’s technology infrastructure to begin saving and storing emails sent or received by” agency employees.

All the while the emails were sitting on an off-site server in West Virginia. And Timothy Camus, the deputy inspector general for tax information, testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier this year that the IRS does save and store all IRS employees’ emails.

Lying to Congress is a felony. But the Obama Justice Department has not lifted a finger to prosecute anyone responsible for the IRS scandal, including top brass who repeatedly gave false testimony to Congress.

Neither has Congress done much about being lied to by the IRS. Mr. Issa’s oversight committee first subpoenaed Lois Lerner’s emails in August 2013, then issued another subpoena in February 2014. The committee conducted a hearing on the subject in March 2014, during which Mr. Koskinen testified that, finally, the IRS would produce the Lerner emails. However, as he testified in June 2014, the agency didn’t even begin to look for her emails until February 2014. Why didn’t the House seek to enforce its first subpoena when the IRS failed to respond in the fall of 2013?

Congressional oversight has devolved into a series of show hearings after which nothing happens. No one gets fired for lying. No changes are made in the functioning of the agencies. No programs are defunded. Congress issues subpoenas that are ignored, contempt citations that aren't enforced, criminal referrals that go into Justice Department wastebaskets.

If it is to function as a coequal branch of government, Congress should establish—either through the rules of each House, or by legislation, that it has standing to independently enforce a congressional subpoena through the federal courts. Congress also should use its purse strings to change specific behavior in federal agencies. Rather than across-the-board reductions, Congress should zero out specific departments and programs as agency misconduct is uncovered. It is the only way to stop the executive branch from running roughshod over the American people.

This will be a difficult challenge as long as partisans in both houses of Congress see their role as political gatekeepers who must protect executive agencies when a president of their own party is in the White House. Congressional Democrats have done all in their power to thwart the IRS investigation, arguing with Republicans at hearings and engaging behind-the-scenes with the IRS to undermine the inquiry.

Yet it is a challenge that cannot be shirked. Congress needs to relearn how to flex serious legislative muscle to guard against future executive abuses like those from the IRS.

Ms. Mitchell is a partner in the Washington office of Foley & Lardner. She represents many conservative and tea party organizations targeted by the IRS.
Popular on WSJ

Title: Boener leaving!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 25, 2015, 07:00:54 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/boehner-will-resign-from-congress.html?emc=edit_na_20150925&nlid=49641193&ref=cta&_r=0
Title: Re: Boener leaving!
Post by: G M on September 25, 2015, 07:25:37 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/boehner-will-resign-from-congress.html?emc=edit_na_20150925&nlid=49641193&ref=cta&_r=0

Good riddance.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 25, 2015, 07:50:24 AM
Ditto.

He looked absurd crying behind the Pope in contrast to Biden who looked uplifted.

McConnell next hopefully.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ppulatie on September 25, 2015, 08:37:38 AM
Kevin McCarthy is expected to replace Bonehead. McCarthy is another Amnesty supporting RINO.

By the way, the excuse that Bonehead had accomplished everything that he wanted to do and that he had planned on leaving earlier, I don't buy it. He would stay except that he had to rely upon the Dems to keep him in power. That would really tarnish his reputation, so he decided to go.
Title: The Speaker doesn't have to be a member of the House? A dissenting view
Post by: DougMacG on October 12, 2015, 07:51:00 AM
http://www.libertylawsite.org/2015/10/09/dysfunction-is-no-excuse-for-misreading-the-constitution/

"...OCTOBER 9, 2015|
Congress, Connor Ewing, James Madison, Presidential Succession Act of 1947, Speaker of the House, U.S. Constitution
Dysfunction Is No Excuse for Misreading the Constitution
by DIANA SCHAUB|3 Comments
Can the U.S. House of Representatives elect a non-member to the Speakership? Disgusted by the dysfunction in Congress, some are suggesting this is constitutionally possible. Connor Ewing, in this space yesterday, asserted the only thing standing in the way is “over two centuries of legislative practice to the contrary.” 

He and a handful of others now claim that nothing in the text of the Constitution would prevent the members from electing an outsider. They cite Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5: “The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker,” arguing that this leaves the choice entirely free (or at least free enough that a private citizen could be tapped for the post).

However, this construction of the passage ignores a number of other textual elements in the Constitution, as well as other relevant texts. There is an inescapable logic to the setting forth of the Constitution’s sections which should guide interpretation. In Article 1, Section 1, we learn that Congress is vested with specified legislative powers and that Congress “shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” In Article 1, Section 2, Clause 1, we learn that “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States.”

These definitions govern the meaning of subsequent clauses..."
Title: WSJ: Congress's Submission Hold
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 29, 2015, 05:53:07 AM
More than a Rep-Dem issue, it makes sense to me to cast this as a matter of CONGRESS reclaiming its power.
============
When Chuck Schumer feels compelled to dial up a grouchy conference call with the press, it usually means Republicans are doing something right.

In this case what’s right is a strategy by the Republican Senate, which is refusing to confirm a slew of President Obama’s nominees to key posts. GOP senators are issuing “holds” on appointees and explaining that they will continue until the administration accedes to specific demands. Judging by the number, volume and bitterness of Democrats’ howls, this is getting the White House’s attention.

“We should be fighting ISIS with all hands on deck, not with one hand tied behind our back,” complained Mr. Schumer on his recent call, suggesting that the fight against terrorism might improve if the State and Defense departments simply had more people to not implement Mr. Obama’s non-policy in Syria and Iraq.

“Why are nonpartisan public-service positions being used as political pawns?” grumped Harry Reid, from his usual grumping ground on the Senate floor.

The answer, as Mr. Reid well knows, is that the holds are proving to be one of the Republican Senate majority’s best means of negotiating with this intransigent White House. Barack Obama isn’t willing to sign bills to improve ObamaCare or rein in spending or even tighten vetting for refugees. The administration continues to block basic congressional oversight. And the president still shows withering contempt for Congress and the law, threatening to go around both whenever he doesn’t get his way. The holds are a small, sometimes effective way to extract concessions.

The best holds are those that come with specific demands—and most of these do. Iowa’s Chuck Grassley placed a hold on three senior State Department officials, which he says will continue until the department delivers documents related to Hillary Clinton’s email and staff—requests it has stonewalled since 2013.

Nebraska’s Ben Sasse is holding all nominees to the Health and Human Services Department until the administration coughs up answers to specific questions about ObamaCare’s failed co-ops. Tom Cotton of Arkansas is holding three would-be ambassadors until the administration investigates the Secret Service’s ugly leak of unflattering information about a GOP congressman. Kansas’ Pat Roberts is holding Mr. Obama’s nominee for secretary of the Army until the White House rules out using executive action to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

All told, more than 100 nominees are awaiting either committee or floor action—and they aren’t likely to get it until the administration accedes to these simple requests. Since this White House would prefer to have its own way, it has instead deputized Democrats and administration officials to complain that this partisan “hostage”-taking by Republicans is detrimental to smooth functioning of the federal government. As if there were such a concept.

State Department officials have moaned that Mr. Grassley’s requests for documents are too onerous. Mr. Reid has suggested that the Iowan is simply out to get Hillary Clinton. (Because for what other reason might a senator be interested in investigating the mishandling of classified information?) Mr. Schumer and others argue that the Obama administration’s failings with ISIS, refugee policy and ObamaCare can be blamed on GOP holds that have left departments lacking staff or stuck with “acting” leaders.

But Democrats did plenty of their own holding in their day. And the other complaints are downright funny. The press is documenting the many ways Mr. Obama has ignored the advice that his State Department advisers and military brass have given him to improve the fight against ISIS. This is a one-man administration. It’s a wonder Mr. Obama nominates any officials, ever.

Mr. Obama is happy to leave positions unfilled if it allows him to avoid unpleasant questions. When Arne Duncan stepped down as education secretary, Mr. Obama chose to designate his successor, John King, as acting head for the rest of the president’s term—to avoid a Senate grilling over education policies. The administration has left vacant the top job at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—to circumvent queries about the scandal-plagued body.

For now, Democrats are fighting this strategy, trying to make the holds a liability for Republicans. But recent history suggests that a committed GOP can wring results from the process. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held up Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s vote for months, until Democrats finally agreed to a human-trafficking bill. Other senators over the past 10 months have used holds to successfully extract at least some concessions.

This may not be as dramatic as repealing ObamaCare, but it does matter. One of Congress’s basic jobs is oversight, and the GOP has a particular interest in and duty to inform the electorate about Mr. Obama’s policy failings. The holds are a good sign this Republican majority knows that, and is using one of the only available tools.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 19, 2015, 10:30:17 AM
"Why didn't Reps ever use the filibuster when the Dems controlled everything?"

I'm under they impression they did e.g. on Obamacare but the Dems did an evasionary end run via budget reconciliation.

The implicit threat of the filibuster had some effect.  You rarely see an actual filibuster.  The Dems also had 60 votes in the Senate for a moment.

The question was also thrown at them, if such and such is so important, why didn't you address when you had majorities in both chambers, the Presidency and 60 votes in the Senate.  While they were f...'ing around with the American economy and healthcare, they could have passed 'climate change', immigration, wealth redistribution, family leave and a host of other things.  The fact that they didn't means they would rather have it as an issue than have their way on another failed policy.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 19, 2015, 11:07:10 AM
http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/comic/the-farce-awakens/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DayByDayCartoon+%28Day+by+Day+Cartoon+by+Chris+Muir%29
Title: Rep. Mia Love
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 27, 2016, 08:54:12 AM
http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865645896/Rep-Mia-Love-wants-to-limit-congressional-bills-to-one-subject-at-a-time.html?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on February 02, 2016, 07:39:24 PM
First, the previous post in this thread is outstanding, Mia Love proposing that bills need to cover one subject at a time.   It's good to see her make an impact.
----------------------------------------
ccp wrote (on Rubio thread):  Do you think Ryan would be the kind of Senator like Reid - somehow when he is in either the majority or minority seems to get his way?

Ryan got a bad start as Speaker of the House with the current budget.  Don't be fooled by that, IMHO.  That happened for a number of reasons that are now behind us.  I expect Speaker Ryan to release soon an agenda more detailed and positive than Newt's Contract with America.  I assume it will include the framework for tax reform.

[I wonder if you meant Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.  I don't believe McConnell is a bad guy or a Rino, but it is time for new leadership there too.]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/12/03/paul-ryan-sets-his-agenda-make-america-confident-again/
Paul Ryan:  "On tax reform, perhaps the issue closest to Ryan’s own heart, he pledged to pursue changes that would relentlessly eliminate loopholes and lower rates — and not to be intimidated by the big businesses and special interests who originally wrote them into law.

“The only way to fix our tax code is to simplify, simplify, simplify,” he said. “Look, I know people like many of these loopholes, and they have their reasons. But there are so many of them that now the tax code is like a to-do list — Washington’s to-do list. … I also know many of these loopholes will be fiercely defended. All I can say is we will not be cowed. We are not here to smooth things over. We are here to shake things up."




Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 03, 2016, 03:51:26 AM
Thanks Doug.

But you can understand my qualms. Besides the DEms who just want to shame freedom, steal, spend, and buy with other people's money and the Repubs who are in endless retreat I have learned not to trust they mean what they say or for that matter, do what they say.
Title: Marco Rubio's Senate seat
Post by: ccp on February 10, 2016, 02:38:00 PM
is at high risk.  My nephew who is no longer with Bobby Jindal is I think working with
Carlos Lopez-Cantera for the time being.  I have to check.  There are two Carlos's who are running.  One is labeled a Charlie Crist candidate (we certainly don't need another one of that turncoat).  But the other one is behind the Democrat in the polls:

http://shark-tank.com/2016/02/09/another-charlie-crist-republican-to-run-for-u-s-senate-in-florida/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on February 15, 2016, 10:13:57 AM
It isn't just a chance Democrats will take the Senate, it is a better than 50% likelihood.
http://prospect.org/article/nine-battleground-states-could-flip-senate-and-supreme-court
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DDF on February 15, 2016, 10:16:32 AM
It isn't just a chance Democrats will take the Senate, it is a better than 50% likelihood.
http://prospect.org/article/nine-battleground-states-could-flip-senate-and-supreme-court

I doubt it. Would you like to wager? I'll bet you 500 pesos. If I lose, I'll pay.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 15, 2016, 11:04:42 AM
Fk!!!! :-o :-o :-o

What is the breakdown on this?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on February 15, 2016, 07:22:34 PM
It isn't just a chance Democrats will take the Senate, it is a better than 50% likelihood.
http://prospect.org/article/nine-battleground-states-could-flip-senate-and-supreme-court

I doubt it. Would you like to wager? I'll bet you 500 pesos. If I lose, I'll pay.

Thanks DDF.  My point is only that R's are swimming upstream, not that they can't or won't pull it off.  If the R's either lose the Pres.election or win just because people hate and don't trust the Dem, then there will be enough Dem voters out there to easily take back the Senate.  R's are defending 24 seats and Dems 10.(?)  Of the 9 closest raises, 7 involve a Dem gain and 2 are possible R pickups.  If this is a Presidential election turnout year and the R is not successfully reaching out and changing a few hearts and minds, then the Senate goes to the Dems.  Republicans will need a successful, positive message to win the White House, and failing that they will lose not only the Presidency but the also the Senate and the  Judiciary, for generations to come, with it.  

Crafty, please read the article linked:
http://prospect.org/article/nine-battleground-states-could-flip-senate-and-supreme-court

Nine Battleground States that Could Flip the Senate -- and the Supreme Court

PETER DREIER FEBRUARY 14, 2016
...
Here’s the rundown of the key battleground states:

New Hampshire: First-termer Kelly Ayotte is probably the most vulnerable Republican in the Senate. She’s facing a strong opponent in popular Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan, who announced her Senate bid in October. New Hampshire voters have supported Democrats in five of the past six presidential races. This gives Hassan an edge. Possible Democratic pickup.

Wisconsin: Incumbent Ron Johnson is another vulnerable Republican seeking re-election. The billionaire invested about $9 million of his own money to beat Senator Russ Feingold by a small margin in 2010, a midterm election. Feingold is now seeking to regain his former seat and has the advantage of this being a presidential year, where Democratic turnout is likely to be higher than six years ago. Obama carried Wisconsin with 53 percent of the vote in 2008 and 56 percent four years later. Possible Democratic pickup.

Illinois: Republican Mark Kirk rode the GOP wave to victory in 2010, but this year he’s facing a tight race for re-election in a state where voters typically support a Democrat for president and where the other Senate seat is held by Dick Durbin, a popular Democrat. Representative Tammy Duckworth is likely to be the Democratic candidate for Senate. An Iraq War veteran, Duckworth served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and suffered severe combat wounds, losing both of her legs and damaging her right arm. She was elected to Congress in 2012 and re-elected two years later. Right now she is leading Kirk in most of the statewide polls, and Kirk is considered the underdog. Possible Democratic pickup.

Colorado: Democrats believe it is crucial to hold onto this Senate seat, currently held by Michael Bennet, who is running for re-election. He was appointed to that seat in 2009 by Governor Bill Ritter when Ken Salazar became secretary of the Interior. Bennet won the seat on his own in 2010, narrowly defeating Republican Ken Buck. There is no clear frontrunner among Republicans seeking the party’s nomination, which gives Bennet an advantage. Obama carried Colorado in both 2008 and 2012, but it is still considered a swing state in the current presidential race. Bennet will need a strong Democratic turnout to stay in office. Tossup.

Ohio: Republican incumbent Rob Portman is running for re-election. His likely Democratic opponent, former Governor Ted Strickland, is currently leading Portman in the polls. Strickland won a landslide victory for governor in 2006 but lost a close race to John Kasich four years later. This will be an intense battleground state in both the presidential and Senate races. Tossup.

A strong Democratic turnout could doom Toomey’s re-election bid and help the Democratss take back the Senate.
Pennsylvania: The Republican incumbent Patrick Toomey wants to stay in the Senate, but he is not a very popular politician in this state. The two leading Democrats are Katie McGinty (former chief of staff to Governor Tom Wolf) and former Representative Joe Sestak, whom Toomey narrowly defeated six years ago as part of the GOP wave. Pennsylvania will also see a highly competitive race for president, even though a GOP presidential candidate hasn’t won Pennsylvania since 1988. A strong Democratic turnout could doom Toomey’s re-election bid and help the Democratss take back the Senate. Possible Democratic pickup.

Nevada: Democrat Harry Reid, who has served in the Senate since 1987 and was its majority leader from 2007 to 2014, is not seeking re-election, so this is a wide open seat. Reid was lucky that in 2010 the Republicans nominated Tea Party extremist Sharron Angle as their Senate candidate. She was an ineffective campaigner and Reid beat her by a 55 percent to 45 percent margin, but many analysts believed he would be vulnerable to defeat this year if the Republicans put up a better opponent. After bowing out, Reid recruited former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to run for the seat as the Democratic nominee. She will likely face Representative Joe Heck in the general election in what promises to be one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. Tossup; possible GOP pickup.

Florida: This is another state where the incumbent is not running for re-election. Marco Rubio is seeking the GOP nomination for president, leaving the seat vacant. Florida will be one of the most hotly-contested states for both president and Senate. Both parties hold their primaries on August 30, which will make this a prolonged battleground state. Until recently, it looked like Representative Alan Grayson, a charismatic progressive, had the edge to win the Democratic nomination, but he now faces a scandal over his business practices, having operated a hedge fund while serving in Congress. Several of his key campaign staffers have resigned. Some top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, have called on Grayson to quit the race. If he does, that would make Representative Patrick Murphy the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. He’ll have a slight edge over any of the likely GOP candidates, who include Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Representatives Ron DeSantis and David Jolly, and defense contractor Todd Wilcox, a former Special Forces commander and CIA veteran. Tossup; possible Democratic pickup.

Arizona: It is possible that Arizona voters are getting tired of Republican John McCain, who has served in the Senate since 1987 and was the GOP’s losing presidential nominee in 2008. Political handicappers give McCain an edge but predict that he’ll have the toughest re-election fight of his career and could be defeated if the Democrats nominate a strong candidate and invest the money needed to run a good campaign. He is likely to run against Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, the toughest Democratic challenger he has ever faced. A strong Democratic turnout, especially among women, could give Kirkpatrick a victory. Tossup; longshot Democratic pickup.

In two additional states, Republican incumbents—Missouri’s Roy Blunt and North Carolina’s Richard Burr—could face tough re-election bids, but the political prognosticators think these Senate seats will remain in GOP hands. In Indiana, Republican incumbent Dan Coats is stepping down, but it will be difficult for a Democrat to win that open seat unless they come up with a very strong candidate and voter turnout among low-income, minority, and young voters reaches record levels.  

Bottom line: In a high turnout election, Democrats have a better-than-even chance for a net pickup of at least four seats. Filibusters are still allowed to block Supreme Court confirmations. However, with a newly elected Democratic president and Senate, it’s not clear that Republicans would take that risk, especially since rules can be changed with a simple majority. We all knew how consequential this year’s election will be. With Scalia’s death, it just got even more consequential.
Title: Kudlow out
Post by: ccp on February 18, 2016, 08:12:30 AM
Kudlow was getting destroyed in Connecticut by Blumenthal.  Not surprised though I am no fan of the lib Blumenthal or his Obamacare brother:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/senate/#

Also Rubio's seat may be taken by Dems.   :-o
Title: Consequences of the Scalia replacement fight
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 20, 2016, 07:41:14 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/us/rob-portman-ohio-senate-race-supreme-court-nomination.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=us&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&pgtype=article
Title: Congressional races, The fight for the Senate, 2016
Post by: DougMacG on April 21, 2016, 08:24:19 AM
WI (WPR): Feingold 51, Johnson 41
NH (UNH): Ayotte 43, Hassan 42

2016 Generic Congressional Vote
Democrats45.0, Republicans44.0, Democrats +1.0
Real Clear Politics average
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Paul Ryan's agenda
Post by: DougMacG on April 27, 2016, 10:55:43 AM
"The principle for tax reform is get the cronyism out of the code, give people more power, lower rates, make us more competitive for faster growth of the and on health care, put the patient in charge," Ryan said. "Let she and her doctor be in charge of deciding their health care. Give people more choices, more insurance competition."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/paul-ryan-trump-gop-vision-222523#ixzz473Co29MI
Title: Trump-Latinos-McCain
Post by: ccp on May 05, 2016, 08:45:29 AM
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-latinos-mccain-222810
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DDF on May 05, 2016, 09:14:59 AM
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-latinos-mccain-222810

A couple things:

1. McCain is clearly wrong when he states that all of the Latinos on social media and the news are against Trump. That's clearly false.

2. Should we really be worried about what career politicians want? (To me, career politicians are the problem.... look no further than Hilary....party is irrelevant).
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 05, 2016, 10:45:38 AM
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-latinos-mccain-222810

A couple things:

1. McCain is clearly wrong when he states that all of the Latinos on social media and the news are against Trump. That's clearly false.

2. Should we really be worried about what career politicians want? (To me, career politicians are the problem.... look no further than Hilary....party is irrelevant).

Juan McCain's claims are bogus.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DDF on May 05, 2016, 12:56:30 PM
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-latinos-mccain-222810

A couple things:

1. McCain is clearly wrong when he states that all of the Latinos on social media and the news are against Trump. That's clearly false.

2. Should we really be worried about what career politicians want? (To me, career politicians are the problem.... look no further than Hilary....party is irrelevant).

Juan McCain's claims are bogus.

"Juan....." I see what you did there. Fantastic.  :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Title: Tom Cotton unloads on Mr. Cleanface
Post by: G M on May 26, 2016, 07:34:08 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onhm6zcL3Pw

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onhm6zcL3Pw[/youtube]

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 26, 2016, 07:41:06 PM
 :-o :-o :-o :lol:
Title: Re: Tom Cotton unloads on Mr. Cleanface
Post by: DougMacG on May 26, 2016, 09:24:11 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onhm6zcL3Pw

Wow.  Not often you hear truth.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 02, 2016, 03:04:09 PM
This thread has usually included Senators I think:

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/06/sorry-mitch-your-list-of-accomplishments-sucks
Title: Trump backed wrong candidate
Post by: ccp on June 08, 2016, 01:26:33 PM
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/06/conservatives-score-first-victory-of-2016-cycle-in-north-carolina
Title: Trey Gowdy cuts off sanctimonious windbag at the knees
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 12, 2016, 12:00:15 PM
https://plus.google.com/+MatHelm/posts/ijjmfGGSJ67
Title: Senate looking brighter for a Repub hold
Post by: ccp on July 15, 2016, 03:21:24 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/15/quinnipiac-poll-gop-looks-hold-senate-dem-swing-state-challengers-falter/
Title: Paul Ryan's challenger
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 05, 2016, 10:21:45 AM
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/08/05/paul-ryan-congressional-challenger-shariah-compliant-muslims-should-be-deported/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Firewire%20-%20HORIZON%208-5-16%20FINAL%20-%20no%20ad&utm_term=Firewire
Title: Re: Paul Ryan's challenger
Post by: DougMacG on August 05, 2016, 01:47:30 PM
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/08/05/paul-ryan-congressional-challenger-shariah-compliant-muslims-should-be-deported/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Firewire%20-%20HORIZON%208-5-16%20FINAL%20-%20no%20ad&utm_term=Firewire

Interesting, but:

1)  Can Paul Ryan's challenger even hold the seat in that majority Democrat district, Janesville, WI?

2)  Do we have a better idea who can be Speaker of the House?  We already tried to find one.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 23, 2016, 08:10:28 AM
Regarding the previous post in the thread, Paul Ryan won his primary over a Trump challenger by 70 points, 85-15.


ccp:  "How bad do the Congressional and Senate races look?  I mean at least if Repubs can at least keep those.  Unless something changes the damage Trump has done to himself is going to result in a electoral landslide.  So say the Presidency is gone and the Sup Ct. ...."

I'm not following it closely but it seems the R's hold the House under all known scenarios and the Senate has been completely up for grabs from the beginning.

Dems need +5 in the Senate (for 51) if Trump wins and +4 (for 50-50) if Hillary wins.  Either way it is a divided Senate and the rules regarding what votes need 60 to pass will determine policy and confirmations

R's are Vulnerable in WI (Ron Johnson), IL (Kirk), IN (Coates retiring), Ohio (Portman), NH (Ayotte), North Carolina (Burr), Florida (Rubio)?  Rubio winning might be the key.  Possible pickup in Nevada, that would change everything.  Portman running very independent from Trump in Ohio. 

The big turn is Evan Bayh running in Indiana, a very possible Dem pickup.  If that seat is lost, R's need to nearly run the table on the other contested races.

Huffington Post has it as Dem victory:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-78-percent-chance-50-senate-seats_us_57b8a525e4b0b51733a3cda0

Possible flaws in their math are, 1) a Trump comeback, these polls were possibly taken at a low point,  2) the Hillary enthusiasm gap doesn't go away even if she wins a lesser of two evils race, Presidential year assumptions on turnout may be false,  3) Republican money that doesn't like Trump is largely going into these Senate races, 4) if people see a Hillary landslide they may prefer a divided ticket for a check on Clinton's abuse of power.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 31, 2016, 08:55:24 AM
Schultz won - 
God almighty.  We can never rid ourselves of these scumbags like her and Barbara Boxer and the rest of the liberal mobsters:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/30/politics/john-mccain-debbie-wasserman-schultz-marco-rubio-primary/index.html

They are like bad nightmares that just won't leave us alone.
Title: Congress, the power of the purse, and extra legal Executive action
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 02, 2016, 11:53:40 AM
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439570/stop-settlement-slush-funds-act-congress-needs-reassert-its-power-purse&hl=en&geo=US?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Trending%20Email%20Reoccurring-%20Monday%20to%20Thursday%202016-09-01&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives
Title: Re: The US Congressional races, this year's most consequential Senate race
Post by: DougMacG on September 19, 2016, 08:13:38 AM
Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey vs. Katie McGinty, with it goes the control of the Senate...

http://triblive.com/opinion/georgewill/11148508-74/toomey-senate-probably
Title: Senate passes unwritten bill?!?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 23, 2016, 09:18:18 AM
Washington at Its Worst: Senate Passes Non-Existent Bill
Commentary By Rachel Bovard, Daily Signal,  9/21/16

A 10-year veteran of congressional policy battles, Rachel Bovard is The Heritage Foundation’s director of policy services.

On Tuesday night the Senate voted to proceed to the Continuing Resolution (CR), a bill that will allegedly fund the government until Dec. 9.

The only problem is that there isn’t actually a bill yet.

There is no text. There is no agreement between Democrats and Republicans on what the bill will fund — Planned Parenthood, the Export-Import Bank, control of the Internet — all of it remains a mystery.

Yet the Senate voted 89 – 7 to proceed to this non-existent bill..

The Senate operates under complex parliamentary rules that require a series of votes in order to “proceed to” or “get onto” a bill. The vote Tuesday night was the first in what will be a series of votes on the continuing resolution or spending bill.

Despite Senate leadership’s protests to the contrary, a vote to proceed to a bill that’s not yet written is, in fact, a substantive act — particularly when there is so much at stake.

And Senate leadership tried to pitch this as simply a process vote. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., communications director tweeted that this vote was “just procedural” and “not a vote on the CR” or on Zika funding. Various reporters tweeted that this was just a vote on a “shell bill,” and that the text of the continuing resolution would be crafted at a later date.

But the fact still remains: on Tuesday, the Senate voted to proceed to a bill that does not yet exist.

Forget not being able to read it, or not having time to digest the policy at hand. The bill does not exist.

Despite Senate leadership’s protests to the contrary, a vote to proceed to a bill that’s not yet written is, in fact, a substantive act — particularly when there is so much at stake. The continuing resolution will be the battleground for major policies, like whether or not Planned Parenthood will receive Zika funding, if the Export-Import Bank can send taxpayer dollars to fund Boeing deals with Iran, or if the U.S. will lose control of the Internet.

All of these deals have yet to be struck (although press reports suggest that Republicans have already caved to Democrats on Planned Parenthood funding). What the Senate did Tuesday was to give the go-ahead to Senate leadership to strike those deals on their behalf. Each of the 89 senators who voted to proceed to text that they’ve never seen yielded their authority to have input on the deal, to influence the outcome of a major funding bill.

This is not just a procedural vote, and it is wrong to describe it as such. Voting to proceed to a bill is as much a substantive act as voting on the bill — different, but still substantive. In this case, the Senate voted to proceed to whatever backroom deal their leadership happens to strike.

As Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., explained his “no” vote to Congressional Quarterly, “We don’t have that text yet. It’s important that we do have that and we do know the direction that it’s going when we get to that spot.”

Lankford is right about why senators must have text before beginning any vote series, procedural or otherwise — you can’t approve the start of a process without knowing first where it’s going to end.

The McConnell-Reid era has witnessed a Senate that is less transparent, where individual members are less aware of their rights, and where there is a growing centralization of power in the Leader’s office. Tuesday’s vote was another step in that direction.

Individual senators are all equal in authority — with the same rights and the same access to the Senate rules. Senators would do well to keep that in mind next time their leadership says, “Trust us,” and tells them to approve moving forward on a bill they have yet to see.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2016, 05:59:41 PM
I cannot tell.  Do Repubs have 51 or 52 Senate seats?  Every time I look it up it says 51 to 48.

Does anyone know what is going on?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 09, 2016, 06:12:38 PM
I cannot tell.  Do Repubs have 51 or 52 Senate seats?  Every time I look it up it says 51 to 48.

Does anyone know what is going on?

I believe it's 51.  Kelly Ayotte conceded today in NH.  The 48 probably excludes an 'independent' Dem.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2016, 07:42:21 PM
There is a run off in LA in December.  My understanding is a strong likelihood the Rep will win.
Title: The Two Speech Rule and Filibusters
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 11, 2016, 07:16:13 AM
http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/10/how-republicans-could-overcome-filibusters-by-senate-democrats/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1dFNVltRXhNVEExT0daayIsInQiOiJBTmNpUm9vMlFJMWtoaUpRd0p0akRXZ1RBc3Z6OGlGY0Y3aXBNOVFQZVNsM2lmWFZqOThGSyt3U3V1clVjY0M1ek5oWDhsdmI3WjdBUHRGaEFDbnQzK0kwZVpsUURBMHV4NGl5RkVVc3pDdz0ifQ%3D%3D
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 11, 2016, 08:41:31 AM
CD interesting to see there is a way to get around the fillibuster.  If the Repubs really can do this -> they MUST.   There may not be another chance and we KNOW the Dems would do the same and will endlessly hammer us with ZERO mercy.

THEY have turned this into a war.  Not us.  So we must fight back using all legal means.

If we learn nothing else over the last 24 years starting with the Clinton crime mob we should have learned this.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on November 11, 2016, 08:45:50 AM
CD interesting to see there is a way to get around the fillibuster.  If the Repubs really can do this -> they MUST.   There may not be another chance and we KNOW the Dems would do the same and will endlessly hammer us with ZERO mercy.

THEY have turned this into a war.  Not us.  So we must fight back using all legal means.

If we learn nothing else over the last 24 years starting with the Clinton crime mob we should have learned this.


If there is any lesson from the last election, it is that we must be as ruthless as our opponents. The nice, civil approach only empowers our enemies.
Title: US Senate Races 2018. The shoe is on the other foot.
Post by: DougMacG on November 14, 2016, 11:02:11 AM
These races will affect pressure on legislative votes in 2017.

Democrats will be defending MANY seats in states that Trump won and almost won.

Joe Donnelly, Indiana, vulnerable

Claire McCaskill, Missouri, One of the few to openly back Hillary.

Jon Testor, Montana, partisan Democrat in a Trump state.

Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota

Joe Manchin, West Virginia.

Bill Nelson, Florida, possible retirement.

Sherrod Brown, Ohio, the only thing left in Ohio that is ultra liberal

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin, ultra liberal in a Trump state.  Scott Walker may run against her.

Tim Kaine, Virginia.  A Trump target?

12 possibly vulnerable Dems, 2 vulnerable Republicans, Flake, Arizona, Heller, Nevada.

I wrote previously that 60 R votes in the Senate ever is impossible.  I would like to retract that.

Debbie Stabenow, Michigan

Bob Casey, Pennsylvania, elected Trump and Toomey in a Presidential year



Title: 2018 Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 15, 2016, 04:20:46 PM
I know I am going to nauseate some by *already* looking at 2018 but there could be 10 vulnerable Democrats slots vs only 2 vulnerable Republican slots up for Senate seats in '18:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/8/1482081/-Looking-Ahead-Preliminary-Projections-for-2018-Senate-Elections
Title: Pat Toomey's very different path to Victory in Pennsylvania than Trump's
Post by: DougMacG on November 21, 2016, 07:37:18 AM
Amazingly the same small margin of victory with different voters, many crossover votes. Different candidates, different strategies.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442331/pennsylvania-2016-election-results-donald-trumps-pat-toomeys-wins
Title: Dems still have "de facto" control in Senate
Post by: ccp on November 23, 2016, 02:19:47 PM
Wait but how can this be, you ask?  According to Dan Horowitz here is how:

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/11/why-democrats-have-de-facto-control-of-the-senate-unless-conservatives-step-up
Title: One of my alma mater's magazine
Post by: ccp on December 06, 2016, 04:52:53 PM
had article on Harry Reid who got his law degree there in '64. 
In my view he is not a likable character but one can judge for him or her self.  Didn't know he married a Jewish girl:

http://magazine.gwu.edu/rumble-and-sway
Title: How term limits for committee chairs make Congress less effective
Post by: bigdog on January 04, 2017, 01:15:49 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/04/how-term-limits-for-committee-chairs-make-congress-less-effective/?utm_term=.73e089d5effeHow term limits for committee chairs make Congress less effective
Title: Term Limits
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 04, 2017, 07:09:51 PM
Excellent discussion BD.

In a closely related vein here is a post I made on a thread on a different forum about Cruz's proposed Term Limits Amendment:

   

    Due to the unusual trajectory of my life I happen to have substantial background in things pertaining to Mexico, including serious academic study in the US and Mexico, work experience in Mexico, and a helluva a lot of flight time, much of it in places not many Americans go. From this background I would offer the following:

    Superficially, Mexico's political structure tracks ours quite closely with one very important difference-- no one can be re-elected. The net result is that the Congress has no institutional memory whatsoever (i.e. no one there was there before) which greatly magnifies the power of the President (one six year term) and his bureaucracy. It also makes the parties quite powerful because each Congressman/Senator knows he must go back to his party for his next job when his term is up.

    The point is that the length of permisable incumbency is very important. IMHO the Cruz bill cuts things too short. I would rather see 18 years for Senate and 12 for Congress.

PS:  An additional thought:

Back in 84', '88, and '92 when I was running for Congress for the Libertarian Party, the incumbency rate for the House of Representatives was 98% or so. This was due to gerrymandering. Perhaps the real issue is the lack of competitive districts due to gerrymandering.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: bigdog on January 08, 2017, 02:19:34 AM
"Back in 84', '88, and '92 when I was running for Congress for the Libertarian Party, the incumbency rate for the House of Representatives was 98% or so. This was due to gerrymandering. Perhaps the real issue is the lack of competitive districts due to gerrymandering."

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41545.pdf
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 08, 2017, 04:37:13 AM
Interesting article BD
I wonder how much is the money in politics as well as gerrymandering that
1)  allows members to keep winning
2) motivates them to stay in

Are careerists better for us rather than citizen representatives?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 16, 2017, 09:34:05 AM
Welcome to the last week of the Obama presidency. It’s Inauguration Week, a time turn the page and leave behind the mistakes of the past… and to look ahead with new confidence to the mistakes of the future.

No Filibuster For Any Judicial Nominees?

Back in 2005, then-senators Barack Obama and Harry Reid voted to filibuster the confirmation vote on Supreme Court justice nominee Samuel Alito. They didn’t have the votes. This year, White House press secretary Josh Earnest declared that Obama regretted his actions then.  Then in 2013, Reid and the rest of the Senate Democrats ended the right to filibuster any nominee to federal appeals and district courts, as well as any cabinet appointments, but kept it in place for Supreme Court nominations.

Then in October of 2016, Harry Reid, predicting a Hillary Clinton presidency, said he would invoke the nuclear option and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations as well.

“It’s clear to me that if the Republicans try to filibuster another circuit court judge, but especially a Supreme Court justice, I’ve told ‘em how and I’ve done it, not just talking about it. I did it in changing the rules of the Senate. It’ll have to be done again,” Reid told the liberal blog Talking Points Memo. “They mess with the Supreme Court, it’ll be changed just like that in my opinion.”

And now, today…surprise, surprise, the shoe is on the other foot, and Senate Republicans may nuke the filibuster for Trump’s nominee.

Democrats have not firmly said if they will filibuster a nominee -- and Republicans have not flatly said they would break that filibuster through a rules change known as the “nuclear option” -- but those cards are effectively on the table, weeks before Trump submits a nominee.  But the Trump team is still plotting for a possible climb that includes picking off at least eight Democrats, a tall order by any measure, much less a vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
Pence went to work on a group of six senators at the Capitol Wednesday and Trump aides have been working behind the scenes at the Capitol.

“Today was really about talking about our legislative agenda, but also meeting with members of the Senate to get their input on the president’s decision about filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court,” Pence told reporters last week.

Pence said he “hopes” moderate Democrats will come on board with his pick.

“The President-elect made very clear today we do expect -- he’s not yet made a decision -- but we’re in the process of winnowing that list now,” Pence said.
The 60-vote bar has been somewhat informally set by Schumer himself, who told MSNBC last week that he would “absolutely” do all he could to keep the Supreme Court seat open.

And the threat of a filibuster was clearly on the minds of lawmakers as Pence tested their feelings on the Supreme Court nomination.

Once you’ve nuked the filibuster for all nominations… how long does the Senate majority keep it around for legislation?
 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 16, 2017, 07:03:47 PM
This is a good article and a great topic.

"Senate Democrats ended the right to filibuster any nominee to federal appeals and district courts, as well as any cabinet appointments, but kept it in place for Supreme Court nominations."
...
"Once you’ve nuked the filibuster for all nominations… how long does the Senate majority keep it around for legislation?"


That misses the main point.  It is not they they ended the filibuster for this and not for that, the point is that they declared the rules of the US Senate  changeable at any time for any reason.  And now they regret it.   'ya think?
Title: Sen Sherrod Brown of Ohio opposing Gorsuch
Post by: DougMacG on February 01, 2017, 07:29:35 AM
Sen Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio must not be running for re-election in Trump's Ohio.

He has already opposed Gorsuch confirmation.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-gird-for-supreme-court-battle-1485920688
Title: Re: The US Congress; US Senate races, 2018
Post by: DougMacG on February 05, 2017, 05:03:42 PM
Democrats must defend 10 seats in states Trump won.
Besides making it hard to flip the Senate, this affects how vigorously they can oppose his agenda and his Supreme Court nominees.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-foes-democratic-gains-remain-elusive-2018-45281488

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/306210-10-senate-seats-that-could-flip-in-2018
Title: Sen. Feinstein regrets
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 11, 2017, 06:12:21 PM
Heh heh heh

http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/10/dianne-feinstein-on-filibuster-reform-whoops/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
Title: Coulter cuts Congress: The Silence of the lambs Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 21, 2017, 09:59:22 PM
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS CONGRESS
February 15, 2017



Let's compare what President Trump has accomplished since the inauguration (with that enormous crowd!) with what congressional Republicans have done.

In the past three weeks, Trump has: staffed the White House, sent a dozen Cabinet nominees to the Senate, browbeat Boeing into cutting its price on a government contract, harangued American CEOs into keeping their plants in the United States, imposed a terrorist travel ban, met with foreign leaders and nominated a Supreme Court justice, among many other things.

(And still our hero finds time to torment the media with his tweets!)

What have congressional Republicans been doing? Scrapbooking?

More than 90 percent of congressional Republicans kept their jobs after the 2016 election, so you can cross "staffing an entire branch of government" off the list. Only the Senate confirms nominees, which they've been doing at a snail's pace, so they've got loads of free time -- and the House has no excuse at all.

Where's the Obamacare repeal? Where are the hearings featuring middle-class Americans with no health insurance because it was made illegal by Obamacare?

The House passed six Obamacare repeals when Obama was president and there was no chance of them being signed into law. Back then, Republicans were full of vim and vigor! But the moment Trump became president, the repeals came to a screeching halt.

After the inauguration (gigantic!), House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a plan for repealing Obamacare ... in 200 days. They actually gave their legislative agenda this inspiring title: "The Two Hundred Day Plan.”

TWO HUNDRED DAYS!

What was in the last six Obamacare repeals? If we looked, would we find "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" carefully typed out 1 million times? Seriously, what does Paul Ryan's day look like?

This is the Silence of the Lambs Congress. They're utterly silent, emerging from the House gym or their three-hour lunches only to scream to the press about Trump.




To the delight of the media, these frightened little lambs are appalled by nearly everything Trump does. They've been especially throaty about Trump's temporary travel ban from seven terrorist nations -- as designated by the Obama administration (and by everybody else who hasn't been in a deep freeze in a Finnish crevasse for the past decade).

Just like the six Obamacare repeals, a refugee ban was already written and passed by one house of Congress. Then suddenly: the Silence of the Lambs. McConnell and Ryan are hiding under their desks, as Trump is being attacked from every side.

Way, way back, 15 long months ago, congressional Republicans didn't have a problem with a total ban on Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Not for a mere three months like Trump's order -- but permanently, unless the director of the FBI, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence personally certified that a particular refugee posed no danger to the U.S.

That bill passed the House with an overwhelming, veto-proof majority, including 47 Democrats. Then it went to the Senate to die.

But when President Trump imposed a comparatively mild three-month ban on immigrants from Syria, Iraq and five other terrorist nations, the same Republicans who had voted for a limitless ban on refugees whiled away their days calling reporters to denounce Trump.

A little more than a year ago, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, bragged in a press release that he had introduced the House's refugee ban, calling it a bill that would "protect Americans from ISIS.”

But when it came to Trump's three-month pause, McCaul told the Post that Trump's order "went too far.”

I guess that ISIS problem just sort of faded away. (Or maybe we should check with Mrs. McCaul, inasmuch as it's her family money that makes Rep. McCaul one of the richest members of Congress.)

Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., who voted for the House's permanent refugee ban, demanded that Trump immediately rescind his travel ban, babbling on about the "many, many nuances of immigration policy" -- which he must have learned about on one of his congressional jaunts to a Las Vegas casino.

Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., said that Trump's order "overreaches and undermines our constitutional system." Evidently, he was suddenly struck by the realization that it's "not lawful to ban immigrants on the basis of nationality," despite having voted to ban refugees on the basis of nationality just 15 months earlier. (I'm OK with this, provided the Syrians, Somalis and Yemenis are sent to live on Justin's street after being told about his support for gay marriage.)

Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., both rushed to The Washington Post with this refreshingly original point: NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS! Why, thank you, senators! Where would the GOP be without you?

The Post also quoted spokesmen -- spokesmen! -- for Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina complaining about not having been briefed on Trump's order. The senators themselves were far too busy to talk to the press because they were -- wait, what were they doing again? Words With Friends? Decoupage?

Since the election, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has been mostly occupied polishing his anti-Trump quotations to get a pat on the head from an admiring media. He complained about Trump's order, saying it was "poorly implemented" and that he had to find out about it from reporters. (I wonder why.)

This is the moment we've been waiting for our entire lives, but Republicans in Congress refuse to do the people's will. Their sole, driving obsession is to see Trump fail.

I am not presently calling for these useless, narcissistic, Trump-bashing Republicans to be defeated in their re-election bids, but they're on my Watch List. To be cleared, they can start by getting off the phone with The Washington Post and passing one of those six Obamacare repeal bills.

COPYRIGHT 2017 ANN COULTER
Title: Re: Coulter cuts Congress: The Silence of the lambs Congress
Post by: DDF on February 22, 2017, 06:36:02 AM
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS CONGRESS
February 15, 2017

[...]



Where's the Obamacare repeal? Where are the hearings featuring middle-class Americans with no health insurance because it was made illegal by Obamacare?


[...]


To be fair... the IRS is now processing tax returns where the filer hasn't indicated whether they hold the required insurance, but even that was Trump's doing through an executive order.
Title: How one congressman handles a rowdy town hall meeting
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 25, 2017, 02:09:22 PM
Haven't watched this one yet.

http://dailysignal.com/2017/02/22/watch-how-one-congressman-handles-a-rowdy-town-hall-meeting/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Top5&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpBd1l6RmhOV1V5TURoayIsInQiOiJhT2FpNE44ajRjSHUwV3dxSEIzMEhTeFliMTVvbVNRVGtxS3J5RUF5WVVFUXptN0hZNnM0RGQ4SUpnakpJb2JZREw4c3phNXVkRTh2alAwa09nRW1IWWk0eW56ZkViN1gxcU9icUZSTFpSaDUyQ1UzMEprOUlaOEowMnlUNWR5eSJ9
Title: Pressures on Ryan
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 28, 2017, 08:51:01 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/321477-speaker-ryan-faces-crucial-stretch
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 12, 2017, 05:40:15 AM
Look at the Democrat majorities in the Houses during the 1930's.  up to 75 Democrat Senators and well over 300 Congressional seats.  No wonder Roosevelt got what ever he wanted.  After 1933 he had huge majorities on his side:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774721.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Two Democrats Back Gorsuch
Post by: DougMacG on March 31, 2017, 06:27:24 AM
The only way this ends well for Democrats is if they admit but it is good for America to confirm a Justice who promises to do his best to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.

If they get 100% of Republicans, plus these two plus Pence, that makes 55 with more coming.

George Will says let them filibuster - talk endlessly until they are ready to vote.

These two of course are red-state Democrats up for re-election.  Their Democratic colleagues understand what they need to do.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/neil-gorsuch-joe-manchin-heidi-heitkamp-democrats-scotus-236718
Title: WSJ: Don't fall for Filibuster trap!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 31, 2017, 11:08:29 AM
House Republicans immolated themselves over health care last week, and now Democrats are hoping the Senate GOP will perform its own kamikaze turn over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. If Republicans blink and tolerate Democratic filibusters of High Court nominees, they should hand over their majority to the Democrats now.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s strategy is transparent: Stage-manage an unprecedented filibuster against Judge Gorsuch, and then portray Republicans as radicals if they change Senate rules to break it. The gambit is to coax at least three of the 52 GOP Senators to cut a deal with Democrats that hands the minority political leverage over President Trump’s judicial nominees.

Mr. Schumer and other Democrats are trying to lure those Republicans into a deal by preaching a false institutionalism that claims to be acting for the good of the Senate. They want to scare the GOP into believing that breaking a filibuster would somehow break the Senate as a deliberative body that requires 60 votes and bipartisan consensus to act.

But the real radical act is a Supreme Court filibuster. Mr. Schumer wants to use the filibuster to defeat Judge Gorsuch outright, or negotiate a deal that gives the judge a confirmation pass of 60 votes in return for a guarantee that GOP Senators won’t break a filibuster on future nominees during the Trump Presidency.

Either result would do great harm to the Senate’s advice and consent role under the Constitution, tilt the Supreme Court to the left, reward the most partisan voices in the Senate on the left and right, further inflame grassroots conservative outrage against political elites, and deal a grievous wound to the Republican Party. Other than that, a great day at the office.

Start with the fact that there has never been a partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. The elevation of Justice Abe Fortas to become Chief Justice in 1968 failed amid bipartisan opposition due to his policy collaboration with the White House while he was a Justice.

The one cloture vote to end debate on that nomination failed 45-43, well short of the 67 votes required at the time. Nineteen Democrats and 24 Republicans voted against cloture in what was the last year of Lyndon Johnson’s Presidency, and Fortas asked LBJ to withdraw his nomination.

Filibusters were mooted against William Rehnquist and Samuel Alito but never materialized. A cloture vote against Rehnquist failed in 1971, 52-42, but he was later confirmed 68-26. Justice Alito easily won a cloture vote and was confirmed 58-42. Republicans never even attempted to filibuster the four Bill Clinton or Barack Obama nominees who were confirmed. (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposed consideration of any nominee to replace Antonin Scalia before the 2016 election before Mr. Obama nominated Merrick Garland. )

The real break from this tradition began in 2001-2002 when Democrats decided to filibuster George W. Bush’s appellate-court nominees, and this example is politically instructive. After the GOP retook the Senate, a rump group of Republicans and Democrats struck the Gang of 14 deal that agreed to confirm nominees except in “exceptional circumstances.”

But Democrats ended that deal when they regained power. In 2013 they unilaterally rewrote Senate rules to break the filibuster for appellate nominees so Mr. Obama could pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats would surely do the same for the Supreme Court the next time they control the White House and Senate, as Senator Tim Kaine explicitly promised to do if Hillary Clinton won the election.

A deal now with Democrats would create a double standard in which GOP nominees are subject to a 60-vote standard but future Democratic nominees aren’t. It would also deny other Senators their constitutional right to offer advice and consent by casting a vote on nominees. A filibuster essentially blocks a vote to confirm, though a nominee like Judge Gorsuch would receive more than 50 votes. He could be denied a seat on the Court on purely procedural grounds, something that has never happened.

If Judge Gorsuch is confirmed, the next opening could come as early as the end of the current Supreme Court term in June and could determine its direction for years. If Democrats know they can block any nominee with a filibuster, they can dictate that no one on Donald Trump’s campaign list of 21 potential nominees can be confirmed.

Democrats could guarantee that no one to the right of Justice Stephen Breyer can be confirmed. This would reward the furthest left Senators for their total resistance, which would in turn empower the most recalcitrant voices in the GOP caucus. Far from empowering moderates, a filibuster deal would reward the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Rand Paul.

This would betray the voters who elected Donald Trump and a GOP Senate in 2016. The Supreme Court wasn’t some political afterthought last year. It was central to the campaign and crucial in motivating millions of Americans to go to the polls. If you think GOP voters are angry now, imagine what they’ll be like if Republicans let Democrats block conservative judges. This would be Senate Republican suicide.

After the health-care fiasco, Republicans need to show Americans they can follow through on their governing promises. If the GOP doesn’t want to squander its Senate majority, it will stay united and confirm Neil Gorsuch, even if it means breaking an unprecedented Senate filibuster.

Appeared in the Mar. 31, 2017, print edition.
Title: Senate Republicans to invoke the "constitutional" option on Gorsuch nomination
Post by: DougMacG on April 06, 2017, 08:39:05 AM
Advise and consent.  That's not nuclear, it's constitutional.  And it makes the next confirmation easier.
Title: US Senate, McConnell, Garland out, Justice Gorsuch confirmed
Post by: DougMacG on April 09, 2017, 08:01:57 AM
No one really likes Mitch McConnell (or any other congressional leader) but as mentioned earlier, he deserves extraordinary credit for this turn of events that followed Scalia's sudden, election year death.

He took and used his opponents' words against them, the Biden rule, and Reid and Schumer, and held firm in a situation where elected Republicans normally fold.

Accused of Republicans stealing back this seat, in truth he boldly put the appointment and confirmation directly in the hands of the American people exactly as envisioned by the Founders.

Republicans stuck together and Democrats did not. Red-state Democrats up for reelection fled  their party's leadership like rats from a sinking ship.  Televised hearings exposed the fiction that this man is outside of any reasonable mainstream of judicial thought .  Regarding the ill-advised filibuster, Democrats, for the moment, earned the label of 'the stupid party'.
Title: Re: US Senate, McConnell, Garland out, Justice Gorsuch confirmed
Post by: G M on April 09, 2017, 08:56:56 AM
No one really likes Mitch McConnell (or any other congressional leader) but as mentioned earlier, he deserves extraordinary credit for this turn of events that followed Scalia's sudden, election year death.

He took and used his opponents' words against them, the Biden rule, and Reid and Schumer, and held firm in a situation where elected Republicans normally fold.

Accused of Republicans stealing back this seat, in truth he boldly put the appointment and confirmation directly in the hands of the American people exactly as envisioned by the Founders.

Republicans stuck together and Democrats did not. Red-state Democrats up for reelection fled  their party's leadership like rats from a sinking ship.  Televised hearings exposed the fiction that this man is outside of any reasonable mainstream of judicial thought .  Regarding the ill-advised filibuster, Democrats, for the moment, earned the label of 'the stupid party'.

I was very happy to see the turtle demonstrate he had a spine inside his shell.

(http://www.technologytell.com/entertainment/files/2014/05/toby-turtle.jpg)

Title: Congress *special* arrangement available to them.
Post by: ccp on April 10, 2017, 12:19:16 PM

For their health care:
http://www.newsmax.com/JohnGizzi/Rep-DeSantis-Healthcare-Subsidies-Obamacare/2017/04/10/id/783521/
Title: Nunes fundraiser
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 25, 2017, 09:28:47 AM
https://www.defendnunes.com/chipin/now/a?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=dark&utm_campaign=chip&utm_term=lead&utm_content=standten
Title: Repubs cave on border wall
Post by: ccp on April 28, 2017, 05:30:29 AM
I don't understand with such a significant majority in Congress why they cave to Democrats AGAIN:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/deal-avert-government-shutdown-apos-192342391.html
Title: pelosi
Post by: ccp on May 20, 2017, 07:24:56 AM
This is 2 yrs old and rather endless but worth a glancing over.  Every time I see her on cable I ask myself why in heavens name is this woman so powerful.  She sounds like a blabbering fool with nothing but leftist brainwashed propaganda.  She has like Trump a demon like energy level apparently. What she lacks in articulateness and sophistication she appears to make up with wild like enthusiasm to push the liberal agenda no matter what the facts or situations are.  Apparently enough in her party find that of enough value to keep her as their "leader".   Her book sold about one copy.  Whenever she speaks on any show no one , not even the libs , seem to give her credit for saying anything cerebral.  Whenever she speaks it is followed with other muted silence or someone moving on to something else.  Nothing she ever says seems worth discussing further.  So how does a woman who seems like a mindless troll spewing liberal dogma be leader of her party in the House of Representatives ?  Maybe this helps:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-staying-power-of-nancy-pelosi/440022/
Title: The US Congress, do-nothing?
Post by: DougMacG on June 12, 2017, 10:31:42 AM
Has anyone heard whether or not the Senate has passed Healthcare reform today?  Has either chamber has passed tax reform yet?

We are supposed to care which party name has majorities in Congress governing us with Democrat tax, spend and over-regulate us policies.

This is not rocket science.
Title: Re: The US Congress, do-nothing?
Post by: G M on June 12, 2017, 10:32:45 AM
Has anyone heard whether or not the Senate has passed Healthcare reform today?  Has either chamber has passed tax reform yet?

We are supposed to care which party name has majorities in Congress governing us with Democrat tax, spend and over-regulate us policies.

This is not rocket science.

The problem is the republicans are mostly the republican wing of the democrat party.
Title: Re: The US Congress, do-nothing?
Post by: DougMacG on June 12, 2017, 10:49:19 AM
Has anyone heard whether or not the Senate has passed Healthcare reform today?  Has either chamber has passed tax reform yet?
We are supposed to care which party name has majorities in Congress governing us with Democrat tax, spend and over-regulate us policies.
This is not rocket science.
The problem is the republicans are mostly the republican wing of the democrat party.

They are fast losing the support of those (fools) among us who thought they meant it - repeal O'Care, reform taxes, build a wall, reform entitlements, etc.   They lose the right without gaining the left, the center or the media adoration and therefore will lose elections.  Like Trump finally got right on the Paris 'treaty', if you can't figure out the policy, at least figure out who your friends are.  We are politically dying out here waiting for action.
Title: Re: The US Congress, do-nothing?
Post by: G M on June 12, 2017, 11:25:44 AM
Has anyone heard whether or not the Senate has passed Healthcare reform today?  Has either chamber has passed tax reform yet?
We are supposed to care which party name has majorities in Congress governing us with Democrat tax, spend and over-regulate us policies.
This is not rocket science.
The problem is the republicans are mostly the republican wing of the democrat party.

They are fast losing the support of those (fools) among us who thought they meant it - repeal O'Care, reform taxes, build a wall, reform entitlements, etc.   They lose the right without gaining the left, the center or the media adoration and therefore will lose elections.  Like Trump finally got right on the Paris 'treaty', if you can't figure out the policy, at least figure out who your friends are.  We are politically dying out here waiting for action.

They do/say what they must to get/stay elected and avoid doing anything that would get them dis-invited from the fabulous coastal cocktail parties.
Title: Ossoff voters
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 21, 2017, 09:03:01 AM


http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/20/ossoff-voters-impossible-to-reach-because-they-live-with-their-parents-democratic-organizer-says/

 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good night for the Reps last night!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 21, 2017, 09:25:04 AM
"Ossoff Voters Impossible To Reach Because They Live With Their Parents, Democratic Organizer Says"

I heard the Russians blocked all their I-phones!

:wink:


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, turnout favors Republicans?
Post by: DougMacG on June 24, 2017, 03:10:41 PM
An interesting development of the Trump era:

"The old maxim that increased turnout helps Democrats may not hold. It didn't in Georgia's 6th District."
  - Michael Barone

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/06/23/the_outlook_after_the_special_elections_134258.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 24, 2017, 05:57:02 PM
"The old maxim that increased turnout helps Democrats may not hold. It didn't in Georgia's 6th District"

Interesting.  unexpected increased REpub turnout was reason the polls were off by ~ 6%?

Remember when Dems would run around on election day dragging people off the streets.  When that was not enough they are running around bringing  them in from around the world to increase their numbers.
Title: going senile - no prob
Post by: ccp on June 28, 2017, 02:28:02 PM
she's still the one!    :wink:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/27/politics/nancy-pelosi-2018/index.html

The most prolific fundraiser by far!  besides the Clintons and Bamster

So what,  she has been the fundraiser since 2002 when money going into politics has skyrocketed
Title: seems like a lot of "breaks" and "recesses"
Post by: ccp on July 10, 2017, 05:16:01 AM
supposedly so they can get back to their states and raise campaign money..........


http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Senate-Sen-Luther-Strange-President-Donald-Trump-recess/2017/07/09/id/800655/
Title: Re: seems like a lot of "breaks" and "recesses"
Post by: DougMacG on July 10, 2017, 08:22:12 AM
quote author=ccp
supposedly so they can get back to their states and raise campaign money..........

"Freshman Alabama Republican Sen. Luther Strange said Sunday that members of Congress needed to work through their summer recess to resolve issues including healthcare and taxes."

U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 4
...The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.


It isn't that they should not have homes, families and lives back in the district or that seeing and hearing constituents isn't part of their job, it is just that they should do their work (" resolve issues including healthcare and taxes") before taking recess.

Leaving Obamacare and the Pelosi-Reid-Obama tax code fully in place after seven months 'work' is the best they can do??  Isn't that the exact definition of Republican in name only??!!  Republican congress governing with Democrat policies, making excuses and expressing other preferences in words only.

Bill Clinton called Obamacare "the craziest thing on earth".
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/299130-bill-clinton-slams-obamacare

The Republican congress calls it good enough for us, please send more money.
Title: Re: seems like a lot of "breaks" and "recesses"
Post by: G M on July 10, 2017, 08:23:33 AM
quote author=ccp
supposedly so they can get back to their states and raise campaign money..........

"Freshman Alabama Republican Sen. Luther Strange said Sunday that members of Congress needed to work through their summer recess to resolve issues including healthcare and taxes."

U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 4
...The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.


It isn't that they should not have homes, families and lives back in the district or that seeing and hearing constituents isn't part of their job, it is just that they should do their work (" resolve issues including healthcare and taxes") before taking recess.

Leaving Obamacare and the Pelosi-Reid-Obama tax code fully in place after seven months 'work' is the best they can do??  Isn't that the exact definition of Republican in name only??!!  Republican congress governing with Democrat policies, making excuses and expressing other preferences in words only.

Bill Clinton called Obamacare "the craziest thing on earth".
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/299130-bill-clinton-slams-obamacare

The Republican congress calls it good enough for us, please send more money.

If only we had both houses of congress and the presidency...   :roll:

Worthless.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on July 10, 2017, 09:21:05 AM
"If only we had both houses of congress and the presidency...   
Worthless."

I wrote something along the lines of my post to my congressman this morning.  Funny that he needed my help to get to power but couldn't pick me out of lineup today.

Having both chambers and the Presidency and still choosing Democrat policies isn't like being governed by Democrats.  If that were the case we would have someone besides ourselves to blame and maybe win the next election.

When Bush I and II went RINO, the result was another half generation of Democrat rule each time.

You never see liberals go leftist in name only.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on July 10, 2017, 09:31:15 AM
"If only we had both houses of congress and the presidency...   
Worthless."

I wrote something along the lines of my post to my congressman this morning.  Funny that he needed my help to get to power but couldn't pick me out of lineup today.

Having both chambers and the Presidency and still choosing Democrat policies isn't like being governed by Democrats.  If that were the case we would have someone besides ourselves to blame and maybe win the next election.

When Bush I and II went RINO, the result was another half generation of Democrat rule each time.

You never see liberals go leftist in name only.

No, they ram things like Obamacare down our throats, elections be damned. Meanwhile our side can't get anything done.
Title: Rove: Ten Senate Dems in 2018 trouble
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 13, 2017, 12:08:08 PM
Troubled Times for 10 Senate Democrats
They face re-election in states Trump won. Will they cozy up or join the ‘resistance’?
Heidi Heitkamp on Capitol Hill, July 11.
Heidi Heitkamp on Capitol Hill, July 11. Photo: reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
By Karl Rove
July 12, 2017 6:39 p.m. ET
167 COMMENTS

The 25 Democratic senators who face re-election in 2018 are already gearing up for a fight. Their latest quarterly fundraising reports, released over the past two weeks, show impressive totals, ranging up to $3.1 million. But for the 10 Democrats from states carried by President Trump, a well-stuffed war chest may not be enough.

This is especially true for six senators in states where Mr. Trump’s victory last November was huge. He won Joe Manchin’s West Virginia by an astonishing 42 points; Heidi Heitkamp’s North Dakota by 36 points; Jon Tester’s Montana by 20; Joe Donnelly’s Indiana and Claire McCaskill’s Missouri by 19, and Sherrod Brown’s Ohio by 8.

Four other Democrats—Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow, Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey, Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin and Florida’s Bill Nelson —are in states where Mr. Trump’s margin of victory ranged from 0.2% to 1.2%. None of them can take re-election for granted.

They must all keep an eye on the president’s favorability ratings. On Election Day, Mr. Trump was viewed favorably by 37.5% of voters and unfavorably by 58.5%, according to the RealClearPolitics average. As of this Wednesday, his ratings stood at 40.4% favorable and 53.6% unfavorable.

Mr. Trump is likely to be more popular in states he won than his national average: The larger his margin in those states last November, the better he stands now. If this trend holds through 2018, Democrats in states Mr. Trump won by double or nearly double digits could face stiff re-election contests.

Though many endangered Democrats are now making bipartisan or even pro-Trump noises, voters won’t forget these incumbents’ loyal support for President Obama’s agenda. They can try hiding from their voting records but can’t escape them.

Furthermore, these Democrats are highly partisan. For example, Mr. Tester once led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Ms. McCaskill can’t restrain herself from making needless partisan jabs. All eagerly campaigned for Hillary Clinton. Even Mr. Manchin personally pushed her last fall to make an appearance in West Virginia.

Cozying up now to Mr. Trump doesn’t square with the Democrats’ “resistance” agenda. For example, after hyping rumors that she might be named Mr. Trump’s agriculture secretary, Ms. Heitkamp voted to sustain an Obama administration regulation on methane emissions that North Dakota’s energy industry strongly opposed. She was trying to dampen opposition from the Democratic left, which was angry at her for playing footsie with the new president.

Consider also Indiana’s Mr. Donnelly. The Washington Examiner reports that he emphasized his strong support for ObamaCare in a fundraising email on June 21—the same day news broke that two of the four insurers remaining in Indiana’s health exchanges were pulling out. Another fundraising appeal a few days later claimed that Sen. Donnelly was “fighting back against Trump’s extreme agenda,” complicating his effort to look like a bipartisan moderate. Facing similar balancing acts, all these Democrats could easily fall off the beam.

Republicans do have their own 2018 challenges. Sen. Jeff Flake must play defense in Arizona (which Mr. Trump won by 3.5%) while Sen. Dean Heller is fighting an uphill battle in Nevada (which Mr. Trump lost by 2.4%). It doesn’t help that Mr. Heller has stumbled by threatening to scuttle his party’s plan to replace ObamaCare. Both seats are crucial to keeping the GOP’s Senate majority.

Since several of these Democrats are better-than-average campaigners, Republicans must also recruit strong challengers. The GOP can’t beat something without something better. Screaming “liberal, liberal, liberal” won’t work either. Republicans must show voters that these Democrats say one thing during elections and something else in between them.

The greater key to Republican success, however, is getting things done now in the halls of Congress. That’s why Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to keep the Senate working for two weeks in August rather than breaking for recess is so vital. If Republicans don’t repeal and replace ObamaCare and reform the tax code, the party’s grass roots will lose enthusiasm, donors will shut their pocketbooks, and Republicans will lose.

But if the GOP Congress can get things done, 2018’s unusual mix—25 Democrats up for re-election versus only nine Republicans—could make it one of the 20% of midterm elections in the past century in which the party holding the White House actually picks up seats.

Mr. Rove helped organize the political-action committee American Crossroads and is the author of “The Triumph of William McKinley ” (Simon & Schuster, 2015).

Appeared in the July 13, 2017, print edition.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races 2018
Post by: DougMacG on July 17, 2017, 11:17:22 AM
G M: "Failure to end Obamacare and to cut taxes will result in real losses next year. The republican party never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

Tax cuts should have been passed instantly and made retroactive to the beginning of this year.  Now what?  Don't pass them at all?  Make people wait another year?  What does that do for an economy coming into an election?

Some factors in 2018:
1) House districts were drawn by Republicans.  Dems popularity tend to be concentrated in urban and coastal areas.  Big advantage R.
2) Presidents party typically loses 20-25 seats in the midterm.  Current margin = 24.  Advantage back to neutral.
3) Republicans have 52-48 currently in the Senate.
4) Democrats have to defend 25 seats in the Senate, more than half their total.  Advantage R.
5) 5 of those seats are in states Trump won by 19 points or more.  Huge advantage: R.
6) Dem leadership is broken or lost nationally and in both chambers.  Advantage: even.
7) The left universally hates Trump. Resist. The right is divided and frustrated.
 Advantage: D
8 ) The media universally hates Trump.  Resist.  Advantage: D
9) The popularity of Trump in the counties he won is still at 50%.  Advantage:  Neutral.
10)  Deciding factor will be the economy (stupid) if we're not at war.  Republicans are governing under Democrat no-growth policies once again.  Conservatives and Republicans will have no reason to show up if the elected officials fail to keep promises and enact agenda.  Independents will have no reason to favor Republicans if they can't govern.  The middle generally favors divided government anyway.  Advantage back to the Dems unless Republicans suddenly get their act together.

Republicans have one chance to turn this country and they are screwing it up royally, proving they can't govern.  They can't even remember why they wanted to win majorities or where they want to lead.  OMG, not smaller government!  These bills that aren't passing aren't very good anyway.  

When RINOs screw up, voters don't turn to the conservatives.  They take a sharp left turn, see 2006, 2008.

Dems could take Heller's seat in Nevada.  They could take 2 seats in Arizona; McCain is not looking very healthy to me.  And they could run the table on all 25 of their own incumbents.  If this really becomes a wave election leftward, it will be way worse than that.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on July 17, 2017, 02:26:48 PM
bold and decisive action

lets see Rand Paul
            Ted Cruz
            Mike Lee
            Donald Trump

There are probably others but these are the only ones who come to mind

Could anyone imagine if Jeb was President.  Every single policy would be a compromise and basically progressive .
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on July 17, 2017, 02:35:02 PM
bold and decisive action

lets see Rand Paul
            Ted Cruz
            Mike Lee
            Donald Trump

There are probably others but these are the only ones who come to mind

Could anyone imagine if Jeb was President.  Every single policy would be a compromise and basically progressive .

I doubt even JEB! could really imagine him as president.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdCYMvaUcrA
Title: Nevada
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 18, 2017, 06:58:15 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/342427-republicans-face-growing-demographic-shift-in-west?rnd=1500330574
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on July 18, 2017, 08:03:44 AM
"      http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/342427-republicans-face-growing-demographic-shift-in-west?rnd=1500330574  "

Why *Bush Republicans* told us for years the way to go was to win the hearts and minds of all these immigrants  .

So what's the problem ;  They got exactly want they wanted as did the LEFT
 :x
Title: Kid Rock up by four points
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 24, 2017, 08:48:19 PM
http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2017/07/23/its-happening-new-poll-has-kid-rock-up-by-4-over-debbie-stabenow/?utm_campaign=twitchywidget
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on July 27, 2017, 07:24:45 AM
My congressman Erik Paulsen of the House Ways and Means Committee called me back this weekend regarding my letter about tax reform.    )

He shares my frustration, says they have 80% agreement right now between the Republicans in the House, Senate and White House.

(They need closer to 100% agreement)

He gave me the tel no of the assistant who is his point person on tax reform.  Please write your realistic tax reform proposals on our tax thread and I will submit them.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 27, 2017, 09:19:10 AM
OUTSTANDING!!!
Title: Al Franken is not funny
Post by: ccp on August 07, 2017, 06:57:46 AM
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/450208/al-franken-not-funny-not-senate-giant

One main reason he is NOT funny is because every time he tries to crack a joke is he INSULTs half the country!

To libs is is ok to insult Republicans or the Right at every opportunity
or Chirstains or Whites but heave forbid anyone dare insult one of THEIR identity politics groups . Anyone who does that is a bigot prejusced racist and deserves to be run out of work and livlihood.
Title: WSJ: Kill the Filibuster
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 07, 2017, 07:54:21 AM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/kill-the-filibuster-before-its-too-late-1502052097
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, the problem and the solution
Post by: DougMacG on August 10, 2017, 07:09:06 AM
Hannity, Levin, even Trump are blaming McConnell for the failure of healthcare reform and the people are blaming the Republican party. I don't buy that. It's McConnell's fault only if there were 50 votes there and he failed to find them.  The blame for health care (IMHO) and other unaccomplished reforms lies with those blocking it, McCain, Murkowski and Collins and the 48 Democrats who opposed it.  

McCain was the most deceitful to his electorate of them all.  He said what he needed to say to get reelected, repeal Obamacare - I approve this message.  Then on his deathbed of brain tumor surgery he realized he never has to get reelected again and went back without remorse to being himself.

Murkowski is her own story and Collins is Collins, Republican in name only for the most part.  Maybe Trump and McConnell have more leverage with the Trump state Democrats, especially the ones running for reelection in states Trump won by HUGE, double digit margins:

Of the 10 Democratic incumbents running for reelection in 2018 in states won by Trump, 5 or 6 of those were very lopsided:

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Trump won by 42%
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Trump won by 36%,
Jon Tester of Montana, Trump won by 21%
Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Trump won by 19%
Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Trump won by 18%

One angle to this story is their likelihood of being reelected.  A more timely question is, what they will be willing to do to show their electorate their independence from the extreme progressive, Trump derangement, movement?

Bill Nelson (Fl), Sharrod Brown (Oh), Bob Casey (Pa), Tammy Baldwin (Wi), and Debbie Stabenow (Mi) make up the other five of the ten.

On the other side of the coin, Dems need to win in TEXAS (against Cruz), defeat incumbent Republicans in Arizona and Nevada, plus run the table in the ones listed above, North Dakota, West Virginia, Montana, Indiana, Missouri, to swing the Senate!  What is the winning liberal message that accomplishes that??  Open borders?  Transgenderism?  Higher taxes?
  Liberal judges?  Government healthcare?  Certainly not what they are doing now!

Terms like the stupid party or the party with a national leadership crisis need to be plural.

Title: Trump right on McConell?
Post by: ccp on August 11, 2017, 04:53:52 PM
recognize this is AP news and we know where the AP usually comes from :

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-mcconnell-feud-does-little-jumpstart-stalled-agenda-083430443--politics.html

It is interesting who they quote in article!!    

*Susan Collins* who is a Democrat with an R before her name and *John Cronyn* who could easily be called establishment putting it kindly.

Was it really that big of a deal he helped get Gorsuch nominated?   If the shoe was on the other foot every DEm from here to China would have done the same thing.  

Besides that is over and done with.  What have you done lately?

But I do cut McConnell some slack and agree with Doug that we really should be blaming Collins Mrukowski and McCain most of all.

addendum we can add Orin Hatch to the list of McConnell supporters his liberty score i 31 % not much better then Murksowky for goodness sakes.

Title: Trump vs. Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 26, 2017, 11:44:40 AM
No surprise that this is the take on things by "The Hill"

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/348043-trump-feud-with-gop-senators-threatens-foreign-policy
Title: Kid Rock
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 27, 2017, 10:31:46 AM
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/348033-gop-eager-for-potential-kid-rock-senate-bid
Title: White House POC?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 28, 2017, 05:52:36 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/348000-republicans-dont-know-who-to-talk-to-at-white-house
Title: Manchin
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 30, 2017, 06:54:41 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/348016-manchin-pressed-from-both-sides-in-reelection-fight
Title: Re: The US Congress mischaracterized as whores?
Post by: DougMacG on September 01, 2017, 07:18:53 AM
Notable and quotable ...

P.J. O’Rourke long ago characterized that bunch as A Parliament [Congress] of Whores, an insult to hard-working hookers the world over, who at least (I’m told) deliver the services they have agreed to provide.

   - Ammo Grrrl blog / Susan Vass  http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/09/thoughts-from-the-ammo-line-182.php
Title: Kid Rock
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 02, 2017, 08:20:17 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/348921-kid-rock-lashes-out-over-alleged-campaign-finance-violation
Title: Surprise retirements
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 10, 2017, 10:19:30 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/349884-gop-fears-a-few-surprise-house-retirements-could-become-a-wave?rnd=1504907567
Title: Re: Surprise retirements
Post by: G M on September 10, 2017, 12:30:12 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/349884-gop-fears-a-few-surprise-house-retirements-could-become-a-wave?rnd=1504907567

More RINOs need to go.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 10, 2017, 02:33:51 PM
"More rhinos need to go"

both Reichart and Dent have LIBERTY socres of 29 and 31 % respectively.  They do fit very comfortably the definition of RINO

Amen -> bon voyage and good riddance
Title: Re: The US Congress; Tax Reform Failure?
Post by: DougMacG on September 14, 2017, 08:24:00 AM
"Here’s a losing argument for 2018: We didn’t reform the tax code or cut your taxes all that much, but at least we followed all the Senate’s budget rules." 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/escaping-the-tax-reform-budget-trap-1505344111
Title: GOP considering ending blue slip rule to help Trump fill the courts
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 17, 2017, 09:51:23 PM
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/350956-gop-eying-rule-change-to-help-trump-fill-the-courts
Title: Re: The US Congress; Sen Al Franken - two faced. "It’s time for this to stop."
Post by: DougMacG on September 25, 2017, 11:49:02 AM
https://web.archive.org/web/20160529191449/https://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=issue&id=121

The Senate has an important role to play in giving the President its “advice and consent” on nominations, and I take that role very seriously. Yet we’ve only just begun to fill the key vacancies in the executive and judicial branches because the unprecedented use of filibusters, holds, and other procedural tactics has delayed an extraordinary number of highly qualified people. Filibusters are sometimes even being used on nominees that Senators actually support, in an effort to extract other promises or just to slow the Senate down. It’s time for this to stop. For our government to function the way it’s supposed to for Minnesotans and all Americans, it needs to have personnel.


President Trump nominated Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals four months ago. Justice Stras’s nomination has not been taken up by the Senate because it has been blocked so far by Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. They have withheld their blue slips to prevent the Senate Judiciary Committee from holding a hearing.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/09/al-franken-then-and-now.php
Title: Now we need a real conservative to run
Post by: ccp on September 26, 2017, 02:42:13 PM
Good riddance to this rhino swamp monster:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/26/sen-bob-corker-not-seek-re-election-next-year/678088001/
Title: CR opinion on Alabama race
Post by: ccp on September 27, 2017, 06:20:59 AM
Are Ryan and McConnell next?  Corker running for the hills before he gets tossed:

https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/top-5-takeaways-from-judge-roy-moores-win
Title: Re: CR opinion on Alabama race
Post by: DougMacG on September 27, 2017, 07:11:41 AM
"Are Ryan and McConnell next?"

Maybe Rand Paul should be next.
Title: NRO on the upcoming SCOTUS gerrymandering case
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 29, 2017, 09:54:15 AM
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/451997/wisconsin-gerrymander-case-answer-not-ban?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=170929_Jolt&utm_term=Jolt
Title: Sen. Feinstein, 84, not going softly into the night
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 09, 2017, 09:14:53 AM
She's running again!
Title: Re: Sen. Feinstein, 84, not going softly into the night
Post by: DougMacG on October 09, 2017, 09:51:06 AM
She's running again!

And she will win again.

California's best senator...

Ages at the next Presidential election:
Feinstein 87, Pelosi 80, Steny Hoyer 81, Clyburn 80, Jerry Brown 82.
Democratic Leadership Looks Like Old Soviet Politburo
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/democratic-leadership-loo_b_13488586.html

Which is better for their cause, stay in office forever or groom new leaders for tomorrow?
(Remember that 'their cause' is to personally hold onto power for as long as possible.)
Title: is this guy really fit to serve?
Post by: ccp on October 17, 2017, 08:50:20 AM
Darling of the LEFT John McCain has brain cancer.  Yet he pompously goes around giving anti Trump speeches and voting against anything he comes up with :

ttps://www.spartareport.com/2017/10/barking-news-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-pleads-guilty-to-desertion-and-misbehavior/

Should someone with brain cancer be in the Senate?  Waiting for him to seize in NJ.....
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 17, 2017, 09:26:30 AM
I too dislike McCain, but IMHO his having brain cancer does not enter the conversation.
Title: Sen. Flake not running again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 24, 2017, 01:12:40 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/356920-flake-drops-out-of-senate-race
Title: Re: Sen. Flake not running again
Post by: G M on October 24, 2017, 01:12:58 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/356920-flake-drops-out-of-senate-race

Good.
Title: Re: Sen. Flake not running again
Post by: G M on October 24, 2017, 01:16:47 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/356920-flake-drops-out-of-senate-race

Good.


http://ace.mu.nu/archives/372167.php

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2017, 10:11:39 AM
I see this morning that the Senate has failed to take up some 180 bills passed by the House (Under Harry Reid it was over 300).  WTF?  Bannon has called for McConnel to resign.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions; seat
Post by: DougMacG on November 13, 2017, 11:13:55 AM
I'm not very interested in reading the accusation and I was not impressed hearing his denial.  I don't live or vote in Alabama, but it seems to be the only issue.

The legal age was 16.  One accuser in her 50s says she was 14.  If they were 16, 17, 18 or 19, they are still teenagers 'dating' a 30 year old.  For whatever people think about that it is legal but could disgust enough voters to turn the election. 

If he were Muslim, ISIS or a refugee we are trying to settle in our country, he could date, marry and have kids with all of them at once and their younger sisters too and the Left would say who are we to judge them?

Another accuser is coming out this week with who knows what to say.

I am mostly disgusted by the timing of the 'journalism' since I don't know anything about the validity.  The reporter and an accuser are partisans and so is the media.  They have all this detail, but only after the primary is done and the ballots are printed.

I know one thing I wouldn't do as a voter is switch to the Democrat because of this!

I see a solution that solves more than one problem.  One Republican could win a write-in campaign in Alabama for the Jeff Sessions' seat after all of this and the divisive primary:  Jeff Sessions.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions; seat
Post by: G M on November 13, 2017, 03:54:58 PM
I'm not very interested in reading the accusation and I was not impressed hearing his denial.  I don't live or vote in Alabama, but it seems to be the only issue.

The legal age was 16.  One accuser in her 50s says she was 14.  If they were 16, 17, 18 or 19, they are still teenagers 'dating' a 30 year old.  For whatever people think about that it is legal but could disgust enough voters to turn the election. 

If he were Muslim, ISIS or a refugee we are trying to settle in our country, he could date, marry and have kids with all of them at once and their younger sisters too and the Left would say who are we to judge them?

Another accuser is coming out this week with who knows what to say.

I am mostly disgusted by the timing of the 'journalism' since I don't know anything about the validity.  The reporter and an accuser are partisans and so is the media.  They have all this detail, but only after the primary is done and the ballots are printed.

I know one thing I wouldn't do as a voter is switch to the Democrat because of this!

I see a solution that solves more than one problem.  One Republican could win a write-in campaign in Alabama for the Jeff Sessions' seat after all of this and the divisive primary:  Jeff Sessions.



Weaponized journalism.

Liars with NO credibility.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions; seat
Post by: DougMacG on November 14, 2017, 10:31:02 AM
"Weaponized journalism."

That's right.  They've moved WAY past bias.

On the other side of it, rock anticipated Roy Moore:
Jethro Tull, Aqualung
Sitting on a park bench
Eying little girls with bad intent...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCMS-NJ7VxU
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 14, 2017, 11:47:32 AM
Jefferson Airplane

Come Up The Years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDWnynpT-LU

Martha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dFaq6mqcjY

Young Girl Sunday Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqR135L90vA
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Al Fish Lips Franken
Post by: DougMacG on November 16, 2017, 09:11:15 AM
Where is our groping thread?
It's funny if the nation's unfunnyist Senator does it?
http://www.kabc.com/2017/11/16/leeann-tweeden-on-senator-al-franken/#.Wg2rkOW5t3I.twitter
(https://i2.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2017/11/leeann-airplane-pic.jpg?w=640)
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/11/al-franken-groped-me.php

I was posting this exactly as Rush L opened his show with it just now.

Apology not good enough!
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13787318/al-franken-groping/

An accomplished broadcaster:
(https://www.metro.us/sites/default/files/styles/mystyle/public/main/articles/2017/11/16/leann_tweeden_pics_photo_gallery.jpg)

She was there to entertain the troops, not a happily married, raunchy comedian.
(http://www.nbcsports.com/sites/nbcsports.com/files/styles/gallery_image_mid/public/2013/06/11/2131052%5B1%5D.jpg?itok=A-TiV93W&timestamp=1441449516)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Al Franken
Post by: DougMacG on November 16, 2017, 11:37:17 AM
Minnesota has a Dem governor, can appoint a Dem successor.  Why can't they throw this sleazeball under the bus?

Or will they tire of the hunt to anyone, everyone down?

Neither.  In Washington and in the US, there are two sets of rules and that is what they will rely on.  Watch and see.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 16, 2017, 11:52:29 AM
Great photos Doug!!!  Please post them with explanation in the SJW thread.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 16, 2017, 02:57:23 PM
Doug and Crafty ,

If you look carefully Franken's fingers do not appear to actually touch the world renowned broadcaster who was on a journalistic quest to interview troops

Where is Lannie Davis on every network station pointing this out.  

He could defend Franken.  She was not touched and he did not disturb her sleep.

And the photo was just a gag for stressed out troops!   :wink:

PS  Doug
thanks for pointing out that if a miracle occurs and the sea parts and we could actually get rid of this creep Frankin


The Dem gov would just appoint another one .  This is why we are seeing this .  The Dem party is safe:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/11/16/celebs-call-al-franken-resign-groping-allegations/

Never do Dems criticize one of their own unless it won't hurt the !Party!  (true communists)    This all about getting Trump
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 16, 2017, 05:56:20 PM
sea has not parted

the "victim " accepts apology and if "McConnell wants this to go to the ethics committee "this is on THEM"  (meaning the evil Repubs)

Game over.

I am sure this woman is a Democrat.   Probably adored and for all I know  slept with Hugh Hefner. Yes I said it.


*******She told reporters in a later press conference that she considered the kiss an assault but accepted his apology.

“The apology? Sure, I accept it," she said. "People make mistakes and of course he knew he made a mistake."*****

Doug,
Sorry , you and me and all of us will have to suffer with more Franken/  this guy would never go away

Title: McCarthy going down dangerous path
Post by: ccp on November 18, 2017, 10:32:48 AM
he makes a legal case for getting rid of Franken but then says doing the same to Trump is more problematic because he is the President and not one of 100 Senators


my take since you all asked
The photo of Franken does not show him touching the broad who by the nature of being a playboy bunny goes to titillate the troops with her "wares" or booty if you will like many have done before .  The kiss was certainly beyond the line.  The photo crude and stupid but I don't think by itself means someone should  resign his profession over. 

We will be hearing the broads making the claims being trotted out by Allred or some similar press conference soon.  Any day now.  So now what ? we say that that is different and argue that back and forth now? 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/453874/al-franken-should-be-expelled-senate
Title: Re: McCarthy going down dangerous path
Post by: DougMacG on November 18, 2017, 11:51:09 AM
ccp:  I don't think by itself means someone should resign his profession over.  

Fair enough but his profession is comedy and is just taking time off to serve his country.  Time's up.  )

I am amused that such a jerk got caught up in a web he helped weave and at the hypocrisy of his defenders.  I agree with the ccp and the victim does too that the forced wet kiss was more gross than the gesture of pretending to fondle her boobs.  But if both acts were non-consensual and ill-received by the person exploited, you would most certainly be fired for doing this in any professional environment.  If you were the owner of the company you would be sued and expect to pay out big money like Harvey always did.  Maybe the 'rehearsal' 'kiss' story wasn't true, but note his non-denial.  I guess Franken's ''different recollection' was that he assumed she liked it.  He was caught doing what Trump was caught saying.

Nothing says non-consensual like being asleep when it happened.  There was no joking with her; she was asleep.  Franken was gesturing sexual assault on her as defined by coverage of the Access Hollywood tape:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html?utm_term=.4051c34f5a8a

What is the humor in that photo and how is it different than Trump talking on the tape.  She is a Maxim cover girl with large mammories that (almost) all guys might like to touch but that's not acceptable and look at him saying I'm Al Franken, look what I can get away with - NON-CONSENSUALLY.  Trump 'joked' that he could grab and they would like it.  Franken more than joked, acted it out and probably knew that she would hate it.   Trump was delusional, or joiking.  Franken was just mean, not funny.  Aside from the similarities and differences,  Franiken and the Left are the ones calling for zero tolerance of any of this stuff.  Be careful what you wish for.

But instead of zero tolerance we are right back to the partisan double standard.

Rush called it right on Harvey Weinstein.  He and other 'feminist' men support liberal causes to get laid, and to get away with preying on vulnerable women.

Al Franken says he only had one encounter with Trump before Trump was conservative or in politics and he used the opportunity to insult and humiliate the guy.  He shouted, "That is the worst combover I have ever seen!" as loud as he could in front of 6000 people.  Nice guy.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YhAE3gQKzg  Now they all hate Trump because he insults people.  They love Franken because he supports 'women's issues' like killing your unborn, overtaxing your family and demagoguing your opponents.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 18, 2017, 12:24:03 PM
Doug ,

I agree with you but you post :

"But what is the humor in that and how is it different than Trump talking on the tape.  Trump 'joked' that he could grab and they would like it."

We are sitting on the proverbial major LEFt coordinated assault on Trump with this.  I would be more then shocked if we do not see every single women who will claim Trump did this to them or that to them (true and not) being paraded out with international press cameras broadcasting and camera bulbs flashing through out the solar system all sorts of stories .

You see how assassins like Allred have the whole thing planned to come out like a 200 pound bomb blast .  Maybe even lawsuits .  That has to be where this is going.
Title: Andrea Peyser
Post by: ccp on November 18, 2017, 12:47:07 PM
https://nypost.com/2017/11/17/metoo-has-lumped-trivial-in-with-legitimate-sexual-assault/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 19, 2017, 07:05:30 AM
Exactly so.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Franken felony?
Post by: DougMacG on November 20, 2017, 07:06:24 AM
Another view. I am not for a Republican-led expulsion. I am for watching the Democrats squirm in their hypocrisy.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 20, 2017, 07:59:20 AM
"  I am for watching the Democrats squirm in their hypocrisy.  "

Absolutely

Bill was one of the worst Presidents - not above average.  He diminished the dignity of the office (nd the Dems helped him along). 
Now only since they want to "get " Trump are they feeling remorse. 

To see articles in the NYSlimes that state that his party  should have forced Bill to resign NOW is so pathetic.

They have NO shame.  None of them .

Title: The US Congress; Where does Al Franken live?
Post by: DougMacG on November 20, 2017, 01:38:50 PM
In a story clarifying that he will not resign, they said:
---------------------
When his hometown paper The Star Tribune asked over the weekend whether he planned to resign, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Democrat said, “no.”

“He is spending time with his family in Washington, D.C., and will be through the Thanksgiving holiday,” the staffer told the paper by text, “and he’s doing a lot of reflecting.”
----------------------

The 'Minnesota' Senator goes home to Washington DC to be with family over the holidays??
I thought he lived in New York!!
Title: Re: The US Congress: Replace Sen. Franken with Keith Ellison??
Post by: DougMacG on November 22, 2017, 09:08:20 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/18/progressives-call-replacing-al-franken-keith-ellis/

This would risk losing the seat for Democrats in a state that is more closely dividing.  But be careful what you wish for!  Amy Klobuchar is the popular Senator.  Franken is less liberal than Amy.  Keith Ellison is to the left of Bernie Sanders, Hugo Chavez and Karl Marx.  He puts a soft touch on coercive socialism which is already enjoying a frightening level of popularity.

Only 22 percent of 600 Minnesotans surveyed said he should remain in office.
http://kstp.com/news/survey-franken-job-approval-plummets-many-say-he-should-resign/4678569/?cat=1

It begs the question, what will Governor Goofy do if presented with the responsibility of replacing Pervert Sen. Al.  There is no easy or obvious choice.

Al Franken's statement on the allegations linked at the Startribune is now 6 days old!
http://www.startribune.com/read-sen-al-franken-s-statement-on-sexual-misconduct-allegations/458020693/
He has gone into hiding longer than Hillary after a face lift. (?)

They removed his appearance on a PBS special and removed his sponsorship for a bill to stay away from the controversy.  Regardless of what people think about the severity of the allegations, his effectiveness as a Senator has diminished to near nothingness.

Where are his allies standing with him?  Claire McCaskill, Democrat Senator up for reelection in Missouri, is giving her Franken PAC money to charity:
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/360715-mccaskill-to-donate-30k-received-from-frankens-pac-to-charity-report

The rape victim who helped Senator Al Franken draft new legislation to aid in the prosecution of sexual perpetrators wants his name off of the bill:
http://www.newsweek.com/al-franken-sexual-assault-campus-rape-714779
Who can blame her?



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 22, 2017, 03:53:03 PM
Claire McCaskill, Democrat Senator up for reelection in Missouri, is giving her Franken PAC money to charity:
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/360715-mccaskill-to-donate-30k-received-from-frankens-pac-to-charity-report

amazingly my nephew is going to run Hawley's campaign:  [ against McCaskill who is unpopular]

https://joshhawley.com/

He was beating her in a recent  poll though I don't know if that means anything at this point.  Wait till the full force of the Democrat mob bosses start to pay attention.
Title: My Senator
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 23, 2017, 11:25:08 AM
https://outreach.senate.gov/iqextranet/view_newsletter.aspx?id=100333&c=SenHarris
Title: The looming fustercluck
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 27, 2017, 06:17:00 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/361602-congress-returns-to-nightmare-december?rnd=1511779765
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Franken, Conyers, Pelosi, Moore
Post by: DougMacG on November 28, 2017, 09:30:18 AM
Stop the presses, Franken is issuing a big non-denial denial, non-apology apology.  Except for where there is indisputable photographic evidence, Al Franken doesn't remember doing anything wrong but promises to stop doing it.  He is deeply sorry for what he doesn't admit doing.  Colleagues dispose of his money and bill sponsors want his name off of a bill because his name is poison.  For whatever he did or did not do wrong, he is now a less effective Senator in a somewhat divided state.  Democrats have a unique opportunity to replace him right now with another Democrat.  He declines to resign, meaning this is all about personal power, not party, policy or direction of the country.  

Sen. Franken had a chance of being a future Democrat nominee and President just before this broke, and still does - when you consider who the other possibilities are, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Hillary again, running against Trump with his warts or a fractured Republican party that tosses Trump out.

Rep. Conyers is an "icon", therefore Pelosi disbelieves, disregards the victims and trivializes the offenses and the effort to stop this in America.  That puts her somewhere in between co-conspirator and being on 'the wrong side of history'.  Detroit would also predictably replace him with another Democrat, one who could become part of a new class of future Democrat leaders.

Senate candidate Roy Moore is poison for Republicans and they, for the most part, turned against him instantly.  Some of his accusers are discredited but the whole thing looks creepy.  Moore stays in for personal reasons, not to help his party or his cause.  He will probably win anyway because Democrats are so far removed from the views of the voters.

Pelosi cheapens herself, the crime and the accusers against Conyers and all others by letting politics AGAIN decide who to turn against and who to defend.

Accusations about Republicans only come out exactly when there can be political gain.  Accusations against Democrats only come out when media do their job and report what is in front of them in plain view.

Sen. Rubio is putting the size of the Child Tax Credit, a worthy cause, ahead of growth economics that could save the economy and the nation.  Ironically, he represents a retirement state.

Sen. Tim Scott who is right on the issues could not explain why tax reform helps the poor and lower income working people other than to mention specific goodies in the bill.  

Republicans hate McConnell and now Ryan who support the agenda but can't lead.  Democrats stick with Pelosi and Schumer who are mostly old, obnoxious and clueless.  All 4 are bringing no one new into either of their respective parties.  Ryan is the only one who had potential but angers the right by being soft on illegal immigration.  (We had that election; build the damn wall.)

Both sides should desperately be asking, who will be our future leaders and bring them forward now.
---------------------
Update:  A similar view on Franken: "a disingenuous denial, a disingenuous apology"
http://www.weeklystandard.com/why-wont-al-franken-say-whether-he-believes-his-accusers/article/2010620

He didn't admit or deny, he is trying to survive this politically.
Title: Conyers - no icon
Post by: ccp on November 29, 2017, 05:53:13 AM
https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/john-conyers-furthest-thing-icon/

yeah right; he is about as much as an icon as John McCain.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Pelosi couldn't take the heat on defending Conyers
Post by: DougMacG on November 30, 2017, 11:18:20 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/conyers-hospitalized-as-accuser-describes-unwanted-sexual-advance-in-chicago-hotel/2017/11/30/55b82820-d5e0-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.da41fcbaf307

They turned on Conyers (black) but not Franken (white).  I wonder what the media and opponents would say if Republicans did that.

Title: Pelosi now taking the *HIGH ROAD*
Post by: ccp on November 30, 2017, 11:57:25 AM
as if morality or "high road " was EVER at the forefront of any of her decisions:

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/11/30/pelosi-calls-conyers-resign/

Doug wrote

"They turned on Conyers (black) but not Franken (white).  I wonder what the media and opponents would say if Republicans did that."

You sound like Clyburn  who is crazy enough to make that case.

Doug,  double or nothing:

I bet Franken is forced out.  Forget the ethics committee which we now is a joke anyway. 

#1  As you pointed out the Dems are giving up nothing if Franken leaves.  The Dem gov will appoint another .  May well be Ellison.

#2  They will have no dillemna therefore to sacrifice him to the get the big fish , kahuna , or think this will all result in a check mate.  They will get this moral high ground scam going to the hilt make the legal case and then if they take over the legislative branch there WILL be impeachment proceedings .  At the very least they will in unison be screaming on every air wave , internet portal , from every campus and cable, and Hollywood what a disgrace Trump is and scorch the EArth with this.

Some of the Repubs like Crafty points out will be weenies and agree with the them thinking they are taking some phony moral high ground.

Care to bet me my friend? 

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 30, 2017, 12:14:32 PM
Thanks ccp.  I will not bet on dead man walking Al Franken.  Just enjoying his troubles.  Who knew you couldn't touch women there - if you're a Democrat?  Franken was not looking good yesterday in committee:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/11/the-new-al-franken.php

For the record, Roy Moore was a Democrat during all the alleged misconduct.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Icon Retires
Post by: DougMacG on December 05, 2017, 10:56:37 AM
Or is it, Alleged Sex Offender Resigns in Disgrace?

Or, Team Player Takes One for the Team to Facilitate the Continuing Attack on Trump and Moore

Democratic split, Conyers is not a big believer in #believe the women.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 05, 2017, 02:57:35 PM
And who does he recommend to replace him ?  his SON for crying out loud......


just no shame, no letting go of the reigns of power .   Sickening
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on December 05, 2017, 04:09:16 PM
And who does he recommend to replace him ?  his SON for crying out loud......


just no shame, no letting go of the reigns of power .   Sickening

(https://static.pjmedia.com/instapundit/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Screen-Shot-2017-12-05-at-10.58.42-AM-600x152.png)
Title: Franken
Post by: ccp on December 06, 2017, 01:18:45 PM
to resign tomorrow ?

"Team Player Takes One for the Team to Facilitate the Continuing Attack on Trump and Moore"

which is what this is all about.

Watch we will get Keith Ellison

Like Borg the Left always has replacement in wings before they pressure their own to resign
Title: Not really the Democratic Party. Just the *Party*
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2017, 09:18:28 AM
Did it for the *Party*

Everything is for the *Party*.

Like all good communists.

Watch for him set up a PAC with himself at top with mission to topple Trump in his next obnoxious life.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2017, 04:50:28 PM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/franken-confident-ethics-exoneration-says-hell-resign-coming-weeks/

wait a second  > he is going to stay in for weeks so the ethics committee can "exonerate " him???

Was that the deal?

Never ending slime from the Democrats if true.........
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 07, 2017, 09:21:27 PM
IMHO it is very simple:

"Franken added that he's "aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving, while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office,"
Title: Re: The US Congress; But What About Bob? (Menendez)
Post by: DougMacG on December 08, 2017, 12:04:51 PM
Yes, the Franken (non) resignation is about strategy, not principles.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

While allegedly cleaning house for the Moore, Trump attacks, the Senate Democrats missed one!

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/12/what-about-bob.php

... in all the discussion of Senator Franken and related issues, it is curious that none of the Democratic senators — not Senator Gillibrand, not Senator Harris, not Senator Klobuchar, not any of the rest — has suggested that Senator Menendez take early retirement.

The bribery charges against Senator Melendez resulted in a hung jury. It is nevertheless unclear how the Democrats can now overlook allegations of Senator Menedez’s paid dalliances with young women in the Dominican Republic. They seem as credible as the 40-plus year-old allegations against Roy Moore and far more recent. Following the mistrial in the Menendez case, Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine took up the possible double standard.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/11/the_bob_menendez_case_a_double_standard_for_dems.html




Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Moore, Bannon
Post by: DougMacG on December 13, 2017, 06:38:48 AM
Losing the Senate to one or two man's ego.  The loss of Sessions seat was not necessary, advances the causes of abortion, high taxes and government healthcare to name a few.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2017, 07:33:16 AM
" Losing the Senate to one or two man's ego.  The loss of Sessions seat was not necessary, advances the causes of abortion, high taxes and government healthcare to name a few. "

Yup.  

You are right Doug.  The Dem strategy of coming out AFTER the primary race with the Moore sex story worked out like a dream come true for them

I agree with Bannon to get rid of the establishment types but not with a guy who was chasing and allegedly molesting underage girls.

Even Trump "knew":

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/12/13/donald-trump-deck-was-stacked-against-roy-moore/


Trump has thrown away his chance to win over middle of the road voters with his foolish tweets .  He will never be above 40 % approval.
Only hope is the economy does so great people will be thrilled.  Anyone think Amazon's Jeff Bezos is going to spend his tax savings on increased salaries or benefits to employees?

oh but what is good for him is good for all of us........... :-P  We will see.
Title: Doug's worst nightmare
Post by: ccp on December 18, 2017, 06:16:46 AM
(and mine) to be realized???   :-o

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/18/manchin-franken-senate-resign-300843

(Franken - could this happen from the unfunny "comedian" = i was just joshin' - i am not going anywhere )
Title: Re: Doug's worst (best) nightmare (soap opera)
Post by: DougMacG on December 18, 2017, 09:32:03 AM
(and mine) to be realized???   :-o
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/18/manchin-franken-senate-resign-300843
(Franken - could this happen from the unfunny "comedian" = i was just joshin' - i am not going anywhere )

Yes, it's a big, unspoken controversy here.  Franken did not resign (or say, believe the women).  He said he would announce resignation in the coming weeks, meaning let's wait and see. 

Former MN Gov. Arne Carlson, a 'Republican', also said very publicly last week, "don't resign".

Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat not particularly affiliated with Franken or the party, went ahead and announced the recess appointment.  He appointed his Lt Gov.  This was quite a jab at Franken because he and I and everyone with a critical ear knows he didn't resign yet of even make his final decision.

When Franken scheduled his press conference, there is no way he intended to announce his resignation.  I think he was going to give a big recovery program and can't we all learn something from this speech.  Then Gillibrand, Schumer and others pressured him and he came up with the speech that left ample wiggle room.  The pressure and the message was, get us through this Alabama election.  And it worked.

Tina Smith the 'appointee' was referred to Gov Dayton by his biggest (only?) donor, his ex-wife Alida Rockefeller, daughter of John D Rockefeller, sister of former politician Jay Rockefeller.  Smith has a nice humanitarian background of running Planned Parenthood.  I wonder how many vulnerable girls, blacks and gays were killed under her watch.  She was an attractive choice because she is (allegedly) smart, reliably liberal and didn't want to run for the position when it comes back up for election, leaving the real choice up to the voters.

But then one more twist, she announced she is going to run for 'reelection' for the seat she doesn't even have yet, clearing the field of Democratic challengers - all while 'Sen" Al Franken is still undecided about resigning.  Musical chairs and the unfunny Senator is still standing, looking around.

ccp, the funny thing is, Minnesota Republicans would most certainly rather run against a damaged Al Franken than a fresh Tina Smith, a presumed non-groper.

Two term former Gov Tim Pawlenty is mentioned for running for the 'open' seat.  Clean as a whistle, he barely gropes his own wife.

Minnesota was known as the bluest, most liberal state in the union, the only state never won by Ronald Reagan.  The only upper midwest state Trump didn't flip, Hillary beat Trump here in 2016 by 1.5 points. 

To quote a famous MN lyricist, 'The times they are a changin'.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ
Title: California Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 01, 2018, 09:28:10 AM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-poses-problem-for-gop-as-2018-dawns-1514819328
Title: Arizona
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 14, 2018, 07:40:00 PM
GOP faces brutal Arizona primary fight

Republicans hoping to hang on to the Arizona Senate seat face an increasingly tumultuous primary environment, with firebrand former sheriff Joe Arpaio entering the race from the right and Rep. Martha McSally trying to win over President Trump’s supporters without alienating more moderate general election voters.

The Tuesday announcement from Arpaio, whose criminal contempt conviction Trump pardoned last year, came just days before McSally joined the primary. While Arpaio made his name as an immigration hardliner and promoter of the discredited conspiracy theory that former President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, McSally is the party establishment pick meant to appeal in the general election.
Title: Perfect storm builds against Reps in CA
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 17, 2018, 09:44:44 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/369254-perfect-storm-builds-against-republicans-in-california
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 18, 2018, 11:32:09 AM
GOP sees omens of a Dem wave in Wisconsin

A surprise loss in a special statehouse election Tuesday night in Wisconsin has set off a new round of alarm among Republicans worried that they could face a Democratic wave in this year’s midterm elections.

Democrat Patty Schachtner defeated Republican Adam Jarchow by about 10 points in Wisconsin’s 10th Senate District, a seat that had been under GOP control since 2001. President Trump carried the district by 17 points in the 2016 election.

The state Senate election in Wisconsin is another damning data point for Republicans.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 18, 2018, 12:45:35 PM
"The state Senate election in Wisconsin is another damning data point for Republicans."

I don't have a countering argument to the liberal take on this except that the Nov 2018 elections are not going to be held today.  They will be held after people see the increase in economic growth and the impact that has on people's lives.  His tweets and utterances aside, Trump and the Republicans have done a lot of policy things right.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 18, 2018, 01:12:47 PM
Agreed.  Just noting this data point at this time and place.
Title: who voted for and who against the
Post by: ccp on January 20, 2018, 06:31:38 AM
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/19/us/politics/live-senate-vote-government-shutdown.html

Paul a common suspect here
the total loss of his mind Flake
and McConnel ?  a surprise and 2 others on the R side

tuchus holes if you ask me   :-P
Title: Re: The US Congress; Senate Races, Issues, Abortion, Heitkamp, Tina Smith
Post by: DougMacG on January 30, 2018, 04:55:13 PM
Caught on camera, Democrats Heidi Heitkamp and Chuck Schumer give each other high fives after blocking bill to end abortions past 20 weeks, when unborn feel pain.  I wonder how the unborn feel about that?  (   
(https://media.townhall.com/townhall/reu/ha/images/2018/30/107a78a7-a7c7-4d91-8587-67b528f2fbb5.png)

Also supporting the filibuster that prevented a Senate vote was former Planned Parenthood leader, AL Franken replacement Tina Smith. 

My guess is that Schumer has a 10% approval in North Dakota and I wouldn't be so sure that Minnesotans are 100% behind unrestricted abortions anymore.  Science says it takes a life you know, and it causes pain in the process.  The later abortions are the most brutal and the unborn start to look a lot like ... babies, human, alive and with separate DNA from the mother and father.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Senate Races, Issues, Abortion, Heitkamp, Tina Smith
Post by: G M on January 30, 2018, 06:13:45 PM
Caught on camera, Democrats Heidi Heitkamp and Chuck Schumer give each other high fives after blocking bill to end abortions past 20 weeks, when unborn feel pain.  I wonder how the unborn feel about that?  (   
(https://media.townhall.com/townhall/reu/ha/images/2018/30/107a78a7-a7c7-4d91-8587-67b528f2fbb5.png)

Also supporting the filibuster that prevented a Senate vote was former Planned Parenthood leader, AL Franken replacement Tina Smith. 

My guess is that Schumer has a 10% approval in North Dakota and I wouldn't be so sure that Minnesotans are 100% behind unrestricted abortions anymore.  Science says it takes a life you know, and it causes pain in the process.  The later abortions are the most brutal and the unborn start to look a lot like ... babies, human, alive and with separate DNA from the mother and father.

Hey, someone has to show those unborn babies who's boss. Schumer is all about taking guns and killing infants.
Title: Gowdy retiring!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 31, 2018, 11:43:09 AM
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/371629-trey-gowdy-announces-retirement-from-congress?userid=188403
Title: Re: The US Congress; Judicial confirmations, Justice David Stras
Post by: DougMacG on January 31, 2018, 11:53:42 AM
A Senate vote, a victory for Trump and constitutional law, this was made possible by Al Franken's groping.  It was a good indicator that Franken protested and Scott Johnson from Powerline supported Stras has been exposing the delays of the game playing Senate with a fully qualified and supported nominee.  
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/david-stras-confirmed-to-eighth-circuit.php

This is a good step for a good Justice toward the Supreme Court.
Title: Shifty Adam Schiff
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 06, 2018, 10:28:02 AM
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/05/adam-schiff-russians-promoted-2nd-amendment-so-americans-would-kill-each-other/
Title: Actual Nazi running for Congress as Republican candidate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 07, 2018, 11:35:37 AM


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/us/nazi-congress-illinois.html?partner=msft_msn
Title: Why did Pelosi stand for 8 hrs
Post by: ccp on February 07, 2018, 05:47:40 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/07/nancy-pelosi-thanks-illegal-aliens-breaking-law-bringing-dreamers-usa/

she's so senile she *forgot* to sit down and shut up.  :lol:
Title: No One wants House Oversight Committee gavel
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 21, 2018, 08:30:37 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/374763-house-oversight-a-gavel-no-one-wants?userid=188403
Title: My Congressman , , ,
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 24, 2018, 04:52:38 PM
https://www.westernjournal.com/democrat-rep-openly-admits-hell-lie-gun-facts-whenever-wants/?ff_source=email
Title: The New Yorker: Congressman Nadler
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 26, 2018, 09:16:24 PM
The New York Congressman Who Could Lead an Impeachment Charge Against Trump

By Susan B. Glasser

February 26, 2018

Impeachment, a liberal pipe dream a year ago, would almost certainly become the Judiciary Committee’s top priority if Democrats take back the House.
Photograph by Doug Mills / NYT / Redux

A political generation ago, Congressman Jerry Nadler was a backbencher from the Upper West Side. A liberal Democrat with a law degree and a debater’s temperament, he was seen in New York as “a garrulously intelligent, wonkish politician whose previous claims to fame” included “fighting against Donald Trump’s projects on the West Side,” as the Times noted, in a 1999 profile. When House Republicans impeached Bill Clinton, in 1998, for lying about his affair with the former intern Monica Lewinsky, Nadler emerged as one of Clinton’s most ardent and public defenders, trading his obscurity for a brief moment in the national spotlight. The impeachment, he warned in the House Judiciary Committee, was a spectacular misuse of the power granted to Congress by its founding fathers, a “partisan coup d’état.”

Twenty years later, history has intervened to give Nadler another shot at Trump. And, this time, Nadler’s own party is clamoring for impeachment. Nadler’s chance came in December, in one of those little-noticed internal congressional maneuvers that can often have big political consequences months or even years later. The #MeToo movement had just claimed the eighty-eight-year-old congressman John Conyers, of Michigan, who resigned after multiple women came forward to accuse him of harassing and propositioning them. That left a prime opening to succeed Conyers as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which would oversee an impeachment of Trump if Democrats were to win control of the House in November’s midterm elections.

Nadler quickly made the case to fellow-Democrats that he was the perfect marriage of man and moment: a Trump “archenemy,” as one New York paper called him back in the nineties, familiar both with the President’s Manhattan business machinations and the nuances of constitutional law that would become relevant if the Judiciary Committee tried to impeach Trump. Nadler didn’t say so publicly, but his campaign pitch against Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat best known for her work on immigration, was all about the politically charged I-word; a leaflet he wrote and handed out to Democratic members said he was “the strongest member to lead a potential impeachment.”

In an impassioned closed-door speech to the Democratic caucus before the vote, Nadler told his colleagues that Trump had put the country “on the brink of a constitutional crisis.” The Democrats voted, 118–72, to give Nadler the job, setting him up to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee if they take back the House. Impeachment, a liberal pipe dream a year ago, would almost certainly become the committee’s top priority, and the road to it would run right through Nadler, a stubborn seventy-year-old who spent the better part of two decades battling to stop Trump from rerouting the West Side Highway. History may not repeat but it does have a sense of humor.

Nadler clearly relishes the thought of taking Trump on once again, and, if and when it comes to impeachment, he will in no way be a neutral arbiter of the President’s fate but an implacable foe who has already pronounced judgment on Trump’s fitness for office. After Trump fired the F.B.I. director, James Comey, last spring, Nadler said that there was a “very strong case” that it constituted obstruction of justice. He opened a recent town-hall meeting with constituents by saying, “This President presents the greatest threat to constitutional liberty and the functioning of our government in living memory.”

Jerry Nadler spent years fighting Trump in New York. Now he may preside over attempts to remove him as President. Photograph by Spencer Platt / Getty

Over the course of two recent conversations with me, Nadler was just as scathing regarding Trump. The indictment of thirteen Russians by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, on charges of manipulating the 2016 U.S. election had just been released, and Nadler said he believed that Trump’s refusal to retaliate for the Russian intervention was as serious as if an American Commander-in-Chief had failed to respond to the 1941 Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. “It’s a fundamental attack on our way of life. It’s a very fundamental attack on the U.S. And it has to be taken seriously, and Trump is not doing his job,” Nadler said. “What if Roosevelt had said, after Pearl Harbor, ‘We’re not sure who did it. Maybe it was the Chinese. Maybe it was somebody else’? And used that as an excuse not to respond?”

So, I asked, is that an impeachable offense? “Potentially,” he answered. “He is not carrying out his duties.” Then again, Nadler added, “Impeachment is a political act, and you have to make a lot of judgments. Is it an impeachable offense if he persists in not doing his office? Yeah, I’d say it is. But just because it’s an impeachable offense does not mean he should be impeached. It’s a different judgment.”

A vocal and growing minority of House Democrats is not waiting for the results of Mueller’s investigation to make that judgment on impeaching Trump. Among Nadler’s colleagues, a resolution to begin the process of impeachment authored by Congressman Al Green, of Texas, has twice been put to a vote. In early December, it received fifty-eight Democratic votes. By mid-January, it was up to sixty-six votes, still far from the two hundred and eighteen needed for a House majority. Public support for such a move is higher. In a recent national poll, about forty-one per cent of Americans support impeachment, significantly more than the twenty-six per cent who backed such proceedings against Richard Nixon at the start of the Watergate hearings, which eventually led to Nixon’s downfall.
Video From The New Yorker
A Word from the Russian Olympic Team

Watergate revivalism, in fact, is booming among a certain cohort of Trump-loathing liberals, and a smart Slate podcast called “Slow Burn” that excavated the history of Watergate for the millennial generation shot to the top of the Apple charts. When I recently appeared on a panel with Watergate veterans convened by Slate at the Watergate Hotel, there was a sold-out audience of several hundred who had shelled out twenty dollars a pop to listen to the reminiscences of the talk-show host Dick Cavett, the Nixon biographer Evan Thomas, and the journalist Elizabeth Drew, who chronicled the Nixon impeachment proceedings for this magazine. The Trump era, short as it is, has already spawned its own literature of impeachment to add to the Watergate shelves, including “The Case for Impeachment,” a best-seller by the American University professor Allan Lichtman, and “Impeachment: A Citizen’s Guide,” by the Harvard professor Cass Sunstein, a former adviser to President Obama.

There is also an active and increasingly loud impeachment lobby led by the billionaire activist Tom Steyer, a San Francisco businessman who has already spent more than thirty million dollars on a public campaign calling for Congress to remove Trump from office. Since launching in October, his group, Need to Impeach, has acquired close to five million online signatures for its impeachment petition. TV ads feature Steyer looking into the camera, with the White House in the background, recounting a varied litany of complaints about Trump. An early ad said, “Donald Trump has brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice, and taken money from foreign governments. We need to impeach this dangerous President.” A more current version reels off the indictments already obtained by Mueller’s investigators and concludes, “No President is above the law.”

When we spoke last week, Steyer seemed almost agnostic about the official reasons Congress should cite for Trump’s impeachment. He told me he was convinced that new and compelling evidence would emerge to bolster the political case for removing the President from office. Steyer said that he felt no need to wait for the results of Mueller’s investigation and was responding to the political reality that it can take a long time, as it did during Watergate, to get the American people to accept the radical step of removing a President from office. “We started this knowing it’s a marathon and not a sprint,” Steyer told me. “And that it has to do with the information reaching the American people so that people understand this is a deeply unfit and dangerous American President.”

But Steyer’s rallying of the Trump-hating party base has put him at odds with Nadler and other Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, who believe it is both premature and politically damaging to call for impeachment now. The House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, a fellow-Californian, called Steyer—a huge party benefactor, who contributed more than sixty million dollars to the Party’s candidates and causes in 2016—to lobby him directly against the impeachment drive, the Times reported. Bernie Sanders has publicly pleaded with Steyer and others to avoid “jumping the gun” and pushing for Trump’s removal before it’s possible to achieve it. Other Democrats, especially the campaign strategists who have to advise the Party’s candidates in the midterm elections, fear that impeachment is a political loser with voters, who will cast ballots on more traditional pocketbook issues.

Steyer is well aware of the criticism. He said he knew that the numbers in Congress, for now, are against him. “How that works out, exactly, I don’t know,” he told me. “But I would also quote Nelson Mandela: ‘Everything is impossible until it happens.’ We are saying something that is incredibly important to the people of the United States. We understand there’s a concern that it does not suit the short-term needs of some elected officials. I understand that they’ve got to try and figure that out.”

Jerry Nadler is still figuring it out. “My view of impeachment is to be very careful about impeachment,” he told me. Since succeeding Conyers in the House Judiciary Committee post, he’s been raising his profile, appearing as a talking head on MSNBC and CNN, attacking Trump, and talking as though the President is a genuine menace to the nation. But that doesn’t mean Nadler is ready to call for impeachment, at least not yet. He considers Steyer’s Need to Impeach campaign “premature at best,” he told me. “I don’t think it’s constructive. We don’t have the evidence now that would be convincing enough to people to justify impeachment.” As a political matter, Nadler added, “I don’t think the election campaign should be fought on the basis of impeachment or no impeachment. We’ve got plenty of problems in the country, and I don’t think it helps the country, never mind the Democrats. We should, though, fight the election on the grounds of whether the President is a good or a terrible President.”

Nadler comes from a safely Democratic district and has never had a competitive race since he first won his seat, in a special election, in 1992. But political calculation dominated our conversations about whether and how the impeachment of Trump could proceed. In Nadler’s reading of history, Nixon was forced from office because Democrats enlisted enough Republicans in the impeachment case to make Nixon’s presumed conviction in the Senate, by a two-thirds majority, likely; then and only then did Nixon step aside. In the Clinton case, conversely, Democrats stuck together and voted en masse against the House impeachment, and Republicans were unable to secure a conviction on the basis of just their own party’s votes in the Senate. Nadler warned of a “partisan coup d’état” against Clinton on the House floor, but, in the end, the political math didn't favor it.

The Clinton impeachment shapes how Nadler views a prospective case against Trump. “I said this on the floor of the House in 1998, and I meant it: impeachment must not be partisan,” Nadler told me. “And that’s true for two reasons. Number one, simple arithmetic. Let’s assume the Democrats get a majority of the House in the election, and let’s assume you vote impeachment on a partisan basis: all the Democrats voted for it; all the Republicans voted against it. Yes, you could impeach the President in the House. But you need a two-thirds vote in the Senate, and what’s the point of it? If you’re going to impeach him, you ought to be pretty sure you can convict him and remove him from office, and you should have good reasons for doing so.”

Removing the President is a dramatic move against the popular will; in effect, Nadler said, “you are nullifying the last election,” which is not something to be undertaken “without having buy-in, at least by the end of the process, by an appreciable fraction” of Republicans as well as Democrats. The alternative? “Twenty or thirty years of recriminations. Of almost half the country saying, ‘We won the election; you stole it from us.’ You don’t want to do that. Which means you should not impeach the President unless you really believe that, by the end of the process, you will have not only Democrats agreeing with you but a good fraction of the people who voted for him.”

There’s also the matter of evidence, and just what the charges would be against Trump. In the Clinton case, Nadler argued that Presidential perjury about a sexual affair did not rise to the level of impropriety envisioned in the Constitution, and he successfully urged Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on just what would constitute an impeachable offense, an exercise that convinced him that “the real test for an impeachable offense is, is this a threat to the constitutional order, to the protection of liberty, to the checks and balances system that the Constitution sets up?” He told me, “The impeachment clause was put into the Constitution as a political tool with which to defend the republic, to defend the constitutional order, to defend against a would-be tyrant.”

Those are strong words, and I found myself wondering whether Nadler really expected the case against Trump to rise someday to the grave standard he was setting for it. Does he think Trump is a tyrant, or that he could become one? Our back-and-forth on the matter left me feeling unclear, though it is certainly conventional wisdom in both parties these days that Democrats, given the House majority, are all but certain to proceed with some kind of case against Trump. (“This impeachment threat is out there,” a Fox News commentator named Liz Peek warned the crowd at last week’s CPAC, the annual conference for conservatives, according to the Washington Post. “It’s a very good reason to go vote, and to give money.”)

Still, Nadler insisted to me that he was not prepared to go forward with impeachment just because angry Democrats demand it, or even because he viewed Trump as unfit for office. “You don’t decide to impeach the President for the hell of it,” he told me. In dealing with Trump, Nadler said he expected that Mueller, like previous special counsels before him in the Clinton and Nixon cases, would deliver a report to Congress laying out his evidence related to the President, and he promised it would have to be sufficiently serious and specific. “To initiate impeachment, we would have to be convinced—I would certainly have to be convinced if I were going to help lead it—that the President has committed impeachable offenses, and that those impeachable offenses are so serious that the constitutional order is threatened if he is not impeached and removed from office,” Nadler said. “That’s the real test.”

I asked whether Trump’s firing of Comey obstructed the F.B.I. investigation into possible Trump-campaign collusion with Russia. Would that meet the standard for an impeachable offense? At first, Nadler demurred, saying he was “not a judge and not a jury right now.” But he signalled that his stance could change. Nadler added, tantalizingly, that he had consulted both public evidence and still-secret documents. “It may be that you can make a very serious case against the President,” he told me. “And I stress the word ‘may be.’ ”

    Susan B. Glasser is a contributing writer for newyorker.com, where she writes a twice-monthly column on life in Trump’s Washington. She is Politico’s chief international-affairs columnist and the host of its weekly podcast, “The Global Politico.”Read more
Title: Reps have shot at holding House
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 27, 2018, 07:38:25 AM
second post

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/27/how-republicans-can-win-the-2018-midterms-217088
Title: Re: Reps have shot at holding House
Post by: DougMacG on February 28, 2018, 09:06:25 AM
second post

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/27/how-republicans-can-win-the-2018-midterms-217088

Republicans need to keep the generic ballot poll better than -9 and Trump's approval rating at least in the mid-forties. In the last couple of poles he was at 50% . I would add that we need GDP growth to come in at least 3% and no blow-up of the deficit.  The tax cut along with the supporting pro-growth deregulation is not hypothetical anymore. This is no longer CBO versus TPC versus  Heritage or Schumer versus Trump. The early results will be known soon.  If Furman, Schumer and the fixed pie crowd were right, then the midterms go to the Democrats. If the supply-siders were right then the facts will be apparent and the election will be winnable.

People aren't tired of economic growth nor do they take it for granted anymore.

Trump continues to message in his way on the economy.  He misses my points but connects better with his. The Republican Congress seems silent. Have they no bully pulpit of their own, no budget, no podium, no message?

Do they want to hold Congress? Can the express a reason or two why? Or are they just positioning to save face in defeat? And if so, what good can that possibly do?
Title: Dems upcoming date with disaster vs. this
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 28, 2018, 10:07:09 AM
Perhaps too optimistic, but much good points are made:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/the-democrats-date-with-disaster/

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/375940-dems-surge-in-generic-ballot-as-economy-fades-from-spotlight?userid=188403
Title: WSJ: Death of Reps' control of congress may be premature
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 01, 2018, 06:14:38 AM

By Karl Rove
Feb. 28, 2018 7:05 p.m. ET
40 COMMENTS

Talk of a Democratic midterm sweep may be premature. In recent weeks, the chance that Republicans will hold or even expand their Senate majority was boosted by two unexpected events: North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer decided to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, and Arizona Rep. Martha McSally launched her bid for retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat.

Since World War II the president’s party has lost House seats in 16 of 18 midterms, while in the Senate the president’s party has broken even or picked up seats in five midterms.

Only a third of senators are up for election in a given cycle, meaning each party’s prospects vary depending on which states are in play. Of the 34 Senate seats up this fall, 26 are held by Democrats and only eight by Republicans. Ten Democratic seats are in states President Trump carried in 2016, and only one Republican senator—Nevada’s Dean Heller —will face re-election in a state Hillary Clinton won.

The GOP’s best shots to pick up seats are in five states Mr. Trump won by double digits. One is North Dakota, which the president carried with 63% of the vote. The same night Mr. Trump earned 216,794 votes and a 36-point victory, Rep. Cramer received 233,980 votes for his 45-point margin. In 2012, when Sen. Heitkamp and Rep. Cramer both won for the first time, she got 161,337 votes and a 0.9-point margin while he received 173,585 votes and a 13.2-point margin.

Ms. Heitkamp’s voting record offers Republicans plenty of ammunition. She has voted against Mr. Cramer and the state’s popular senior senator, Republican John Hoeven, on issues like tax cuts, health care and energy—energy being of particular concern because North Dakota is America’s second-biggest producer of crude oil. Mr. Cramer is also a superb grass-roots campaigner, which matters in a state where politics is personal and voters are clustered on the center right.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

Then there’s Arizona. Republicans were worried about the seat even before Sen. Flake announced his retirement last October, leaving the primary field wide open to far-right candidate Kelli Ward, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. John McCain in 2016 and is backed by Steve Bannon.

Many Republicans applauded when Rep. McSally announced that she’d enter the race. An Air Force Academy grad, Ms. McSally was the first female American combat pilot—flying an A-10 Warthog in the Gulf War—and the first woman to command a fighter squadron. She also successfully sued in 2001 to overturn a Defense Department policy requiring U.S. servicewomen in Saudi Arabia to wear abayas and headscarves off base.

After beating an incumbent Democrat by 161 votes in 2014, Rep. McSally was re-elected in 2016 with 57%, running 13 points ahead of Mr. Trump in Arizona’s most competitive district, centered in Tucson.

She now faces an August primary against Ms. Ward and 85-year-old former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. After being found guilty of criminal contempt for ignoring a court order against racial profiling, Mr. Arpaio lost his re-election in 2016, trailing the entire GOP ticket. He and Ms. Ward will split the hard right, improving Ms. McSally’s chances.

Ms. McSally’s supporters were cheered by the public response when she launched her campaign last month, flying around Arizona in a T-6 trainer that was used to instruct members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II. She told enthusiastic crowds, “I’m a fighter pilot and I talk like one,” and joked that congressional Republicans should “grow a pair of ovaries and get the job done.” This occasional saltiness has made her a favorite of Mr. Trump.

Ms. McSally has also been in the news recently as a principal author of the House immigration bill that bolsters border security, reforms legal immigration and provides a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

Her military background is a big plus with Arizona’s large veteran population, and her record on taxes, spending and defense is attractive in a state that wants its leaders to be both conservative and constructive.

The likely Democratic nominee is Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who had $5.1 million cash on hand at the end of last year. Ms. Sinema represents a Phoenix district, which gives her high name recognition in the state’s largest media market. But Ms. McSally’s launch has already bolstered her recognition and made her competitive in general-election matchups.

With a two-seat margin in the Senate, Republicans must see that Sen. Heller is returned in Nevada and avoid a repeat of last year’s Alabama disaster by helping Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker overcome a primary challenge from an eccentric firebrand. But the races in North Dakota and Arizona will play a key role in the midterms, and Republicans should be pleased to have such promising candidates in Reps. Cramer and McSally.

Mr. Rove helped organize the political-action committee American Crossroads and is the author of “The Triumph of William McKinley ” (Simon & Schuster, 2015).
Title: Newt: Prez Trump's two brilliant surprises
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 01, 2018, 02:32:41 PM
President Trump’s Two Brilliant Political Surprises
Originally published at Fox News.

President Trump has once again surprised the national establishment.

This week, he announced his re-election campaign earlier than any president in history.

Simultaneously, he announced Brad Parscale would be his campaign manager.

These two moves are a reminder of how intuitive and strategic Donald J. Trump is. These qualities are a big part of why he was elected to be our 45th president.
Why are this week’s announcements so important? Because they express intent and demonstrate immediate implementation.

First, President Trump is saying to any potential Republican challengers “I will crush you.” The amount of money Trump will raise, the scale of the organization that he will build, and the size of the pro-Trump base, will all combine to make the possibility of a viable Republican challenger an absurdity. Someone can run, but he or she will never survive the first round of primaries.

President Trump is also signaling to those who fantasize about a third-party candidate (and this number may grow as the Democrats’ civil war gets more vicious) that he will have the resources and the organizational base to totally dominate the general election.

Second, President Trump is building a new Republican Party, which is much broader than the party that existed when he announced his candidacy in 2015. Trump’s new, larger party is the one that carried Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – and almost carried Minnesota. It was this larger party that turned Ohio from a competitive battlefield into a Republican landslide.

America’s rising prosperity will further broaden and deepen the Republican Party. Trump economics will be defined as the economics of more jobs, higher wages, lower taxes, more take-home pay, and the vision of a prosperous America as the new normal.

The complete Democratic rejection of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – and their record of the Obama-era normal of low growth, wage stagnation, unemployment, and growing welfare rolls – will be a heavy burden.

There is one more big reason for Trump announcing his re-election now: The 2018 elections.

President Trump knows how big a disaster Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be. He has developed a good relationship with Speaker Paul Ryan, and he will go all out to help keep Republican control of the House.

President Trump also knows that a strong campaign for Republicans in 2018 will earn them six to ten Senate seats, while a weak strategy could result in no gain or only one or two new seats. President Trump knows that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has had a brutal time dealing with the 51-49 Republican majority in the Senate. Every victory remains a miracle. This is the year when the accident of geography puts a lot of Democrat seats in play. A Republican wave election would do the trick to ensure a long-lasting Republican majority.

This is where Brad Parscale really matters.

Parscale was the digital strategy genius of the 2016 campaign. He built the campaign’s huge Facebook system. He helped grow the enormous Twitter following. He was able to analyze, target, and track enormous amounts of data. Parscale’s targeted data system enabled the campaign to reach so many people that they routinely turned out thousands at Trump rallies with only a few days’ notice.

Bringing Parscale’s brilliance at implementation to bear in 2018 will make it a dramatically different year for Republicans. When combined with the enormous ground team Ronna McDaniel is creating at the Republican National Committee, 2018 has the potential to be a dramatically better year for Republicans than anyone in Washington currently expects.

This is why these were brilliant moves.

Your Friend,
Newt
Title: What if the Reps win the Midterms?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 04, 2018, 08:09:06 AM


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/sunday-review/what-if-republicans-win-the-midterms.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2018, 06:53:37 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/377083-flood-of-legislative-candidates-points-to-enthusiasm-in-both-parties?userid=188403
Title: WSJ: My wave of enthusiasm is bigger than your wave
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 07, 2018, 12:02:40 PM
Wave Jumpers
In Texas primaries, why did so many more Republicans vote than Democrats?
By James Freeman
March 7, 2018 11:40 a.m. ET


“Texas voting: 2018’s first primary points to liberal enthusiasm,” announces a Washington Post headline today. It’s an interesting interpretation of Tuesday’s results, which point most of all to conservative victory.

The Post wrote exactly the headline that many journalists had been expecting to write before the votes were counted in Texas. On Sunday, National Public Radio’s website noted signs of significant political change in the nation’s second most populous state. With a report entitled, “In Texas Primary, Early Signs Of A 2018 Democratic Surge,” the state-sponsored media reported:

    ...Democrats are already seeing reasons to be excited deep in the red, beating heart of Texas.

    The Lone Star State holds the nation’s first primary on Tuesday, and in the 11 days of early voting Democrats reached record levels in a midterm year. They surpassed GOP early voting turnout this year and their own party’s numbers during the same period in 2016, a presidential election year where voting numbers are typically much higher, and more than doubled their turnout from the last midterm election in 2014.

Larger turnout among Democrats than Republicans in Texas elections would certainly count as news. Would the early voting totals hold up? With almost all precincts having reported, the Post writes:

    Democratic voters showed up in force in Texas on Tuesday for the nation’s first primary of the year, providing fresh evidence that liberal enthusiasm could reshape even deeply Republican states come November.

    Turnout appeared to be up for both parties, but the Democrats showed the greatest growth. From Houston to the border with Mexico, they voted in numbers far greater than in 2014 primaries, motivated by a surplus of candidates, concern over one-party control of Washington and dissatisfaction with President Trump.

Following that preamble, the Post reports the results:

    Republicans continued to have a clear advantage in the state, with more Texans voting in their primary than in Democrats’.

But isn’t primary turnout a sign of enthusiasm and didn’t we just learn that the enthusiasm is occurring among liberals? While Post readers mull this over, the paper returns to the central theme:

    The turnout from the left in Texas follows a string of races around the country where Democrats have shown new enthusiasm for voting in nonpresidential years. Democrat Ralph Northam won the Virginia governor’s race in November, even though the Republican candidate, Ed Gillespie, received more votes than any GOP candidate for state office in Virginia’s history.

    Democrats have also been winning special state legislative elections around the country, in states including Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky that were once considered safe for Republicans. “WAKE UP CALL,” tweeted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in January, after a Democrat handily won a state legislative seat that Republicans won by 27 points in 2016.

The Post is right on target about the Virginia results. If the nation follows the voting patterns of the Old Dominion, a Democratic wave will wash away the Republican majorities in Congress. Republican members of Congress will be especially fearful of a political flood if their candidate loses a special election on Tuesday in a Pennsylvania district that Donald Trump won easily in 2016.

But it’s the voting patterns in Texas that are the subject of today’s news. And they do suggest an enthusiasm gap, but not the one that has fascinated so much of the press corps.

In the primaries for governor and U.S. senator in Texas, Democrats had a range of candidates competing in open races, while Republicans were going through the formality of endorsing their incumbents, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, who faced only modest opposition. Put simply, Democrats had more reason to show up and vote.

Yet for each of these two significant statewide offices, roughly 50% more Republicans than Democrats voted in their respective primaries. In each case, around 1.5 million Republicans voted, compared to about a million Democrats.

A Politico chart reports that while participation in Democratic primaries surged compared to several recent elections, fewer Democrats voted in this year’s primaries than in 1994. Meanwhile, on Tuesday GOP primary voting appears to have hit a new high—breaking the record set in the Tea Party year of 2010.

The much-discussed hypothetical “blue wave” may still come rolling in this November, but Tuesday’s results in Texas suggest that’s not the way to bet. 2018’s first primary points to conservative enthusiasm.
Title: TX Senate primary
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 08, 2018, 08:06:07 AM
https://gellerreport.com/2018/03/texas-cruz-democrat.html/
Title: Dems running on tax increases
Post by: G M on March 10, 2018, 09:50:16 AM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanellis/2018/03/09/democrats-release-tax-hike-plan/#52146aac7b9e

Their appeal may be more selective.
Title: Dems now running on gun control, tax increases and now this:
Post by: G M on March 10, 2018, 02:36:28 PM
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/03/10/democrats-decided-run-abolishing-ice/

It's a trifecta of brilliant ideas!
Title: former head of American Nazi Party
Post by: ccp on March 11, 2018, 05:34:59 AM
running in Illinois of course as a Republican:

https://pjmedia.com/election/theres-nazi-ballot-illinois-gop-let-happen/

Stated Holocaust claims are untrue and a "racket" 

This may be worse then David Duke.

How can we criticize the group of Blacks who are anti semitic or affiliated with anti semitics (Ellison, Obama, etc)
and not be front and center and throwing this guy out of the Republican Party?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on March 11, 2018, 06:33:20 AM
From what I understand, the seat is so gerrymandered as to be utterly unwinnable by any republicanism was left open for this assclown to run.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 11, 2018, 10:19:20 AM
My understanding that this nasty bigot has been universally denounced in the strongest terms by EVERYONE in the Rep party.

Is there a procedure for excommunicating someone from the party?  If there is, does this open the door for a perma-campaign by the pravdas and the progressives calling for excommunication for any and every one who does not meet progressive orthodoxy?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on March 12, 2018, 09:19:41 AM
My understanding that this nasty bigot has been universally denounced in the strongest terms by EVERYONE in the Rep party.

Is there a procedure for excommunicating someone from the party?  If there is, does this open the door for a perma-campaign by the pravdas and the progressives calling for excommunication for any and every one who does not meet progressive orthodoxy?

There isn't an official way to remove someone from saying they identify Republican; primaries and conventions are designed to sort that out.  We have a different problem in MN; a liberal law professor says he is R to run in a primary just stir up more than his share of trouble.

The bigot of this story is actually R.I.N.O., Republican In Name Only, so it is really other RINOs who need to disown him.  Kasich, McCain, Graham, Collins, Corker, Flake, any comment?

The party needs to recruit GOOD candidates in ALL jurisdictions, even the ones where they have no chance of winning.  Margin of victory matters and so does putting the message forward nationwide.   Trying to move a Dem district from 90-10 to 80-20 is very important even though we put all focus on swing districts.

The game of making Republicans disown bigots is in itself demeaning.  I would be more inclined to throw stupid questions back on the questioner. 
Title: Morris: Things looking good for Reps in Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 12, 2018, 02:19:56 PM
https://www.westernjournal.com/dick-morris-gop-poised-for-big-senate-win/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=deepsix&utm_content=2018-03-12&utm_campaign=can
Title: PA Congressional race sends a message to Democrats
Post by: DougMacG on March 14, 2018, 06:53:45 AM
Switch to a moderate conservative agenda and you can win elections. Blue collar Democrats vote Republican when the Democrat candidates go far left.  Or crooked.

In this case, the resigning pro-life R congressman was caught urging his mistress to get an abortion.  Hard to say what Republicans could do worse.

Democrat Conor Lamb...was pro-gun ownership, "personally pro-life," and he pledged not to back Nancy Pelosi for Speaker.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commentary-the-big-lesson-from-tuesdays-special-election/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 14, 2018, 09:00:58 AM
all the early signs are Trump IS NOT winning anyone other then his merry Trumpsters over.

I don't know.  The way he treated Tillerson......   Why make an enemy of someone HE asked to be his Sec of State like that?

Trump is a sick man .

Once he losses power he better not expect anyone to give a shit about him.

I mistakenly thought he would grow up some. 

I guarantee that if only he was a warrior gentleman (not a warrior pig) he would be at over 50% approval right now.
It is all about his character. 

But alas my opinion is just a breath in the wind.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 14, 2018, 09:45:27 AM
Well, Tillerson calling him a "moron" to a roomful of people at the Pentagon was not real tactful either, but your larger point remains.

I would add that Hillary was a candidate who should have been beaten by a good 15 points at least-- sold out national security for personal corruption, abandoned our men in Benghazi, criminal, etc etc etc but Trump managed to turn it into a cliff hanger that he won by drawing an inside straight at the last minute thanks to Kelly Ann Conway keeping him on point for two months and Comey's last minute re-investigation.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on March 14, 2018, 10:28:33 AM
Right.  We don't have Hillary on the ballot anymore.  As we have been saying for a long time, Republicans need to win with positive policies, actions and FAR better messaging.  Not the silence we hear out of Congress now or the noise we hear out of the White House.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 14, 2018, 11:04:31 AM
Fortunately at the presidential level the Dems have , , , pretty much no one serious.
Title: Newt: The latest wake-up call
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 14, 2018, 05:57:37 PM
second post

PA Special Election: The Latest Republican Wake-up Call
Originally published at Fox News.

It is time for Republicans nationwide to wake up to the very real threat of a Speaker Pelosi House this fall.

This wake-up call is also for President Trump and Vice President Pence.

Neither they, nor any other Republican, should underestimate how disastrous it will be for their policies and for the country to have a left-wing Democratic majority in the House.

Under Speaker Pelosi, there would be two years of investigations, fights over spending (to reduce defense and increase liberal dependency programs), efforts to undo Trump’s deregulation achievements, and attempts to make new bureaucracies.

Even though the special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District remains too close to call, the results are simply the latest in a series of special elections in which the Republicans have run well behind the 2016 presidential election results.

If the decline this fall is comparable to the drop in Pennsylvania, there will be a Democratic landslide.

However, none of this is inevitable. There is plenty of time to analyze what is going on, develop a strategy, and wage the fall campaign on terms favorable to Republicans.
However, the first steps are the hardest and the least understood.

First, Republicans must evaluate what went wrong in Pennsylvania. This was an easily winnable district. Our candidate is not that much weaker than the Democrat (remember, the first refuge of political consultants is to blame candidates). The biggest surprise to me was that the tax cut message was not more effective. This was doubly surprising, because the Democrat was clearly for repealing the tax cuts, and it did not seem to cost him votes. Obviously, the first big question to ask is what would have won it decisively?

Second, Republicans must understand that if a wave is building, money loses its power to solve problems. The Republicans outspent the Democrats in Pennsylvania by a huge margin. It made the race close, but it did not win it outright. If we allow a Democratic wave to build this fall, it will defeat marginal Republicans no matter how much they spend. I first saw how truly formidable a political wave can be in the 1964 election, and then again in 1974, 1980, 1994, 2006, and 2010.

Third, the only way to defeat a wave is by building a countervailing wave. Since the elite media is overwhelmingly anti-Republican and pro-Democrat, this is dramatically harder for Republicans to do. The Republican wave must be real. People must be able to sense that it is about something important which affects their lives. Republicans could combine the power of the presidency with the scheduling party of the majority to set up a series of fights for the summer which would define the fall election. There is no evidence yet of the GOP having this kind of strategic capability, but without it, there is very likely going to be a Democratic wave that captures the House and minimizes gains in the Senate.

Fourth, the GOP must expand its base. The tax cuts give Republicans an enormous opportunity to reach out to minority small business owners and others to build a much broader party. Base mobilization in the end will not win if the base becomes too narrow.

Fifth, President Trump must take some serious responsibility for the recent election results. If he continues to alienate people (especially women), no amount of policy effort will offset the decline in Republican enthusiasm and voting.

Right now, there is time to think through recent elections and design a summer and fall effort that keeps the Republican majority in the House.
With each passing week, this will get harder.   Now is the time to wake up and insist on some midcourse corrections.

Your Friend,
Newt
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 14, 2018, 06:40:49 PM
"Fifth, President Trump must take some serious responsibility for the recent election results. If he continues to alienate people (especially women), no amount of policy effort will offset the decline in Republican enthusiasm and voting."

no kidding

no chance he will ever take responsibility or change
he will simply continue to bash away the same talk

problem only maybe 40 to 45 % of the country is listening. 

Newt is right .  But there are simply no leaders who can rise to the occasion that I can see.

I am very cynical
The writing is on the wall.   But of course we have Jared.   Our secret weapon.
I am going to break my diet and have a drink.


Title: Reps: We can pick up five seats in the Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 15, 2018, 05:26:27 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/378517-senate-gop-we-will-grow-our-majority-in-midterms?userid=188403
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races strategy, tax cuts round two
Post by: DougMacG on March 28, 2018, 07:35:47 AM
Democrats falsely complain its unfair that corporate tax cuts were made permanent and those for the people were not.  That is because of their rules!  They claim to support cuts for individuals but not cuts that deep for corporations.

Secondly is the observation that Republicans have no agenda.  So make the individual tax rates permanent, even if it requires 60 votes in the Senate.

Republicans have 51 Senators, not all together on anything, and Democrats have 8-9 members in vulnerable seats up for reelection.  Put them on the hot seat.  If Dems take Washington, tax cuts get repealed.  Republicans need to take a vote to make tax rate cuts permanent.

They seem to be waiting on this to make it more timely to the election.

[We need a better agenda than this, but putting their opponents anti-taxpayer votes on record is a start.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/27/tax-cuts-gop-2018-midterms-482158

Tax cuts, Round 2: GOP looks to punish Democrats in 2018
Title: 6 months or so to 2018 Congressional races, Blue ripple calming
Post by: DougMacG on April 17, 2018, 07:40:27 AM
Rasmussen now has Trump approval at 51-48.  Their strongly approve, strongly disapprove margin has  shrunk to -4 with the potential to be neutral or better by election time.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_apr16

RCP average has him at about 42% where that needs to be at least mid-40s to break even on the midterms.

Latest generic ballot margin polls (ABC) are now at about Dem +4 where the breakeven point is thought to be at Dem +5.

Still to come are many developments before the election that could favor either side but I think mostly favoring Republicans:
1)  Tax cut benefits and gdp and wage growth to be noticed by voters by November.
2)  Significant agreement with North Korea is very possible.
3)  Real concessions on trade and theft coming from China.
4)  Competent and measured handling of foreign issues like Syria.
5)  Alliances are being re-built:  Today it is Abe of Japan in Mar a Lago, also Macron of France, Mae in Britain, Merkel in Germany. 
6)  Re-start of TPP written with US interests in mind as a counter to China, instead of written without us.
7)  Perhaps new concessions on NAFTA.
8)  Release of a Mueller report or interim report with no real collusion.
9)  A new Supreme Court vacancy and replacement debate could favor Republicans.
10) Last for now but perhaps first or second in political importance, the emergence of new and more affordable health care plans that were previously banned by Democrats and Obamacare.

Risks that favor Dems:
1)  The Cohen lawyer raid leads to implication of Trump in real, illegal acts beyond what he is already assumed to have committed.
2)  Economy underperforms with an escalating deficit.
3)  A foreign threat development emerges that makes US look bad or Trump look incompetent.
4)  Other new gaffe or scandal of epic proportion is always possible.

I see much greater potential for the former list than the latter, but history favors the out of power Dems in the mid-terms.  Quite a few things have to go very right for Republicans to hold the House in particular.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Paul Ryan is establishment?
Post by: DougMacG on April 18, 2018, 08:36:55 AM
Larry Elder made quite an impressive defense of Paul Ryan on his show yesterday.
http://www.larryelder.com/show-archive/
Not that all legislation has been great (cf. spending, deficits, lack of entitlement reform) but that Paul Ryan was not the problem.

Hugh Hewitt called Mitch McConnell the best Majority Leader of his lifetime this morning.  Same logic might apply here.  The problem wasn't McConnell, it was with the Flakier members of his caucus.  McConnell made Gorsuch possible, and probably tipped the balance of the Presidential election by inserting the Supreme Court balance into it.

Congress is quite a difficult and complicated organization to manage.  The main problem in Congress is that the the people do not have clear and consistent support for the limits of government. 
Title: Congressional vote this fall to make individual tax rate curts permanent
Post by: DougMacG on April 20, 2018, 09:00:09 AM
If the midterm elections were held today ...  Well, they aren't.  By Sept, Oct, Nov we should have good news about a growing economy and growing revenues.  Both Ryan and McConnell are ready to call the Democrats bluff and make them vote on tax cuts a second time coming into the elections.

They were made temporary in the first place only because of arcane budget rules.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/04/19/ryan-sure-lets-make-the-individual-and-family-tax-cuts-permanent-n2471836

Keep more of your own money AND grow the economy.  By fall, we will know if the claims were true.
Title: Senate races, MO
Post by: DougMacG on April 24, 2018, 07:11:47 PM
ccp, Any inside word on the gop mess in Missouri?
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/23/mccaskill-missouri-greitens-republicans-senate-545393
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 25, 2018, 12:27:31 PM
GOP won in AZ yesterday by 5 points in a district Trump carried by 20 , , ,
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 25, 2018, 01:57:49 PM
" ccp, Any inside word on the gop mess in Missouri?
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/23/mccaskill-missouri-greitens-republicans-senate-545393"

Hey Doug,

Actually this is the first I have heard of any of this.  :-o

I could email my nephew who is running Hawley's campaign but frankly I doubt I would get any substantive response.
He has never shared any inside stuff with me. Or even my sister other then vague general comments. like "yes " "no" " agree" "hope so"
etc.

I let you know if I do .  I don't even know if I should email him about this.  It sounds like he would already has had his hands full.  I will copy my sister though. 
It would be crime *if this* brings him down - for no fault of his own.  What is with this governor - another sleazy pol?  At least there is loads of time to put out this fire but I suppose it would help if the governor would get out of the way.  Do we even know it the allegations are true?


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 30, 2018, 01:35:05 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/29/democrats-midterm-election-blue-wave-fades-white-h/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=20171227&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=morning
Title: Kevin McCarthy
Post by: ccp on May 07, 2018, 10:01:54 AM
FWIW one of CD's unfavorite radio hosts , Savage, was saying he is the real deal and with Trump.   Levin's Liberty Score for him is only 36% .  I am not so sure.  Perhaps he is playing to Trump's base vying to be speaker and not really coming clean with his motives.  OTOH maybe this is really what he believes and he was being semi rhino prior.
  Regardless I find  this refreshing from someone who may be the  new speaker:

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/05/07/mccarthy-dems-want-to-capture-this-government-to-try-to-impeach-or-block-bills-or-raise-taxes/

Have we EVER heard anything like this from Ryan?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 07, 2018, 11:04:35 AM
Certainly hope so and all to the good.

I do remember him as saying something seriously stupid about Rep. Gowdy's Benghazi investigation that played right into Dem hands that it was politically motivated.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 07, 2018, 11:18:44 AM
" I do remember him as saying something seriously stupid about Rep. Gowdy's Benghazi investigation that played right into Dem hands "

Yes.  I remember that now.  In one off the cuff remark he basically undercut the entire Benghazi investigation.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 07, 2018, 12:09:25 PM
Certainly hope so and all to the good.

I do remember him as saying something seriously stupid about Rep. Gowdy's Benghazi investigation that played right into Dem hands that it was politically motivated.

Yes, it was McCarthy:
https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/politics/mccarthy-chaffetz-house-speaker/index.html

McCarthy's comments from earlier this week -- where he boasted that Clinton's "numbers are dropping" because of the work of the Benghazi committee -- became fodder for Democrats, who said it showed the panel was simply designed as a political witch hunt to target the Democratic frontrunner's record as secretary of state.
Title: Discharge petition for immigration bills
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 10, 2018, 08:33:03 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/387033-tensions-on-immigration-erupt-in-the-house-gop?userid=188403
Title: Polling gap narrowing considerably
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 10, 2018, 10:03:30 AM
second post

http://polling.reuters.com/#!response/TM1212Y17/type/smallest/filters/PD1:1/dates/20180101-20180509/collapsed/true
Title: Re: Polling gap narrowing considerably
Post by: DougMacG on May 10, 2018, 11:52:18 AM
http://polling.reuters.com/#!response/TM1212Y17/type/smallest/filters/PD1:1/dates/20180101-20180509/collapsed/true

Blue wave gone?  What about Stormy?  The oligarch?

R's can be down at least 5% in these polls and still hold the House.  The midterm election result will not be determined by a national popular vote.  In the Senate, some conservative states are key.  At this point R's might gain in the Senate.

It's a big deal that Republicans closed the gap - mostly by letting the other side speak.  But the don't know/refuse to answer is greater than the margin and the margin of error combined.  Which side refuses to answer?  Or are these the people who don't vote anyway?

Much yet to happen between now and Nov. but Republicans actually have a great opportunity.

A damning Mueller report?  I would not be surprised to see something big and good happen with N. Korea.   The other accomplishments mentioned lately give conservatives a reason to come out.  The economic numbers I expect to be very good.  Good enough that people see it and feel it and win the tax cut debate.  Congress will take another vote on tax cuts in Sept-Oct to make the (mostly) middle class individual cuts permanent.  The Heidi Heitkamps, Joe Manchins and Donellys of the election will be put on the spot.  And Republicans need to do something positive to open up healthcare plans before the election.  Another Supreme Court confirmation fight during this time?  I think that favors Republicans and conservatives.  And then you have the Kanyes and the Candace Owens of the political spectrum coming out.  He is influential and she is extremely sharp and charismatic. 

I would not bet a penny on Democrats in spite of all we've been hearing.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 10, 2018, 09:46:15 PM
Word is that Horowitz's Inspector General report is going to be pretty damning too , , ,
Title: Pence handling things
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 14, 2018, 11:12:51 AM
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/pence-trump-midterms.html?nl=top-stories&nlid=49641193ries&ref=cta
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 14, 2018, 05:24:05 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/387664-trump-to-press-gop-on-changing-senate-rules?userid=188403
Title: Congress: Will Democrats take the House of Representatives?
Post by: DougMacG on May 18, 2018, 01:25:30 PM
Interesting analysis from Hoover Institution at the link.  First I would add that Republicans are now leading in key Senate races.

My take on the House is that the Republicans' breakeven point is somewhere between 5 and 9% down on the generic ballot polling.  It is skewed slightly by polling error and by the makeup of the districts.  The concentration of Dems in Pelosi's or Maxine Waters' district for example doesn't tell us anything about swing districts.

The author has the latest generic polling at -9%.  Other polls since have it more like -3%.  At -9, the R's lose ground and probably lose the House.  At -3, they will hold on. (My take.)  At -10 or more, it is a blue wave.

Trump's approval needs a translation of similar adjustment.  His breakeven point isn't 50% but it certainly needs to be at least equal and perhaps slightly better than now to hold the House.

I'm surprised at what low importance they put on the economy.  That is partly because of other issues, like war and peace, and scandals come forward.  Many unknowns on war, peace and scandal (in Nov.) at this point.

I would add one more curve ball for this year, where are we on Health care costs at election time?  Did R' make it better or make it worse, and who wins that argument?
-----------------------
https://www.hoover.org/research/will-democrats-take-over-house
Title: Re: Congress: Will Democrats take the House, polling in May 2018
Post by: DougMacG on May 20, 2018, 09:42:47 AM
Update to previous post where author saw latest generic ballot polling at Dems +9, Real Clear Politics now shows Dems at +4 which could mean close to zero seat gain for Dems in the House.

RCP Average   4/25 - 5/15   --   44.2   40.2   Democrats +4.0
Economist/YouGov   5/13 - 5/15   1231 RV   42   37   Democrats +5
Reuters/Ipsos   5/11 - 5/15   1290 RV   38   37   Democrats +1
Rasmussen Reports   5/6 - 5/10   2500 LV   46   40   Democrats +6
CNN   5/2 - 5/5   901 RV   47   44   Democrats +3
Pew Research   4/25 - 5/1   1221 RV   48   43   Democrats +5

Meaningless because there are 6 months to go and that individual seats aren't won with generic votes, but as things stand now this is not a "blue wave".

RCP also shows R's leading to take 3 Dem Senate seats, WV, Indiana and FL, and holding in their closest seat (NV) within the margin of error.  Plus a possible pickup of Heitkamp seat in North Dakota, not in their polling. 

It is not a 'blue wave' election if Republicans gain 4 seats in the US Senate.

Title: Congressional races, Republicans lead in latest Reuters generic poll
Post by: DougMacG on May 21, 2018, 01:40:40 PM
I have no intention of following untimely polls one by one, but a 16 point move in a few weeks time is remarkable:
http://polling.reuters.com/#!response/TM1212Y17/type/week/filters/PD1:1/dates/20170601-20180523/collapsed/true
Republicans and Democrats tied - with young voters!

Maybe now they will tell us how unreliable early polling can be.
Title: 52d District of CA
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 25, 2018, 08:05:27 AM
https://clarionproject.org/we-found-a-candidate-that-gets-it/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 27, 2018, 11:46:10 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/389451-dem-money-floods-calif-primaries-to-avert-electoral-disaster?userid=188403
Title: 3 Dems tout bipartisan bank bill
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 28, 2018, 02:17:18 PM
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/389463-spurning-left-centrist-dems-tout-bank-law-for-midterms?userid=188403
Title: Pray for Pelosi
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 29, 2018, 10:40:51 AM
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/pray-for-the-health-of-san-fran-nan-pelosi-to-keep-the-house-gop/
Title: Greitens resigns in Missouri
Post by: ccp on May 30, 2018, 04:17:58 AM
We will see what happens now:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article212114314.html
Title: Prison reform bill in Senate?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 30, 2018, 06:35:26 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/389801-senate-grapples-with-prison-reform-bill?userid=188403
Title: McConnel shortens August recess
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 05, 2018, 10:53:24 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/390784-mcconnell-cancels-senates-august-recess?userid=188403
Title: Re: McConnel shortens August recess
Post by: DougMacG on June 05, 2018, 02:57:12 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/390784-mcconnell-cancels-senates-august-recess?userid=188403

Good.  They need a more recent accomplishment or two.  Health care market expansion.  Make individual tax rate cuts permanent.  Maybe they have a supreme Court confirmation planned. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 05, 2018, 06:40:56 PM
More judicial confirmations!!!
Title: Pelosi embraces Pay-Go
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 06, 2018, 07:51:03 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/390898-dem-leaders-embrace-pay-go?userid=188403
Title: US Congress; Congressional races, New Jersey Senate
Post by: DougMacG on June 06, 2018, 01:04:12 PM
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/sen-bob-menendezs-poor-primary-showing-creates-a-new-headache-for-democrats-in-new-jersey.html
Title: US Senate: Club for Growth primary win in Montana, Matt Rosendale
Post by: DougMacG on June 08, 2018, 08:44:44 AM
I think this bodes well for the general election and for governing if he wins.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/06/07/club_for_growth_notches_another_win_137218.html

Combined R vote:  155,000
Incumbent uncontested Tester (D) vote 113,000
Big Blue wave might miss crucial Montana US Senate seat
Title: Sanford defeated for TDS
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 13, 2018, 09:07:22 AM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/391858-sanford-defeated-in-primary-defined-by-support-for-trump?userid=188403
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Blue wave?
Post by: DougMacG on June 18, 2018, 09:05:21 AM
Republicans in the House are defending nine seats in Democrat PVI (partisan voting index) districts, 23 in districts HRC won but most of those were by margins less than her national vote. 

In other words, Republicans are far less exposed than parties were in other wave elections such as 1994 and 2006.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/05/31/what_if_2006_model_isnt_enough_for_democrats_137159.html

[Meanwhile R's lead in several key Senate races - look like they will hold the White house for at least another 2 years.]

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Minnesota's 8th District
Post by: DougMacG on June 19, 2018, 09:24:47 AM
Trump heads to Duluth MN for a rally tomorrow.

Home of the only state Ronald Reagan never won, Trump lost MN by less than the vote margin of states Hillary and Jill Stein were re-counting.

Dems are counting the seats they need to flip to take the House.  Yes there are enough seats in play, but remember it is only the net-flip that counts.   For every seat R's take from D's, the Dem take the House map gets harder.

In MN, R's have the opportunity to flip two seats the other way.

In the 8th District the incumbent D is not running for reelection.  The Dems were divided, did not endorse in the convention.  Republicans have a solid candidate and the politics out-state have changed since friends my age grew up on the North Shore (f Lake Superior) and on the Iron Range.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/government-and-politics/4440848-support-builds-stauber-some-iron-range-favor-republican-nominee
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/05/05/republicans-endorse-stauber-8th-district/

Waves have amplitude and direction.  It's not a wave if some seats flip one way and others flip the other way.

Stir up a little trouble and give to Pete Stauber's campaign.  )
https://petestauberforcongress.com/
https://secure.stauberforcongress.com/donate
 
https://www.buzzfeed.com/henrygomez/minnesota-is-the-biggest-battleground-of-the-midterms-and?utm_term=.orq46PPa0N#.diN3xood5V
Title: Millenial Sandernista beats Crowley in NY primary
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 26, 2018, 07:16:42 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/394318-crowley-loses-in-new-york-dem-primary?userid=188403
Title: Congressional races, 9 point swing with 'white' millenials since 2016
Post by: DougMacG on July 06, 2018, 08:03:00 AM
This is big, if true.
https://pjmedia.com/election/white-millennials-are-leaving-the-democratic-party-as-walk-away-campaign-picks-up-steam/

"39 percent said that "if the election for U.S. Congress were held today," they would vote for the Republican in the district where they live. Another 39 percent said they would vote for the Democrat.

This represented a nine-point shift away from Democrats since 2016. That year, only 33 percent of young white voters said they would elect a Republican to Congress, while 47 percent said they would choose a Democrat."

  - I'm not sure how they measure 9 point swing but this if true is the start of something big.
Title: The US Congress; 10 Senate races just merged with the Supreme Court fight
Post by: DougMacG on July 10, 2018, 07:49:04 AM
10 Democratic Senators are running for reelection in states that Trump won.  (Why?)

In 2016, Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly, Pres. Obama nominated a qualified moderate to try to entice the Republican Senate to confirm, but Sen. McConnell and the normally spineless, risk averse Republicans instead chose to push the Supreme Court question into the Presidential election.  Why?  Because these questions favor our side.  It's hard to tell by their other votes sometimes and positions on issues but people still want the constitution upheld.

Now we face a very similar situation.  Timing-wise, this election and this confirmation have now just merged.

If you are Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly, Bill Nelson, Claire McCaskill, Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey,  Debbie Stabenow, you have a choice to make.  Support the principles of your party or the principles of your constituents in your state.

The two Republicans considered iffy on confirmation, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are not up for reelection.  Additionally, Rand Paul may oppose Kavanaugh on NSA privacy issues.  If any or all of these R's defect, that puts even more pressure on the 'red state' Democrats up for reelection.

For the vulnerable Dems, if they oppose the President they blow the whole story they bring to the electorate about their independence from their unpopular party and Trump and their Republican opponents will be energized.  If they succeed in defeating this nominee, there will not be time to run a new nomination through before the election and they could lose their seat and Trump and the new Senate could put the same great nominee through again - with ease.  In other words, nothing accomplished for Heitkamp et al.  There will probably never be a Dem Senator again from North Dakota is she screws this up, and consequences and effects in the other states as well.

To this discussion I would add so called blue states like MN where Trump lost by only one point and his popularity has risen since then, we have both Dem Senators up for reelection.  Trump won 5 out of 8 congressional districts in MN and 78 out of 87 counties.  These two Senators will vote no reflexively and will win anyway, but their support for only representing only roughly half of their constituents will be fully exposed.
Title: 2018 Real Clear Poliicis
Post by: ccp on July 24, 2018, 06:31:23 PM
Senate:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/2018_elections_senate_map.html

House:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/house/2018_elections_house_map.html

Governorships:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/governor/2018_elections_governor_map.html
Title: Congress; Congressional races, Claire McCaskill, swamp creature
Post by: DougMacG on July 25, 2018, 09:05:05 AM
http://abcstlouis.com/news/local/companies-tied-to-mccaskills-husband-reaped-131-million-in-federal-money-since-2007
Title: Censored by Facehugger
Post by: G M on August 07, 2018, 06:13:00 AM
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/08/vdh-for-elizabeth-heng.php

Title: 2018 Congressional races, Republicans narrowly hold Ohio 12
Post by: DougMacG on August 08, 2018, 05:37:55 AM
If the election were held today, and it isn't, Democrats would take the house and Republicans would gain a few seats in the senate.

The party out of power averages of 30 seat gain in 18 of the last 20 midterm elections. Democrats are getting better turnout this year, but they don't have enough Democrats in North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and other states..

The number of Americans who say we are headed in the right direction is at a 12-year High, doubled since Obama, above 50% for the first time since 2005.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/ibd-tipp-poll-optimism/

Black and Hispanic unemployment rates at record lows. Doubling of the economic growth rate. Millions coming back off of food stamps and disability. There is plenty of message available. There's plenty more to be done. A Nancy Pelosi house will begin to dismantle all the gains.

A certain president said it's easy to be presidential. It's time to get some focus and give it a try.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 08, 2018, 07:47:50 AM
IBD TIPP has Republicans pulling even with Democrats.
Millennials in particular have record optimism.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/ibd-tipp-poll-optimism/

Rasmussen says 50% now give Trump credit for the improved economy while 40% give Obama credit for the Trump economy.

It was the policy change arrow that turned around the economy and those policies were all opposed by the Pelosi Democrats. Trump and the Republicans have less than 3 months to convert facts into people walking into a voting booth and pulling the lever R.

There are a whole bunch of people and groups including Democrats that know that Democrat economic policies are bad for the economy. Converting those into admitted, voting Republicans no one seems to know how to do.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 08, 2018, 08:15:20 AM
"while 40% give Obama credit for the Trump economy."

And that 40 % is , like a dead sperm, immotile .

That number will NEVER be breached.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 08, 2018, 12:52:54 PM
" 40% give Obama credit for the Trump economy."

And that 40 % is , like a dead sperm, immotile .

That number will NEVER be breached.

That's right. The problem is that the portion that cannot be moved even with convincing facts includes the media and academia. We will always be swimming against the current even when the facts are this obvious.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 08, 2018, 02:04:33 PM
"The problem is that the portion that cannot be moved even with convincing facts includes the media and academia"

Yup

The only direction they move is Left .

The only outlets we have is Fox and Radio and just a few others like Michael Goodwin of the NY Post .

And if the LEFT had it's way they would shut those outlets down to.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 08, 2018, 02:21:31 PM
Which is why FOX is #1.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 08, 2018, 02:40:16 PM
Looking closer at Ohio 12:
Did keep bragging how close they come in Republican District but they have been running candidates that don't agree with their national platform and refuse to support their leader for speaker. Trickery did not win them this seat, nor would honesty.
Title: I thought congessmen
Post by: ccp on August 11, 2018, 05:16:36 PM
were somehow protected from insider trading?

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/11/62-must-win-gop-held-seats-after-indictment-of-chris-collins/

Title: Dick Morris : GOp will keep House
Post by: ccp on August 12, 2018, 06:42:43 AM
https://www.westernjournal.com/dick-morris-district-by-district-gop-changes-in-house-races/

of course he is the guy who predicted Romney would win................. :|
Title: Dems vow rules overhaul if they win the House
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 02, 2018, 05:46:04 AM
I confess I'm not sure what to make of these ideas:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/403531-dems-vow-rules-overhaul-empower-members-if-house-flips
Title: except for age Jon Kyl may be best
Post by: ccp on September 04, 2018, 06:28:43 PM
https://www.spartareport.com/2018/09/scotus-sherpa-jon-kyl-replace-john-mccain/
Title: Re: except for age Jon Kyl may be best
Post by: DougMacG on September 05, 2018, 07:42:38 AM
https://www.spartareport.com/2018/09/scotus-sherpa-jon-kyl-replace-john-mccain/

John Kyl is the best pick to replace McCain at this time. We need a supreme court nominee confirmed, we need a budget and some other legislation and we need  to win the other Arizona Senate seat  this year . We are lucky to have Doug Ducey as governor of Arizona to make this pick and he needs to win his own election. Too bad Kyl won't run for reelection, but if he resigns after this session Ducey can appoint someone else such as Kelli Ward to serve and then run as an incumbent.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 11, 2018, 02:37:30 PM
anyone else getting texts from Newt and Karl Rove for fundraising ?

not clear if these are real or frauds.
Title: don't necessarily believe this
Post by: ccp on September 12, 2018, 05:01:37 AM
but also foolish to ignore:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/406204-poll-dems-lead-gop-by-14-points-on-generic-house-ballot

If true the only explanation I can think of is Trump feeding into the MSM and the frenzy to get him.

It is very hard to keep my spirits up day after day of the bashing and the Trump tweets.
Title: Congressional races and the deficit
Post by: DougMacG on September 12, 2018, 08:12:44 AM
With peace and prosperity abound, Trump and the Republicans biggest vulnerability coming in to the midterm election is the deficit.

These expanding deficits were planned and forecasted in the Obama budgets. If Trump and the Republicans had made real Cuts, Democrats and the media would have screamed bloody murder.

Revenues are up and we know deficits are caused by excess spending. As Democrats attack, they will put the blame on tax rates but the problem again is spending.

Who wants real spending reform? Judging from what we see all around us, the answer is no one. No one but me and very few others who could never get elected on that platform.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 12, 2018, 03:44:57 PM
A lot of real people are really worried about losing pre-existing coverage protection. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on September 12, 2018, 11:28:05 PM
A lot of real people are really worried about losing pre-existing coverage protection. 

Yes, everyone getting free sh*t taken at gunpoint from others will always worry about such things.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 13, 2018, 07:49:43 AM
Crafty:  "A lot of real people are really worried about losing pre-existing coverage protection."

G M:  "Yes, everyone getting free sh*t taken at gunpoint from others will always worry about such things."
------
Right on both counts, how do you balance these two conflicting points?

We can't ever balance the budget and have free healthcare for all. And we don't have a governing majority that believes in a purely limited government that has no involvement in healthcare. That horse left the barn.

If you have no pre-existing conditions penalty then you have no insurance. If all people wait until they're sick to buy coverage, it is only a cost-shifting plan, 'free sh*t', not insurance. There are Republican plans that require a penalty. Putting a work requirement for all able minded and able-bodied people on  all the other programs will also alleviate the burden.

Republican candidates need a bumper sticker size answer to this that balances compassion with limited government and fiscal responsibility. Good luck with that. For Democrats it's easy, just keep saying that Republicans are greedy and cruel.

On the point that the deficit is now a Republican vulnerability, two points can be made:  Democrats will make it worse, and raising leconomic growth makes fewer people dependent on the government in the long-term. Stay the course of economic growth for all.
Title: US Congressional races, Appointed MN Senator Tina Smith
Post by: DougMacG on September 13, 2018, 08:09:35 AM
Flying under the radar, someone should point out this race to fill Al franken's vacated seat.

Tina Smith is rated two places to the left of Bernie Sanders* in a state where Hillary defeated Trump by 1%. Tina Smith's work background was to increase the numbers and profitability of abortions for Planned Parenthood in the region, I kid you not. And she succeeded! She was the closest advisor to Governor Mark Dayton as he made the decision to fill the seat  -  by appointing her. That backfired some time ago when a very popular Minnesota governor resigned to appoint himself to the Senate seat vacated by Walter Mondale moving to the vice presidency.
 * https://progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=senate

Tina Smith is being challenged by an excellent candidate in Karin Housley who like all Minnesota Republicans is having a hard time getting her name and message out. Please help her and spread the word.
https://www.housleyforsenate.com

Likewise for defeating Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, a far-left senator in a state that Trump won. Support Leah Vukmir if you don't want the US to go down the path of Venezuela.
https://leahvukmir.com
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 13, 2018, 01:43:58 PM
Thanks for these two.  Will donate later today.

Anyone have URL for Mia Love in UT or NV?

Also, I'm getting all these emails to the effect of "Donate today and we will triple/quadruple/quintuple your donation".  Fact or fiction?
 

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 14, 2018, 06:01:20 AM
Thanks for these two.  Will donate later today.

Anyone have URL for Mia Love in UT or NV?

Also, I'm getting all these emails to the effect of "Donate today and we will triple/quadruple/quintuple your donation".  Fact or fiction?

https://love4utah.com

My best guess is to stay away from the ads and the telemarketers and send money directly to the campaign avoiding the commissions and the costs of the promoters and middle men..
Title: Bringing back Jimmy Carter
Post by: ccp on September 14, 2018, 07:59:38 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-wouldn-apos-t-104103678.html

I cannot think of anything more this country needs then to bring back the policies of James EARL Carter (screaming sarcasm  :roll:)

The LEFT of course thinks that those who are to0 young to know are THAT stupid.  Sadly some certainly are.
Title: Its the same every year more debt vs more taxes but always more spending
Post by: ccp on September 15, 2018, 01:38:35 PM
Miraculously they reach a deal to keep the gov open, as they always do.  Agree to outspend more then before and either raises taxes when the Dems are in power or simply raise the debt when the Rebuplicans are in power:

https://www.spartareport.com/2018/09/lawmakers-reach-deal-to-avoid-shutdown-drama-before-midterms/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 16, 2018, 06:49:44 AM
How Republicans Could Still Win
A forthcoming poll suggests ways they can persuade voters in swing districts.
745 Comments
By Kimberley A. Strassel
Sept. 13, 2018 6:58 p.m. ET
Primary election voters at a polling station inside Boston City Hall, Sept. 4.
Primary election voters at a polling station inside Boston City Hall, Sept. 4. Photo: cj gunther/epa-efe/rex/shutterst/EPA/Shutterstock

This was a week of gloomy midterm polls for the Republican Party, with a wave of results projecting a Democratic takeover of the House and maybe even the Senate. But not all polls are created equal. If Republicans bother to read just one, it should be a yet-unreleased survey that tells a more nuanced story.

The data come courtesy of the Club for Growth, a conservative outfit that plays to win. The club’s donors expect it to place smart bets in elections, which it can’t do if it relies on feel-good data. It uses WPAi, the data firm that in 2016 found Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson really did have a shot at re-election, then crafted the messages that got him the money and votes for victory.

WPAi just handed the club in-depth polling of the people who matter most this midterm—1,000 likely voters in 41 competitive House districts. The results are quietly making their way to Republican leaders, and the club agreed to give me an advance look. Bottom line: Many of these races are winnable—if Republicans have the courage of their convictions and get smarter in tailoring their messages to voters.

On the surface, the results mirror other recent polls. President Trump has a net-negative approval rating across these districts, with his unfavorable ratings notably high among women (57%), independents (58%) and suburban voters (52%). Those who answered prefer a Democratic Congress that will check Mr. Trump (48%) to electing Republicans who will pass his agenda more quickly (42%). The biggest alarm bell is the 12-point enthusiasm gap—with 72% of Democrats “very interested” in this election, compared with 60% of Republicans. In suburbia, the 12-point gap widens to 24.

Yet this thundercloud has silver linings. One is that Republicans still hold a 3-point lead on the generic ballot in these districts, meaning they have a real chance if they get their likely voters out. An even bigger opening: Approximately 25% of those polled remain “persuadable” to vote Republican—if they hear the right things.

The difficulty is that different voters want to hear different things. Republicans have been touting their tax cuts and the economy, and they should. But the club’s data make clear that uncommitted voters want more than past achievements, or a scary picture of Nancy Pelosi, or excuses for Mr. Trump. They want promises for the future. And yes, they remain wary that Democrats will reverse particular economic reforms.

Which is why the message that resonates most strongly by far with persuadable voters is a Republican promise that they will make permanent last year’s middle-class tax cuts. Rep. Kevin Brady, the Ways and Means Committee chairman, has introduced legislation to do just that—and it’s mind-boggling that Republicans haven’t already scheduled votes. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t have 60 Senate supporters, but Republican candidates could use Democratic “no” positions to huge effect in their races.

Likewise, Republicans have an opportunity in highlighting the left’s more doolally ideas. Uncommitted voters reacted strongly against Democrats’ calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and strongly in favor of GOP promises to defund “sanctuary” cities and states, which refuse to follow immigration law. These were top messages for those crucial suburban voters, who have watched in alarm as urban violence creeps into their neighborhoods. (Interestingly, the other top suburban message was repealing ObamaCare.)

As for the Republican base, the poll finds they are driven most by Democrats’ threats to the presidency, the economy and constitutional rights. They will be inspired by Republicans who promise to protect the Second Amendment. They are likewise stirred by promises to defend Mr. Trump from the partisan impeachment effort that would inevitably accompany Democratic House control. And they want to hear Republicans vow to guard against intrusive and specific Democratic job-killing proposals—a $15-an-hour minimum wage, regulations on autos and drinking straws, government health care, etc.

What muddies all this clear direction is Mr. Trump’s nationalization of the race—his insistence on making it a referendum on his presidency. Polling suggests the Trump rallies and election talk are a double-edged sword. They turn off voters in the suburbs, where Republicans are already behind in enthusiasm. But they drive votes in rural areas, which react most strongly to impeachment threats.

So the trick for Republicans is to target different microcosms of their districts, tailoring their messages via digital marketing, calls, mailings and events. Some issues, like taxes, resonate everywhere, but for the most part the emphasis and message needs to be entirely different depending on block-by-block geography.

That’s doable, though it breaks with the usual mentality that elections are one thing or another—a positive or a negative campaign, a referendum or a choice. Elections during the Trump presidency, like the presidency itself, will be messy. Republicans who are willing to embrace that mess still have a shot.
Title: Hope Morris is right!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 18, 2018, 09:24:40 AM
http://www.dickmorris.com/gop-on-track-for-4-5-seat-senate-majority-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
Title: Censure Feinstein!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 21, 2018, 10:00:51 AM


https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/kavanaugh-hearings-dianne-feinstein-senate-should-censure/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 23, 2018, 09:05:06 AM
I emailed my sister and nephew to ask about what they thought about Newt's plan .

The response was they are "already" on same page as Trump and they need to also focus on local politics
My nephew was not at the recent Trump rally in Missouri - and did not even meet Trump

He is behind the scenes. 
On record is the statement he will meet him when Josh kicks out McCaskill  - my fingers and toes are crossed.
Title: Congressional races, McCaskill slips on Kavanaugh opposition
Post by: DougMacG on September 30, 2018, 05:20:31 AM
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59015f4b37c581b2ce01e5b3/t/5baf9aecec212d33699b7e51/1538235118297/MOScout+Weekly+Poll-+Statewide+9.29.pdf
Title: Dem enthusiasm evaporates
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 03, 2018, 02:01:53 PM
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/03/654015874/poll-amid-kavanaugh-confirmation-battle-democratic-enthusiasm-edge-evaporates
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 03, 2018, 02:11:01 PM
I would give anything to see the look on the ugly faces of Dem Party operatives  of CNN MSNBC etc if Repubs keep House and Senate as well as never Trumpers like Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace et al
Title: Re: Dem enthusiasm evaporates
Post by: DougMacG on October 04, 2018, 04:14:26 AM
Good coverage by James Freeman.

"Net operating income dropped 27% between 2014, the year before Trump announced his run for president, and 2017, his first year in the White House. When the real estate mogul descended the escalator to launch his campaign,"

This is a good bumper sticker answer to those who think he's just running the presidency to profit his business.

Strange that he did not release his private tax returns yet they are printed in the newspaper. Looks to me like a crime was committed in plain view. Who is covering that?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2018, 06:12:13 AM
"Strange that he did not release his private tax returns yet they are printed in the newspaper. Looks to me like a crime was committed in plain view. Who is covering that?"


 follow the money
 
Title: California continues it's march to total Leftism
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2018, 03:55:11 PM
Thanks to Rinos including the Bushes this is what the rest of America will like in 15 yrs:

https://www.breitbart.com/california/2018/10/04/poll-republicans-in-trouble-in-several-u-s-house-districts-in-california/
Title: Obama accolite for Senate
Post by: ccp on October 08, 2018, 06:22:52 AM
in Main:

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2018/10/08/icymi-susan-rice-challenged-susan-collinss-seat-n2526053

only a smidgen worse then Collins anyway.
Title: Re: Obama accolite for Senate
Post by: DougMacG on October 08, 2018, 08:19:31 AM
in Maine:

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2018/10/08/icymi-susan-rice-challenged-susan-collinss-seat-n2526053

only a smidgen worse then Collins anyway.

An important 'smidgen' worse, like balance of the Senate and composition of the Supreme Court.

Susan Rice was born in Washington DC, raised in New York, went to college in California and lives now in Washington DC? Net worth of 50 million. Has of family summer home in Maine.

Somehow I doubt Maine voters look the other way on residency and I doubt she is more politically palatable then Susan Collins who won with 70% of the vote last time.

She is less entitled to this senate seat then Hillary was the presidency. An elected officials sometimes have a distorted vision of their own popularity, confusing power with legitimacy.

What is she going to do, run as a moderate who supports lying to the American people on foreign policy and accusing good men of being rapists?
Title: she come through on the Kavanaugh vote
Post by: ccp on October 08, 2018, 08:46:05 AM
but "JUST BARELY".........

look at her liberty score .  Most Democrats vote more to the right .  She is not a Republican .

https://www.conservativereview.com/scorecard/

we need a real conservative in there in Maine
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 08, 2018, 01:38:31 PM
Please post that URL in the Way Forward for the American Creed thread too.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 11, 2018, 11:11:59 AM
How does it look for Congressman Nunes for November?
Title: Re: Congressional races, Iron Range MN. Stick this in your blue wave.
Post by: DougMacG on October 15, 2018, 07:23:02 AM
When they do the red blue maps by county and the coasts are all blue and 'flyover' country is all red with so few exceptions but one of those glaring exceptions is Minnesota's 8th district Democrat all but one term since 1947 - until now.  Democrats want to ban [mining] jobs in the district.  Republican Pete Stauber now leads by 15.

Trump won 78 of 87 counties in MN and is far more popular now than then.



Title: "how does it look for Nunes this Nov?
Post by: ccp on October 15, 2018, 10:29:36 AM
Good ; looks safe:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/house/ca/california_22nd_district_nunes_vs_janz-6658.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 15, 2018, 12:18:21 PM
Good!
Title: Grassley nicely tells Leaky Dianne to FO
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 15, 2018, 10:11:25 PM


https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-10-15%20Grassley%20to%20Feinstein%20-%20Nominations%20Hearing%20Schedule.pdf
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 16, 2018, 11:38:52 AM
How is Mia Love doing in Utah?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 17, 2018, 02:53:22 PM
How is Mia Love doing in Utah?

Up a few points, still considered a tossup.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/house/ut/utah_4th_district_love_vs_mcadams-6285.html

I gave money to House and Senate candidates today. Getting close to the last chance to try to make a difference.

To everyone in a position to make a difference, please consider giving to key races where you can make the most impact.  If you're thinking about doing it at all, do it now.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 17, 2018, 03:16:53 PM
I've donated to her twice.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 17, 2018, 03:42:02 PM
I've donated to her twice.

Thumbs up.  Nice work!  Utah's least conservative congressional district.  It looks like she will win narrowly.  We'll see.

Meet Mia Love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BM_B0PTvM
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 17, 2018, 04:51:20 PM
donated to Hawley twice in Missouri and to RNC yesterday
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 17, 2018, 07:00:29 PM
Besides Mia Love, I've donated 2x to Cruz, to CA Gov candidate Cox, CA Congressman Tom McClintock, and Heller in AZ.
Title: US Congressional races, contribute now or let George Soros decide races for you
Post by: DougMacG on October 18, 2018, 08:30:56 AM
Besides Mia Love, I've donated 2x to Cruz, to CA Gov candidate Cox, CA Congressman Tom McClintock, and Heller in AZ.

Heller in NV.
https://www.deanheller.com/

My congressman is in a heated fight in rich, south and west suburbs of Minneapolis.  Moderate Republican, Ways and Means, Chair of the Joint Economic committee being painted as a Trump 'extremist' in a district that swung left to Obama twice.
https://paulsenforcongress.com/donate/

Karin Housley, Republican running for Al Franken's seat:
https://secure.housleyforsenate.com/list/proc/donation1/?InitiativeKey=WXU0GVEAOMZB

Matt Rosendale for US Senate Montana:
https://www.mattformontana.com/

Morrisey, WV
https://patrickmorrisey.com/home/

John James, Michigan.  Upset Debbie Stabinow
https://johnjamesforsenate.com/

Mike Braun, Indiana
https://www.mikebraunforindiana.com/

Bob Hugin challenging corrupt Menendez in NJ:
https://bobhugin.com/

Josh Hawley, Missouri
https://joshhawley.com/

More House seats:

MN2 Jason Lewis - R, toss up
https://www.jasonformn.com/

Danny Tarkanian, NV3 tossup
https://dannytarkanian.com/

Maria Salazar (vs Donna Shalala)
https://mariaelvira.com/

Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA47   Tied
http://www.rohrabacher.com/

Iowa-3, David Young, Tossup
https://www.davidyoungforiowa.com/
Title: Dem Tax Hike Plan
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 19, 2018, 12:23:53 PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanellis/2018/03/09/democrats-release-tax-hike-plan/#53b39cc97b9e
Title: Reps press ahead on court picks
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 19, 2018, 03:06:19 PM
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/412145-gop-plays-hardball-in-race-to-confirm-trumps-court-picks?userid=188403
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 19, 2018, 06:22:02 PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanellis/2018/03/09/democrats-release-tax-hike-plan/#53b39cc97b9e

presumably it wouldn't pass the Senate and Trump would veto anyway

That said I would not be a market bull if the Dems take the House '18.

If they get power in '20 the market will crash as well as the economy
Title: Caution: CNBC poll
Post by: ccp on October 21, 2018, 08:15:41 AM
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/mixed-signals-for-democrat-blue-wave-in-november-cnbc-survey-says.html?recirc=taboolainternal
Title: Congressional races, GOP has biggest lead on Economy in NBC poll’s history
Post by: DougMacG on October 22, 2018, 07:32:38 AM
An NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey of 900 registered voters conducted [late August] asked which party would do a better job dealing with the economy. Forty-three percent of respondents picked the GOP, versus only 29 percent who went with Democrats. According to NBC, the 14-point margin constitutes the GOP's "biggest lead on this question in the poll’s history." For comparison, the week before they retook control of the Senate in 2014, Republicans held a nine-point advantage on the question.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/poll-republicans-trail-but-enjoy-a-historic-advantage-on-the-economy

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-trump-approval-remarkably-stable-after-stormy-week-n903626

Q3 GDP comes out later this week.  It will prove that GDP more than doubled with the change of parties in the White House. 

It is no longer anyone's choice for the biggest problem, issue or challenge we face.  It is an issue only in that one party is committed to reverse it. 

GOP has a small number of days left to explain to voters how economic growth and trust in the economy happened and why it matters.

Or we can just keep chasing media-chosen, shiny objects to distract ourselves from this all-important reality.

Are we going to have elections based on who handles the economy best or should we give that up and decide who will handle Dr. Blasey Ford and Jamal Khashoggi best?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 22, 2018, 08:07:59 AM
Doug questions :

"Are we going to have elections based on who handles the economy best or should we give that up and decide who will handle Dr. Blasey Ford and Jamal Khashoggi best?"

as for Kashoggi the Salim ordered murder is a problem but does not warrant changing our mid East policy .

Of course he did some WaP work so his life is far more valuable and his death far more alarming then if it was a Dogbrother's contributor ( the latter wouldn't even make MSM 50 th page news.And this certainly   "proves " why Trump is wrong to get in bed with Saudis and Obama was right to cozy up with Irna more ; sarcasm emphasized. 

More crap for Fareeeeed Zakaria to lecture us about......

 :roll:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 24, 2018, 06:51:42 AM
Less than 2 weeks to go.  Nate Silver says 85% chance Dems take the House.

In other polling, Democrats are poised to gain 10-40 seats, need 23.

One poll has the generic ballot at Dems +2%, and others +4%. RCP average is still at Dem +7.7%.  The breakeven on that is not 0, but maybe 5 so the outcome depends on which polling is right and what happens in the last 12 days.

At this point Republicans are projected to make gains in the Senate, maybe pick up 3, making the Senate 54-46.

Trump won election at 38% approval and now has 48% in three recent polls.  He tends to under-poll.

What are the issues and events yet to develop?  The US GDP Q3 growth rate comes out this week and will most certainly favor Republicans.  Can they turn that into an effective campaign point?  To be determined.  If not, shame on them. 

The Caravan l coming toward us looks to favor Trrump and the Republicans.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 24, 2018, 07:51:01 AM
We live in interesting times , , ,
Title: Oh my God in Arizona
Post by: ccp on October 24, 2018, 04:56:42 PM
The Republican is only up by 0.7 as per real clear politics:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/kyrsten-sinema-election-bid-ridiculous/

The crat is sa total horror show.
HOw is this possible?

I tought McCain was bad ....... :-o
Title: Re: Oh my God in Arizona
Post by: DougMacG on October 25, 2018, 07:43:55 AM
The Republican is only up by 0.7 as per real clear politics:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/kyrsten-sinema-election-bid-ridiculous/
The crat is a total horror show.
How is this possible?
I thought McCain was bad ....... :-o

Latest I saw was 48-46 McSally (R) Leading.

Conservatives aren't thrilled with McSally after hard primary process.

CCP is correct, Siema is a Left wing nut job. Part of that nature is the ability to play the part of pretending to be normal.

Arizona isn't a Southwest state full of Arizonans anymore.  I know plenty of leftwing Minneostans who moved there, impatient with the absence of global warming here.  If you are a displaced northern liberal, leftwing nutjob is not a pejorative nor is calling Arizona politics a meth lab.  Inclusion somehow includes Taliban!  Or that's just a mistake anyone could make. Libs  complain about the demeanor of Trump or extremism of other conservatives, but when we nominate 'nice guys' or moderates they don't vote for them anyway.  cf.President Romney.

In days gone by, "Arizona Republican" was a synonym for moderate or RINO.  Barry Goldwater in the later days after he softened, Sandra Day O'Connor, was not a conservative, McCain, Flake, etc.  In that sense, Sen. Martha McSally should be a good fit.

We are lucky to have some very good Senate candidates this year and I think McSally is the better candidate and will win.  Soon we will be complaining about her not being conservative enough, but we're better off with another Susan Collins there than a Maxine Waters.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 25, 2018, 09:21:29 AM
37 seats—the average number the majority party has given up in midterms when the president’s approval is under 50%.

Newt won 54 House seats under Clinton 1994; Obama lost 63 in 2010 after he muscled through government health care.

Republicans will lose less than 37 seats but a little more than the 23 needed unless they get a last minute surge.

Never thought I would say this, too many incumbents are retiring.

One possible outcome: neither party wins immediate majority and that one or more of the 40 tossups require recount.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 25, 2018, 05:10:50 PM
Let's develop a list of the unsavory characters who will take over which committees should the Demogogues win.
Title: Sean Trende, RCP: Uncertainties Loom as Midterms Enter Final Stretch
Post by: DougMacG on October 30, 2018, 08:55:18 AM
The difference will be late breaking.  Which way we don't know.
Most polling is from one firm, NYT/Siena.  Are the errors random or systemic.
Republicans are in trouble in the House.  Best case is they hold narrowly.  By today's polls, they lose narrowly.
Trump's job approval nationally and the generic ballot (R= -7.5%) nationally don't necessarily tell the story in the key districts.
Dems have a lot of their support wasted in lopsided Dem districts. and making progress in lopsided R districts.
Trump polls badly in affluent suburban divided districts (like mine).
Early voting indicates a very close election, not a wave.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/10/30/uncertainties_loom_as_midterms_enter_final_stretch.html
-----------------------
Latest Senate races mostly look way too close to me.  If R's under-perform this year, they are screwed in the Senate in the next two cycles.  But if the late breaking unknowns turn for Republicans, they could have 55-45 or better in the Senate and hold the House by a whisker.
------------------------
Previous post:  "Let's develop a list of the unsavory characters who will take over which committees should the Demogogues win."

Maxine Waters, Chair of Financial Services
Elijah Cummings, Oversight and Government Reform
Adam Schiff, Select Committee on Intelligence
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Military construction, Veterans Affairs
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_House_of_Representatives_committees

I didn't see any others of national notoriety.
-----------------------

Late breaking stories:
GDP growth favors Republicans but didn't make much news.  People will have to sort out what they feel and observe in relation to what the candidates are saying.
Stock market, looks bad, gives Dems an offset point against GDP growth.  Maybe I'll buy stocks this week.
Caravan, so far seems to favor Republicans, unless Trump puts foot in mouth
Shootings, energizes gun control which energizes both sides
Polling companies have to start making what they publish more accurate, judged only on their last one.
And last, the unknown unknowns...

R's blew big teachable moments on constitutional issues and on economics.  Must rely on what people know intuitively, not the absent Republican messaging.
------------------
The result not mentioned, Tuesday leaves control of the House and maybe Senate unresolved like the presidential election of 2000.
Title: Riggleman
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 30, 2018, 07:24:39 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/in-virginia-a-gop-house-candidate-raises-the-tone/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202018-10-30&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives
Title: US Senate races, Montana, Libertarian drops out, endorses Republican
Post by: DougMacG on November 01, 2018, 07:21:33 AM
I'm afraid it's too little, too late.  This should have been a really winnable race.  Maybe the Republican can pull it off but no poll yet shows that.

https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2018/10/31/libertarian-withdraws-montana-senate-race/1833577002/
Libertarian Rick Breckenridge on Wednesday threw his support behind Republican candidate Matt Rosendale, saying he was standing up against “dark money” in politics.
Title: The US Congress; Keith Ellison's seat, Ilhan Omar
Post by: DougMacG on November 01, 2018, 08:08:23 AM
“Address Records Show Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) Still Lived With Her (divorced) First Husband Throughout Marriage To Her Apparent Brother.”

https://pjmedia.com/davidsteinberg/address-records-show-rep-ilhan-omar-d-mn-still-lived-with-her-first-husband-throughout-her-second-marriage/
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/10/ilhan-omar-the-family-that-stays-together.php

Isn't citizenship based marriage fraud a federal crime? This case is most egregious and involves a public figure.  Yet not one Democrat has denounced her and not one newspaper has reported this.  A deplorable lack of curiosity.  I wonder if the new MN Attorney General (Keith Ellison?) will take it to the Feds for prosecution.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 01, 2018, 08:27:56 AM
the thought of all these dirtballs back in power with adoring MSM and the DEm propaganda machine in full force is just horrible to me.

The heartburn  I felt during Obama yrs .  Here we are about to go again ......only worse .

Thanks Ryan and the rest of you rinos who did nothing for yrs with all the immigrants flooding the country and predominantly voting crat .

Trumps crudeness only made matter worse too though.



Title: Re: The US Congressional races, battle for the House
Post by: DougMacG on November 02, 2018, 07:45:17 AM
Republicans have been fighting to save two suburban House Seats, MN 2 and MN 3.  Now it looks like Republicans have the possibility of flipping 3 Democrat seats, MN 1 and MN 8 will flip to R and now the MN 7 Dem seat has moved to toss-up.

Mm7 has the last conservative Democrat holding on to a seat. He is the only Democrat to vote against Obamacare . He will be chair of the Ag committee if they win.  During his terms, farmers and rural areas flip from the democratic-farmer-labor party two Republican. Romney won the district by 10 and Trump won the district by 30. RealClearPolitics just move this to toss up.

Congressional incumbents used to have a 98% reelection rate and here we have five out of eight seats that could flip in different directions.

Democrats need to gain 23 seats to take the majority, two that they are counting on are in the suburbs of Minneapolis-Saint Paul. For each they lose of their own, in this case possibly two or three in one small state, the bar gets just a little bit higher. If this is happening here, I assume it is happening somewhere else too.

In a room full of liberals after sports last night I listened to all the hate Trump talk and at the end I asked if anyone had any predictions for Tuesday and the room that had all predicted Hillary with certainty two years ago went silent.

"Interesting times".
Title: 15% chance Republicans hold the House, here is a possible scenario
Post by: DougMacG on November 02, 2018, 08:17:27 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/01/what_a_republican_hold_might_look_like_138532.html

Tomorrow he posts a Blue Wave scenario.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 05, 2018, 07:48:39 AM
Unemployment rate in my congressional district MN3, south and west suburbs of Minneapolis: 1.9%, lowest in the nation.

Because of that, economic issues are NOT the top concern of the centrist, liberal voters in the district.  Incumbent Republican trails badly in the polls.  If he pulls this out, R's win the House.
----------------------------
Senate:
One day to go and the polls are mostly done.  Best reading is that R's will pick up -1 to 6 seats net.  There are 6 they could win and two they could lose not counting Texas and Tennessee.  That is a very wide range.  
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/414658-the-top-senate-seats-most-likely-to-flip

A reasonable bet might be R pick ups in North Dakota and Missouri and unknown in Indiana, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Montana, West Virginia.  Of the 6 unknowns, Trump carried 5 of them.  It's not unrealistic to guess R's will win 3 or 4 of them but that is to expect results better than polls.  It's possible but far from certain.
-----------------------------
House
Generic ballot average Dem +7%, CNN 13%, Rasmussen -1.
Dems need 23; their expected win from polling is 26.5 is tossups split evenly.  Advantage Dems but not by much!  If Dems under-perform expectations by 4 seats, they lose.  Republicans need to win the seats where they lead and where they trail in polls by only one point..  They don't need to win any districts where they trail by ten, five or two points, just prove the polls wrong by one mere point.  From Blue Wave, 'experts' are now hedging that to toss up.  The election will be decided by tossups.

Most optimistic indicators [from my last Trump post].  One poll shows Trump with 40% Hispanic approval.  One poll shows Trump with 40% of Blacks approve.  These are outliers but if there is some trend developing there, Democrats will be disappointed by their  minority lack of support.  People in most of the country don't like the way Brett ,Kavanaugh was treated and the caravan, Trump's reaction to it and border issues favor Republicans in many divided districts.  If R's hold the House, look back to those factors.  I put the House at slightly worse than 50-50 chance for Republicans, very possible but not the most likely scenario.

This will be a so-called wave election only if Dems take the House, Senate and make state level gains. 
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/05/what_is_a_wave_election_anyway_138555.html#2

Everybody VOTE!  And make your strongest influence with all the people where you have any influence.  Challenge your independent Dem friends who say they vote for the person not the party to demonstrate that independence.

Doug's rule: margin of victory or loss matters even in non-competitive races.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - GO VOTE
Post by: DougMacG on November 06, 2018, 06:22:07 AM
Writing with nervous energy for the last time before results prove us wrong, or right?
US Senate, RCP no tossups says R+2 which makes 53R - 47D.  That doesn't count POSSIBLE wins in Florida, Indiana, West Virginia and Montana, so IF today is a really great day that makes 57-43!  In 2016 there was perhaps a 3% Trump vote denial where they just wouldn't tell the pollster but they would pull the lever.  If something like that is true this year and you have to pick one race that no one saw coming, one poll just put John James within 3 points of Debbie Stabenow in Michigan.  Flake, Corker (and McCain) gone, nothing would take the pressure off of Susan Collins like a 58-42 Senate.  Worst case for Republicans is to lose all these close ones, AZ, NV, MO and the states above makes 50-50, assuming R's hold TX and TN and none of the others.  VP Mike Pence breaks a 50-50 tie.

House average poll split of tossups is D+27, 23 puts them in the majority, Nancy Pelosi Speaker and Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff running committees.  R's gained 63 in 2010 so 23-27 is not a big reach especially with 38 R retirements.  One key to the House result will be the Republican pickups that raise the bar for the Dem pickups certain to happen.  The map is shifting; Republicans need to win new districts too.  In the strange, strange world of politics, what a win a 22 seat loss would be!

Here is Rush L 10 minutes in Cape Girardeau, MO, warmup speaker for Trump's final rally.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Erz55hr_7w    
Trump video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9pCpyXgSZM  
Long video 1.5h, vote BEFORE you watch it.
They are most certainly trying to nationalize the race and bring the turnout of Presidential election.

We all have our big local elections too.  Go vote.  Margin of victory or loss matters.  
Title: Trump lost House over immigration ?
Post by: ccp on November 07, 2018, 12:13:15 AM
it I don't believe the suburban "white educated voters" voted for crats because they are losing sleep over the caravans.  I don't believe for a minute they really want endless immigration most of illegal and chain and anchor babies.

But it could be due to Trump's combative personality.  I don't recall him ever trying to woo the middle of the road fence sitters. For 2 yrs we hoped he would but he never did.  He ignored at his own peril, and now we sit here looking forward to a  2 yr horror movie with directors and producers  CNN NYT WP  and their cast of actors  that includes  Pelosi Schiff Nadler Booker Harris Cardin Lewis and the rest of the conga line (borrowing form Mark Levin)
 

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/democrats-will-take-the-house/

Title: Re: Trump lost House over immigration ?
Post by: DougMacG on November 07, 2018, 06:24:57 AM
I don't believe the suburban "white educated voters" voted for crats because they are losing sleep over the caravans.  I don't believe for a minute they really want endless immigration most of illegal and chain and anchor babies.

But it could be due to Trump's combative personality.  I don't recall him ever trying to woo the middle of the road fence sitters. For 2 yrs we hoped he would but he never did.  He ignored at his own peril, and now we sit here looking forward to a  2 yr horror movie with directors and producers  CNN NYT WP  and their cast of actors  that includes  Pelosi Schiff Nadler Booker Harris Cardin Lewis and the rest of the conga line (borrowing form Mark Levin)
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/democrats-will-take-the-house/

Right.  Trump is right on immigration and he's right on the economy.  He can't afford bad optics like the broken families [or if the military opened fire on the caravans].  His combative personality is necessary to overcome his press disadvantage but his over-speak and sloppy speak needs to be reigned in.  I actually think he's getting better at that, but certainly too little too late liberals who hate all his policies in the first place.

The loss of the suburbs is a result of our education system so long ago that the teachers and professors were all raised in liberal drivel.  Examples: In AP-US History they teach how America's past is so shameful.  In Econ they teach how America is so unfair.  In Science they teach how America led us to destroy the globe.  In pre-K through grade 11 they indoctrinate this dogma and turn kids against their more conservative parents and prepare them for a college system where you cannot graduate or even socialize without sharing their views.  Gender relativity is important than bridge structure.  Capitalism is evil and socialism is benevolent.  The more "educated" you are, the more Democrat you are, but only if educated is defined as how far you went in the socialist teachers union based indoctrination system as opposed to learning through real world experiences.  People who learn a skill and perform a needed service for a fee are uneducated. They control the information flow in all but about two colleges and all but about two newspapers.  I don't how you unlearn what everyone around you agrees with.

Reagan put it this way:  (7 seconds)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAgURdLJobU
"The trouble with our liberal friends... they know so much that isn't so."

As President with the only conservative podium in the country, maybe in the world, he needs to teach more and rub their noses in it less.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 07, 2018, 06:35:35 AM
Doug wrote:

"As President with the only conservative podium in the country, maybe in the world, he needs to teach more and rub their noses in it less."

perfect way to describe likely why the House was lost.

We are on losing end of tide.  Even many of the races we won were close.
Now with ex cons now voting and the endless immigration from people who are for free stuff etc and as you rightly point out it is inevitable the Right will lose ,

( yea sure ex cons are going to vote for family hard work earning on honest living etc - that is a joke)

Then the country sinks to the depths and only then can we re arise

I know I sound morbid, so to speak, but the trend is simply obvious to me.

The left will not stop till they bring this cuontry down  - my opinion - very dejected but not surprised

Saying this is not a blue wave" is not re assuring to me."
Title: In Missouri
Post by: ccp on November 07, 2018, 08:38:13 AM
To Trump and not to Trump - that was the question apparently:

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/midterms/article221170485.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 07, 2018, 01:16:47 PM
But it could be due to Trump's combative personality.  I don't recall him ever trying to woo the middle of the road fence sitters. For 2 yrs we hoped he would but he never did.  He ignored at his own peril, and now we sit here looking forward to a  2 yr horror movie with directors and producers  CNN NYT WP  and their cast of actors  that includes  Pelosi Schiff Nadler Booker Harris Cardin Lewis and the rest of the conga line (borrowing form Mark Levin)
 
Perhaps I could add the scriptwriters are the academics and DC lawyers and the deep state actors (they know WHO they are and they do exist those pricks)

BTW i didn't watch last night the results.  I got up ~ 2 am to go to the BR and flipped on TV going to CNN.  I knew the fastest way to find out the House was to look at the expressions on their faces.  The first one I saw was Andrew Cuomo and he was smiling from ear to ear.  I then turned of TV .  All I needed to know.
I am simply one of the many people that simply do not matter.


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2018, 06:01:22 AM
Montana Senate went to Testor the Dem, numbers flipped while I was looking at it yesterday morning.  (

In the Florida Senate, Rick Scott won by 0.4%.  Machine recount, if called, rarely changes an outcome.

Arizona is McSally ahead by a very small margin with more votes still coming in.  More updates today at 5:00 today.  Some Flake fans voted Dem to spite Trump.  Green party candidate took 2% of potential Sinema votes.

Mississippi Senate is going to have a runoff; the Republican is heavily favored.

Too early to call Arizona, but Republicans have the potential to take all 3 of those making the total 54-46.  Best case for Dems (IMHO) is 47-53 if Arizona flips in the final precincts.

A dozen House races are still coming in, mostly Calif mail in votes.  No final tally for a little while.  Democrats already have 4 more than needed to take control.

This was not a blue wave.  In the House it was a typical mid-term.  In the Senate it was the opposite with the President's party gaining enough to effect control for more than 2 years.

Divided government mostly favors Trump unless House investigations uncover something criminal.  I only wonder what such a wide divide will mean at budget / shutdown time.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Gridlock
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2018, 06:47:21 AM
Gridlock is the next best thing to constitutional government.   - Steve Hayward

WSJ Editorial Board: "[Pelosi will try to lure Trump into bad deals] Hope for two years of gridlock"
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-nancy-pelosi-method-1541635347

Someday maybe we return to constitutional government.
Title: Re: The 2018 US Congressional races, Healthcare was the top issue
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2018, 07:11:29 AM
The celebrated John McCain blocked Republican Healthcare reform and turned it into the biggest Democratic talking point of the 2018 elections.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/midterm-exit-polls-2018-n932516?mod=article_inline
------------------------

How can the federal government do more to help the healthcare system?  What a stupid and misguided question IMHO.  Hows can we get the federal government do less to screw up our healthcare system might be a better question.  Why is everyone's healthcare a federal issue?  Once again, letting Democrats decide what are the issues allows them to win the debate.

To be fair to Democrats, Republicans had their shot at this and failed.

In contrast, nothing makes healthcare more "affordable" than massively rising incomes and prosperity is the number one force in healthcare advancements.   These are arguments you never heard in the election.  Healthcare was twice as important as the economy in this election - only because of skewed messaging. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 08, 2018, 07:33:00 AM
Trump has been pushing for lower prescription prices

Not a single peep about that in the MSM, by design.  Those bastards .
Title: Many member of House of Reps younger then 29 in history
Post by: ccp on November 08, 2018, 07:40:29 AM
we keep hearing the nonstop ocasio youngest person with a vagina elected to Congress at age 29

go to wikipedia and look up youngest members of Congress and one can count ~ 118 members who were under 29 since inception
youngest I think was 24 .
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 09, 2018, 07:44:42 AM
Close contests in Texas, Arizona and Florida indicate a serious border problem, people coming in across their northern borders.

I don't know where these close races and / or recounts are headed in AZ and FL etc. but I wrote too soon on this thread about results and counts.  Democrats have a serious advantage in willingness to cheat to win.

I stand by my main point coming into the election, margin of victory (or loss) matters.  Direction of the country does not come from winning by a single vote.

Those pointing to a larger national vote for one party or the other in Senate races sure miss the point of the constitution, the Senate and the name of the country, a union of states.  People in smaller less populated states don't want and didn't consent to be ruled by majorities of people in large urban states.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Why Sinema won
Post by: DougMacG on November 13, 2018, 06:20:44 AM
Observations from the inside that we didn't see from the outside.
https://ricochet.com/572300/5-reasons-why-sinema-won-arizona/

Flake and McCain did a lot of damage. (Also Trump's fight back against both.) Sinema was known in Phoenix, McSally known in Tucson, two very different sized markets. McSally didn't fight for it. Cinema made an image for herself as a moderate. We'll see if she is.  And then what?  Run negative ads again?

Another factor is that Arizona is not Arizonans anymore. But Gov Ducey won.
Title: Wealthy suburbs in mostly blue States broke for Democrats
Post by: DougMacG on November 13, 2018, 06:36:47 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/midterm-election-precinct-results/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eb1ea2a179e2
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2018, 03:46:58 PM
Thanks for that ricochet article, helps me understand what happened in AZ.
Title: 2018 US Congressional races, House flipped on SALT
Post by: DougMacG on November 13, 2018, 07:12:35 PM
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-tax-cuts-hurt-gop-americas-wealthy-suburbs-143541623.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2018, 10:41:39 PM
Had not thought of that-- interesting idea.
Title: Re: 2018 US Congressional races, House flipped on S.A.L.T.
Post by: DougMacG on November 14, 2018, 07:13:06 AM
"We can't get blue state Republicans [in the House to support tax reform] because of the state and local fix."
"Screw this up now and we will have (President) Bernie Sanders' tax plan and the economic 'growth' of Venezuela."
https://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1791.msg107152#msg107152


"The Republican bills attack two of the three largest “tax expenditures,” by limiting or eliminating the deductions for home mortgage interest and state and local taxes. The dollar benefits of those deductions are hugely concentrated on “wealthy Americans,” especially in high-tax, high-housing-cost states where people vote heavily Democratic. These progressive changes could only be made by Republicans, who have few House members and zero senators from such constituencies." - Michael Barone
https://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1791.750

Not mentioned in the debate was that neglect of those "few [Republican] House members" in high tax states would swing the power in Washington from R to D.

Look at the income and tax data in the districts that flipped.  Examples:
Virginia's 2nd: Democrat Elaine Luria beat out incumbent Republican Scott Taylor.
Virginia's 7th: Democrat Abigail Spanberger beat incumbent Republican Dave Brat.
Virginia's 10th: Democrat Jennifer Wexton unseated incumbent Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock.
New Jersey's 11th: Democrat Mikie Sherrill won against Republican Jay Webber.
New Jersey's 7th: Democrat Tom Malinowski ousted incumbent Republican Leonard Lance
New Jersey's 2nd: Democrat Jeff Van Drew defeated Republican Seth Grossman
New York's 11th: Max Rose defeated Republican Dan Donovan,
New York's 19th: Democrat Antonio Delgado edges out incumbent Republican Rep. John Faso
Pennsylvania's 5th: Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon won against Republican Pearl Kim
Pennsylvania's 6th: Democrat Chrissy Houlahan beat out Republican Greg McCauley for the open seat.
Pennsylvania's 7th: Democrat Susan Wild defeated Republican Marty Nothstein for the open seat.
Minnesota's 2nd: Democrat Angie Craig unseated Republican incumbent Jason Lewis
Minnesota's 3rd: Democrat Dean Phillips defeated incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen.
Illinois' 14th: Democrat Lauren Underwood unseated incumbent Republican Randy Hultgren.
Illinois' 6: Democrat Sean Casten defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Peter Roskam.
California's 25th: Republican Rep. Steve Knight concedes to Democrat Katie Hill.

In our district MN3, median income is 85k, (half are above that).  The unemployment rate is less than 2%, for the upper half of earners it's zero.   The state income tax rate for the group above the median is 7-10% in our state and similar or higher in other high tax states.  Voters in the upper half of income pay $7000 and up in state income taxes and double that to include property taxes.  Figure ten-fold more for the rich.  Perhaps 50% of voters in our district (and all similar districts had a major tax deduction taken away from them in the Republican tax reform where the individual tax rate was barely lowered.  If just 5-6% change their vote partly over that, it is a 10-12 point swing in a swing district.

We lose the votes of the poor, we lose the votes of the median to rich and we can't understand and we can't understand how we lost the House seats.  Add to that that in these RINO seats they don't support reducing the size of government so we lose the conservative vote too!

Taking away S.A.L.T. deduction was the right thing to do for a number of reasons but it was done wrong and messaged horribly.  Because of the inability of taxpayers to respond to it, the limit should have been phased in. 

If the only perceived value in tax reform is dollars returned in your own current, static paycheck and not the economic health of the country, you aren't going to support it anyway.  Did anyone see Republican House member make the case during the election of why tax reform was needed, why it was structured the way it was, how it succeeded and what is left or next to do?   <crickets>

People can't easily get up and move out of a high tax state when a law changes (or they would have already).  People can't lower the tax rate in their state (or they might have already) and they can't instantly downsize their house or downscale their neighborhood when a law passes in Washington with no notice.  Instead they punish the party that did it.

Trump and the Republicans doubled the GDP growth rate for the nation but the message received is that it's no better than under Obama.  The reaction to the great economic news, record hiring, rising tide, etc. is blah blah, ho-hum. 

But take away one of our largest tax deductions - those are fighting words!
Title: Mia Love loses
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 20, 2018, 04:53:11 PM


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/415331-dem-ben-mcadams-defeats-gops-mia-love-for-utah-house-seat?userid=188403
Title: US Congressional races 2018 not wave election. Democrats win, markets suffer.
Post by: DougMacG on November 20, 2018, 05:06:28 PM
Journo-lists, Sunday show hosts and others are trying to make Trump admit this was quite a loss, a pummeling?

Obama took a shellacking in 2010.  Bush took a thumping.  Clinton faced a revolution. But Trump won't admit he lost because the results were mixed.

This was not a wave:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/16/so_was_it_a_wave_138677.html#2

But as more and more close House races in Calif and elsewhere fall to the Dems (Mia Love down today, Orange County lost), this election at least in the House was very bad for Trump and the Republicans.  The echo chamber of a media is making it the loss more and mare clear.  I wonder if they notice that the more clear it is this was a Democrat win, the more the market falls.

We were told Democrats and divided government are great for the economy.    The markets are saying something else.  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/20/stock-market-dow-futures-negative-as-tech-stocks-sink.html

Title: 2018 US Congressional races, Hindsight is not always 20/20
Post by: DougMacG on November 23, 2018, 09:18:08 AM
From RealClearPolitics:
2018 Generic Congressional Vote
Democrats 49.7
Republicans 42.4
Advantage Democrats +7.3

Keeping this alive because the lessons learned still stuck at roughly zero.  Before we look to 'The Way Forward', we need some work on our hindsight, IMHO.

On the margin, Republicans needed between one and two points had chosen R over D.  My guess is that if this poll average had been 48-44 Dem, only a one and a half point move on both numbers, Republican could have held the House, gained two more in the Senate (and held the White House) and had an amazing win.

That didn't and couldn't happen because:

1.  Tax reform, their biggest accomplishment, was a hodge-podge with no messaging theme.
2.  Repeal Obamacare failed and Republicans had no answer to the Democrat charge of pre-existing conditions.  People cared about that.
3.  Let Trump be Trump but maybe 10 or 12 fewer unforced errors would have helped.
4.  The scandals of the Left were never made coherent enough to reach past the right side of the news divide.  Adam Schiff lying about reports for example, now he will chair the committee.  Menendez in NJ: If that was a Republican scandal they would have tied all of them to him.
5.  There never was a compelling agenda offered going forward.  "Elect us and we will do this ____ ."
6.  Further to the previous point, there was no national campaign.

In short, Republicans were (mostly) a non-governing, non-coalition with no plan going forward and no excitement, baffled that not everyone jumped on board.

We sit here like victims in a relatively free, technology exploding society.  Why don't we buy the news media or buy the airtime needed, open our own facebook, keep our internal differences a little more private or do whatever it takes to put out a coherent and compelling argument?

Good riddance Corker and Flake (and McCain RIP) but we still don't have a leader other than Trump, or a message.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 23, 2018, 12:33:27 PM
Excellent analysis.

I would add one more variable-- the end of the deduction for certain state taxes-- very unpopular with well to do Dem voters.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 23, 2018, 02:55:39 PM
"the end of the deduction for certain state taxes-- very unpopular with well to do Dem voters."

I actually got a refund this past tax yr .  I think it was the first time in a couple of years .
However for Repubs in the crat states who didn't they were not happy.
Would they have stayed home because of it - some may have.

I do relish the idea of sticking it back to the high state tax states like NY and NJ though with the end of the state income tax deduction . 
Title: costello wears his head in his pants and a hat on his ass
Post by: ccp on November 23, 2018, 03:34:27 PM
I agree with Costello about the tone of trumps rhetoric otherwise he has his ass where his head is.

Dear Ryan , it would have helped if you and the rest of your lacky's in Congress would have dealt with health care .
It would have helped if you did something about the "f" border (now of which nothing will likely be done anytime soon and maybe forever)
It would have helped if you gave taxpayers not just the business types some more tax relief
If would have helped if you backed  Trump more.

How about you taking some blame instead of pointing just to Trump.

So there
https://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/11/23/gop-rep-costello-i-think-voters-want-congress-to-hold-trump-accountable/

indeed if it not for Trump can anyone tell me if they think ANYTHING would have gotten accomplished?

Title: Surprisingly strong vote for Sen. elect Rick Scott in Florida
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 24, 2018, 05:13:53 PM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/417918-puerto-ricans-may-have-elected-rick-scott-and-other-midterm-surprises
Title: 2018 US Congressional races, Senate final score 53-47
Post by: DougMacG on November 29, 2018, 04:24:13 AM
With the 7.5% win in Mississippi.  Disappointing in a few ways, the small margins in Texas, Florida, even Mississippi.  The losses in AZ and MT.  But barely enough to have a 50-50 shot to hold the Senate in 2020.

Democrats don't lose inner city House races - in Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Houston, San Francisco etc.  In the divided country we inhabit, Republicans need to stop losing Senate seats in places like Montana.  We got back North Dakota, Indiana, that is a start.  They control the big population centers. If or when we don't win in a majority of the states, it is no longer a divided country.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 29, 2018, 04:44:29 AM
"We got back North Dakota, Indiana, that is a start. "

don't forget Missouri !  :))
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 29, 2018, 06:42:05 AM
Yeah, we "won" in Mississippi but at a cost of affirming the Reps are closet racists meme.  "Public hanging", going to school set up to avoid a court ordered integration, the picture with the Confederacy stuff, , , , ugh. :-P
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 03, 2018, 06:16:32 AM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2018/12/02/democrats-its-time-to-remove-the-181year-ban-on-religious-headwear-on-the-house-floor-n2536846

we didn't make concessions to singhs or orthodox jews
oh but for Islam suddenly we need to change rules?

Funny how the left demands separation of Church and State  when it suits them but now it is the opposite

And we have a Muslin , first Somali in the House ( no problem)  but her first action is to demand we break 181 rule to please her !!

Watch the crats will do it.

 :x
Title: Congressional sex harassment slush fund
Post by: ccp on December 11, 2018, 10:45:37 AM
Rush L had a good segment yesterday about the Senate and Congress literally having a taxpayer financed slush fund to pay off sexual harassment claims:

https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/12/10/congress-has-a-slush-fund-to-pay-off-sexual-harassment-claims-and-nobody-calls-it-a-crime/

Title: cognitive dissonance of liberal Rs
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2018, 10:44:00 AM
If Susan Collins , er ah, ...  I mean Chuck Schumer is for this it can't be good:

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/susan-collins-votes-with-democrats-to-restore-rule-that-allowed-obama-admin-to-target-conservatives/
Title: US Congressional races 2018, 20 Dem House seats were won by 60,000 votes total
Post by: DougMacG on December 19, 2018, 02:36:41 PM
Reverse that and Republicans hold the House.  This is a closely divided country.

Also, Republicans must start winning ALL Senate races in so-called Red states.

The leadership, the elected representatives, the candidates, the party officials, the donors and the voters have to quit f'ing around or we are going to lose the whole thing - and this is all winnable.  The facts are on our side.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 20, 2018, 09:23:47 AM
"The leadership, the elected representatives, the candidates, the party officials, the donors and the voters have to quit f'ing around or we are going to lose the whole thing - and this is all winnable.  The facts are on our side."

Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor upon it!
Title: Re: US Congressional races 2018, 20 Dem House seats were won by 60,000 votes total
Post by: DougMacG on December 20, 2018, 10:16:30 AM
Paul Ryan farewell speech nicely details what they accomplished and what is left to do.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/12/19/watch_live_speaker_paul_ryan_delivers_farewell_speech_ahead_of_retirement.html

WHY DID HE WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION TO TELL US??!!

We couldn't buy a word of this from a contested district before the vote and we only needed to move 60,000 key votes out of 100 million cast.
Title: Surprise : Ocasio makes a GOOD and common sense point
Post by: ccp on December 23, 2018, 12:39:11 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-says-congressional-184312719.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 30, 2018, 08:54:02 PM


https://www.govtrack.us/?utm_campaign=govtrack_email_update&utm_source=govtrack/email_update&utm_medium=email
Title: Re: The US Congress; The Pelosi Schumer Shutdown
Post by: DougMacG on January 04, 2019, 07:59:12 AM
Trump took ownership of the shutdown, he shut down non-essential government agencies and services over funding for a security barrier at the border. 

Now it is Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer proudly keeping the government shut down.  While Trump offers concessions and compromise, both have stood proudly with no compromise, no funding, zero, nothing!

Good for them but they own it now.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 04, 2019, 09:03:24 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15h8DecnOJk
Title: Congresswoman Tlaib
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2019, 06:51:20 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashida_Tlaib

she is for one state solution - in other words Israel should be wiped off the map.
Mostly likely she is anti semitic as well

She only won her district by a less then 900 votes out of 86,700 total .

" early supporter of the movement to abolish the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency" 

" She supports domestic reforms including Medicare For All and a $15 minimum wage"

"Tlaib, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, aligns politically with the left wing of the Democratic Party"

second generation Palestinian who has it better here than in any other Arab country and then wants to bring this country down .
I hope the crats will oust her in 2 yrs . 
Title: The Congresswoman from Palestine
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 07, 2019, 10:39:05 AM


https://israelunwired.com/new-congresswoman-surrounds-herself-by-hardcore-antisemites-at-ceremony/
Title: US Congress; Democrat leadership
Post by: DougMacG on January 09, 2019, 08:26:06 AM
I've often thought Republicans have a charisma challenge in leadership but Dems aren't doing much better:

(https://static.pjmedia.com/instapundit/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/schumerpelosi-600x450.jpg)
-------------------------------

I read the transcripts from last night and didn't see it.  Reports say Trump isn't at his best reading a scripted teleprompter, he started slow and finished strong at least on content.  Was Presidential and serious, kept it to 8 minutes.  No one has reported that Pelosi and Schumer put on the best possible faces for the opposition.

Very hard to say what was accomplished.  Maybe Pres.Trump planned to declare an emergency when he called for the prime time appearance.  Maybe they are officially passing the ownership of the shutdown over to the Democrats as a necessary step to get them to compromise.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 09, 2019, 08:40:08 AM
I like the post on the internet about them looking like American Gothic .

Even better then my impression :    I said to Katherine they look like Herman and Lily Munster :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Munsters#/media/File:Fred_Gwynne_Yvonne_DeCarlo_The_Munsters_1964.JPG
Title: Cong. McClintock: How cloture killed the 115th Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 16, 2019, 12:51:16 PM


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/rep-tom-mcclintock-how-cloture-killed-the-115th-congress
Title: Pelosi's travel expenses
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 27, 2019, 09:46:28 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/25/air-pelosi-watchdog-revisits-house-speakers-hefty-/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=weekend&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=weekend&bt_ee=GVngyRWlMkIsOJWgnwnrNbGi9pcCe7dOtLWaDal63r2TA%2FeNbNfP%2B4603ATQlkjE&bt_ts=1548586925331
Title: Pelsosi net wealth
Post by: ccp on January 27, 2019, 10:54:32 AM
https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/politicians/nancy-pelosi-net-worth/

It is all very murky.  Perhaps we need a special counsel to investigate how she seems to be a genius at real estate :

https://moneyinc.com/nancy-pelosi-net-worth/

Does anyone think for one second there would not be interesting behind the scenes politics involved?
Title: Pravda on the Hudson prepares for ending the filibuster if Dems win
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 26, 2019, 08:13:26 AM
 
Op-Ed Columnist

The best-case scenario for Democrats in 2020 involves winning the White House, keeping control of the House and winning a narrow majority in the Senate. There is no realistic chance that Democrats will have the 60 Senate seats needed to break filibusters.

They would still be able to pass some ambitious legislation through a process known as reconciliation, as they did to pass Obamacare in 2010 and Republicans did to pass the Trump tax cut in 2017. But reconciliation comes with major restrictions. Some of the biggest progressive goals — like a response to climate change, an expansion of voting rights and statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia — will therefore depend on whether Democrats are willing to get rid of the filibuster. A simple majority of senators has the power to do so.

The fate of the filibuster has become a standard question in interviews of the 2020 Democratic candidates. Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington State and a potential candidate, has called for its elimination. Elizabeth Warren told “Pod Save America,” “If the Republicans are going to try to block us on key pieces that we’re trying to move forward, then you better believe we’ve got to keep all the options on the table.” Kamala Harris says she’s “conflicted.” Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand all sound somewhere between torn about whether to get rid of it and unenthused about doing so.
This morning, I want to walk through both sides of the argument.




Death to the filibuster!

The filibuster arose largely as a historical accident, as Sarah Binder of George Washington University, among others, note. The founders did not intend a minority of senators, let alone a single one, to be able to obstruct the majority of the chamber.
Over the years, both liberals and conservatives have called for its demise. The filibuster “has obscured democratic accountability and made voters feel less efficacious — when voting majorities to power isn’t enough to change the way things are, it’s fair to wonder if electoral politics is worth the trouble,” my colleague Jamelle Bouie writes in his latest column. David Winston, a former aide to Newt Gingrich, called for the filibuster’s abolishment last year, arguing that it “has become the enemy of progress.”

In the past, when senators used the filibuster less often, it caused less damage. But it has now become a regular part of Senate business. Adam Jentleson, a former Democratic aide, has explained that Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, transformed the filibuster “from a procedural tool used to block bills into a weapon of nullification, deploying it against even routine Senate business to gridlock the legislative process.”

In our current polarized era, it’s folly to believe that the filibuster promotes compromise. It has not done so for years. Instead, it leads to gridlock, as Vox’s Ezra Klein notes, and flawed legislation that needs to be written with an eye toward surviving the technicalities of reconciliation. “The result is legislation that is often unfinished, poorly written, or booby-trapped,” he writes.




Keep the filibuster!

Whatever happens in 2020, neither political party is likely to control the federal government for years on end. So if Democrats scrapped the filibuster and passed major legislation, they would be risking repeal as soon as Republicans held Congress and the White House.

The uncertainty hanging over such legislation would give Americans more reason to doubt the federal government’s ability to function well. And Democrats should be looking for ways to restore trust in government, rather than adding more chaos.
Chris Coons, the Delaware Democratic senator who signed a 2017 letter along with 31 other Democrats arguing against removing the filibuster, has a simple case: “President Trump thinks it’s a great idea to get rid of it. Perhaps progressives should think that over.”

As Eitan Hersh, a political scientist at Tufts, tweeted yesterday:




 

The bottom line

My view is that Democrats don’t need to decide this question now. They won’t stir up much excitement by talking about process change. If they’re ever going to persuade the public that the filibuster should go, it will be as part of a fight over specific legislation — say, an expansion of Medicare, a major federal jobs program or a serious response to climate change in the wake of a destructive storm.

In this situation, they can first try to pass a bill through reconciliation, as Slate’s Jim Newell suggests. And if that doesn’t work, they can consider taking the next step.

There is nothing sacred about the filibuster, and it’s healthy for people to be thinking about its fate. But there is no rush.




Title: Time for debate of judicial nominees and other posts
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 04, 2019, 10:02:33 AM


https://govtrackinsider.com/republicans-voted-to-speed-up-judicial-nominees-but-would-it-hurt-them-under-a-democratic-edfddc806f60
Title: Ilhan Omar-- the enemy within
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2019, 05:04:03 PM


http://tennesseestar.com/2019/01/26/new-report-calls-ilhan-omars-security-clearance-into-question/?fbclid=IwAR3LFHMhXxt1EK7rDsCOgrPo7msUpSBOrob-e7STGgoItIdDPJ46TmfQ4Ww
Title: Omar's wrist slap
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2019, 06:32:19 PM
https://nypost.com/2019/03/05/this-isnt-even-a-wrist-slap-over-omars-anti-semitic-tropes/?fbclid=IwAR0RHLE39dHUyO7vhHFAwf2k3g9nnr_fCTICCACkyjp8z9hReBt0xomhRVw
Title: US Congress, Pelosi, Impeachment, "he's not worth it"
Post by: DougMacG on March 13, 2019, 06:08:51 AM
There is something telling about Nancy Pelosi's bizarre statement.  The don't have a high crime or misdemeanor.  If they did, they are constitutionally obligated to impeach.  He, meaning Trump, isn't worth what?  Congress performing their constitutional function correctly as intended?  No, that's not what she's talking about.  He's not worth impeaching without a high crime, inventing a non-existent violation (firing Comey?) and having the Democratic House embarrass itself conducting an anti-constitutional farce, being called out on it, exposed and defeated, and lose their fragile, ballot harvested majority that they might lose anyway in 2020.

Why are they talking impeachment BEFORE we have a high crime?  To them it is to undo the mistake that the voters made.  If voters can be wrong, maybe electing the Dem House was the mistake.  That is what a phony impeachment proceeding would expose.  She is hinting what we all know by now, Mueller doesn't have a Trump-Russia collusion charge coming in the report - because there wasn't any.  The collusion was all on the Hillary-Obama administration-Dem side and full exposure of what half of us already know is certain to come out in a Senate trial.

The Senate not only would not convict, impeachment would not win Republican votes but also would not win all the Democratic votes.  The botched impeachment would divide the Dems, make the party look bad in a very public way, lose the House, worsen their chances in the Senate, take all the oxygen and limelight away from the new entrants to the Presidential contest and guarantee Trump a second term.

In that sense, "he's not worth it" is a bit of an understatement from future minority leader Nancy Pelosi.  Still, they may do it anyway to appease the young, socialist militant wing of her party. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 13, 2019, 06:41:46 AM
"he's not worth it" is a bit of an understatement from future minority leader Nancy Pelosi. "

of course he is "worth it " to them

they have independent counsel that has bullied him and EVERYONE around him for years looking for an excuse
now they have what 60 more investigations they turned over to the NY libs (SD NY)
and the lib guard (shifty and the heavy set nads)

isn't this simply Pelosi's way of trying to save face when she knows she can't succeed? 
something well we could impeach and he deserves it but it would put the country through too much toil. 
oh come on , that is what they have been doing the day he got into office - actually even before.
Title: Re: The US Congress authorized the President to declare emergencies
Post by: DougMacG on March 15, 2019, 10:38:59 AM
Sen. Tom Cotton:

"Congress has ceded too much power to the executive for more than a century, expanding an administrative state that increasingly deprives our people of a meaningful say in their government. So I invite my Democratic colleagues to reconsider the wisdom of this path. Maybe we can reform the EPA. Perhaps we can require up-or-down votes in Congress to approve big regulations so politicians can show some accountability for once.

I’m ready for those debates. Believe me, I’m ready. But in the meantime, don’t pretend we didn’t delegate all these powers, or that it’s lawless for the executive to use laws we passed, just because you deplore him."

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/03/senate-rejects-border-emergency-declaration-but-not-with-veto-proof-majority.php
Title: WSJ: House Dems politicize banking (see Cass Sunstein and Nudge )
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 18, 2019, 04:27:57 PM


House Democrats Politicize Banking
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo cater to their demands and cut off relationships with disfavored clients.
By Megan Keller
March 17, 2019 2:40 p.m. ET
Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters leads a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, March 12.


With only a House majority, Democrats are unable to enact legislation—but that doesn’t mean they’re powerless. Under the leadership of Chairman Maxine Waters, the Financial Services Committee has used its oversight powers to go after politically disfavored industries. On Feb. 5 JPMorgan Chase announced it will no longer do business with private prisons. In January Wells Fargo said it would no longer market to private prison companies, aiming to achieve the same objective by attrition.

In a February appearance before an immigrant-rights group, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she planned to use her perch on the committee to combat detention of illegal aliens: “We’re going to hold oversight hearings to make these banks accountable for investing in and making money off of the detention of immigrants,” she said. “Because it’s wrong.” Last week, when Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan appeared before the committee, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez demanded to know why the bank is “involved in the caging of children.”

She also asked: “If there was a leak from the Dakota Access Pipeline, why shouldn’t Wells Fargo pay for the cleanup of it, since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?” Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York asked why the bank finances manufacturers of “weapons that are literally killing our children and our neighbors.” If Wells Fargo would go “above and beyond what the law requires on some issues,” why not “adopt common-sense gun safety policies like other banks have done?” Mr. Sloan’s reply: “We just don’t believe it is a good idea for banks to enforce legislation that doesn’t exist.”

Yet the bank’s February announcement wasn’t limited to the detention business. It also vowed to keep an eye on “environmental and social risks” other customers pose, including those involved in oil and gas drilling, coal mining, payday lending, forestry—and, yes, gun making.

This strategy of cutting off disfavored businesses’ finances isn’t new. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department, working with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, coerced banks into breaking contact with companies in disfavored industries—including firearm and ammunition sales, pornography and payday lending—officially because they posed a risk of money laundering. The effort, known as Operation Choke Point, ended in August 2017.

Missouri Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer wants to make sure it doesn’t come back. He is sponsoring a bill, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, that would bar regulators from ordering or requesting that a financial institution abandon a customer over a “reputation risk.” A concrete reason, delivered in writing, would be needed for any such interference in a bank’s business.

“Banks have always tried to take a very neutral middle ground when it comes to political issues that do not impact the bank or the industry,” says Rolland Johanssen, a senior consulting associate at Capital Performance Group. But in today’s politically polarized environment, “neutral ground, that middle ground, is shrinking.”

Ms. Keller is an assistant editorial features editor at the Journal.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 20, 2019, 06:29:24 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/434839-senate-gop-poised-to-go-nuclear-on-trump-picks
Title: Reps trigger nuke option to speed up judicial nominee approvals
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 03, 2019, 06:38:49 PM



https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/03/senate-republicans-trigger-nuclear-option-to-speed-up-approval-of-trump-nominees/
Title: 2020 Congressional races have a theme:. MABA
Post by: DougMacG on April 09, 2019, 05:56:56 AM
Make Alexandria Barmaid Again!
Title: 2018 Congressional races and the fake Pulitzer
Post by: DougMacG on April 11, 2019, 02:54:37 PM
What role did these 20 articles, 10 each in the NY Times and Washington Post on non-existent Trump Russia collusion, fake stories based on fake sources, play in swinging the House of Representatives to the Democrats in 2018?

https://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1066.msg116625#msg116625

Seriously, how do you compete against that level of dishonesty and mutual back slapping?
Title: 5th SF Horse Soldier running in NH
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 25, 2019, 08:26:19 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/horse-soldier-from-afghanistan-becomes-gop-senate-candidate-in-new-hampshire?fbclid=IwAR0fl6GezOeGyOVnghBbzu2r1IJ7S0jL2iI1xADpbxViF89ljOSHzGgMul0
Title: al franken did his "therapy"
Post by: ccp on July 23, 2019, 08:53:33 AM
and multiple dems coming out in his support .

any bets as to when Al Franken will announce his comeback?

just a matter of time which we knew was the case from day one.
Title: Lindell to run in Minnesota ?
Post by: ccp on July 26, 2019, 06:09:38 AM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2019/07/26/rumors-my-pillows-mike-lindell-mulling-campaign-to-smother-ilhan-omars-political-career-n2550667

He definitely would get my support but only if he promises NOT to push his darm pillow while running for office

I am sick and tired of his tiring commercials

Title: Republican chances to win the House deteriorate
Post by: ccp on August 04, 2019, 09:12:23 AM
https://pjmedia.com/trending/many-republicans-now-doubt-whether-they-win-back-the-house-in-2020/
Title: US Congressional races 2020, MN Senate, Jason Lewis
Post by: DougMacG on August 22, 2019, 08:38:20 AM
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/22/trump-minnesota-2020-1471551

This horribly biased article in Politico (mini-me??) exposes that this zero risk move by Republicans who had no chance before puts Democrats in a high risk, all to lose, situation. 

In Reagan's 49 state win in 1984, he lost in Minnesota.  Democrats have won the last 11 times, nearly a half century in MN, and won all but one time (1972) since Eisenhower.

Yes, Trump could win in MN; he lost by 1.5% in 2016 and is less unpopular now.  And incumbent Tina Smith is still unknown, a former Planned Parenthood executive.

You may know Jason Lewis as a back up host for Rush Limbaugh.  He is conservative, VERY knowledgeable and skilled in radio and communications.  [He also is very unhawkish on defense.]  He has said provocative things on radio that will be repeated ad nauseum on the airwaves.

This is a zero risk move because no one considers this Senate seat or the Presidential race in MN to be in play but R's could take both, plus Jason Lewis' presence in the race could sway two more House seats, his old seat and the very conservative 7th congressional district. 

Send money and get some popcorn, the map just expanded.
Title: Minnesota
Post by: ccp on August 22, 2019, 09:36:36 AM
I am waiting for Al (an? , bert?, ex?, drich?, exander? , fred?,  ice?)

Franken to announce his comeback bid

We know it's coming.

Title: Tulsi Gabbard
Post by: ccp on August 26, 2019, 05:17:32 AM
Move over :

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2019/08/25/26yearold-gop-latina-announces-shes-running-for-congress-n2552153

If I was younger I would vote for her just to keep being able to look at her.
 :-o

Now I am old enough to be her grand dad I would vote for her because she is a Republican .   Though at 26 ?  may be too young.
Title: Re: Catalina Lauf
Post by: DougMacG on August 26, 2019, 06:27:27 AM
 Tulsi Move over :
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2019/08/25/26yearold-gop-latina-announces-shes-running-for-congress-n2552153
--------------------
Nice find ccp!  Her mother came here legally from Guatamala.

Illinois 14th Congressional District is home to former Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert and is now represented by a Democrat.  Seems winnable. 

Good for the Republicans to find candidates who are young, female and, God forbid, pretty.  And Latina!!  I hope she is very sharp, charismatic and persuasive as well.

Catalina Lauf intro on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZmbvShTcHM   < 2 minutes

Title: Conservative review: Catalina Lauf
Post by: ccp on August 28, 2019, 05:59:09 AM
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/5-things-know-republican-candidate-catalina-lauf-whos-stormed-national-media/
Title: Texodus - helps seal fate of the Congress in 20
Post by: ccp on September 08, 2019, 09:29:17 AM
Republicans who did not address immigration in 16- 18 blew what will likely be their /our  only chance of doing anything about enforcing immigration laws:

https://pjmedia.com/trending/gop-texodus-and-retirement-mania-makes-retaking-the-house-doubtful/
Title: Re: Texodus - helps seal fate of the Congress in 20
Post by: DougMacG on September 08, 2019, 01:06:48 PM
Republicans who did not address immigration in 16- 18 blew what will likely be their /our  only chance of doing anything about enforcing immigration laws:

https://pjmedia.com/trending/gop-texodus-and-retirement-mania-makes-retaking-the-house-doubtful/

Republicans at 51-49 did not have the votes to break the filibuster in the Senate for a good immigration bill during the time that they had majorities in both chambers.  They also did not have 50 Senators in lock-step, cf. McCain, Flake, Corker, Collins, Murkowski, and did not have crossover votes from red state Democrats - needed to pass landmark legislation.  The House wasn't the problem then, but is now.

New illegal arrivals are ineligible to vote, right?

The Dem projection that only new voters change the direction of the country ignores the possibility that some of their past voters will recognize the damage done by their policies.  For example, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
https://www.cnbc.com/heres-a-map-of-the-us-counties-that-flipped-to-trump-from-democrats/
Better is the list of states and counties that flipped since Obama's first election.

If the trend now comes from Trump's 2016 win to the Dem's off year election win in 2018, Republicans are screwed.  If the real trend now is runs from Dems big win in 2008 through their smaller win in 2012 to their loss in 2016, Dems are screwed.

msm polls are right in a Dem wave election year and wrong when the turnout and swing is the other way.  Since we don't know which this is, they tell us nothing.

The retirements aren't what make the House unwinnable for anyone.  It puts candidates on a more equal footing.  More were retired in 2018 for lousy governance and messaging and losing reelection.  Retirements are what the Dems need more of, note that their leaders are octogenerians who can't relate to young voters.
Title: Congresswoman in threesome with hubby and staffer
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 22, 2019, 05:32:10 PM
Kinky!

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/10/21/kompromat-nude-photos-of-democrat-katie-hill-multiple-affairs-swirling-around-congresswoman-threaten-to-undermine-impeachment/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_campaign=20191022&utm_content=Final
Title: Re: Congresswoman in threesome with hubby and staffer
Post by: G M on October 22, 2019, 05:35:11 PM
Kinky!

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/10/21/kompromat-nude-photos-of-democrat-katie-hill-multiple-affairs-swirling-around-congresswoman-threaten-to-undermine-impeachment/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_campaign=20191022&utm_content=Final

Hillary will be upset that she never got credit for this.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 22, 2019, 09:25:49 PM
 :-D :evil: :-D
Title: Congress, "it will take a woman to clean up the House"
Post by: DougMacG on October 24, 2019, 06:23:46 AM
Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House.
— Nancy Pelosi, 2008
-------------------
https://truepundit.com/warning-graphic-naked-dem-congresswoman-grooms-staff-member-multiple-extramarital-affairs-with-staff-alleged/
-------------------

I think the political gays screwed up when they put the bi's and the trans' in the same group for acceptance, LGBT.  We went from one man - one woman is acceptable, to whomever you love, to anything goes, don't even know the gender.  How can a 'bi' be fully expressive and be monogamous?  Who didn't see this coming.

I wonder how this comes down if it was a Republican man sleeping around with random gender staffers, boozing it up, missing flights.  No problem? 
Title: Gays making mistake with turning the agenda into an alphabet soup
Post by: ccp on October 24, 2019, 07:20:30 AM
reading some of the comments posted on an article from a Dr Mckinnon who is trans genetic man to artificial female

someone wrote

" cheetah who claims to be human sets world record in the 100 yr dash!"

maybe you "had to be there" but I thought this a riot .  :-D

Title: Re: Congress, "it will take a woman to clean up the House"
Post by: G M on October 24, 2019, 06:18:19 PM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7609835/Katie-Hill-seen-showing-Nazi-era-tattoo-smoking-BONG-NAKED.html

NSFW, and not safe for how hot it sounds in theory.


Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House.
— Nancy Pelosi, 2008
-------------------
https://truepundit.com/warning-graphic-naked-dem-congresswoman-grooms-staff-member-multiple-extramarital-affairs-with-staff-alleged/
-------------------

I think the political gays screwed up when they put the bi's and the trans' in the same group for acceptance, LGBT.  We went from one man - one woman is acceptable, to whomever you love, to anything goes, don't even know the gender.  How can a 'bi' be fully expressive and be monogamous?  Who didn't see this coming.

I wonder how this comes down if it was a Republican man sleeping around with random gender staffers, boozing it up, missing flights.  No problem?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 24, 2019, 11:13:57 PM
DANG!!! :-o :-o :-o
Title: you must cease and desist!
Post by: ccp on October 25, 2019, 05:01:45 AM
says Elias and Jacobs.  :wink:

" .Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House.
— Nancy Pelosi, 2008
-------------------
https://truepundit.com/warning-graphic-naked-dem-congresswoman-grooms-staff-member-multiple-extramarital-affairs-with-staff-alleged/
-------------------

I think the political gays screwed up when they put the bi's and the trans' in the same group for acceptance, LGBT.  We went from one man - one woman is acceptable, to whomever you love, to anything goes, don't even know the gender.  How can a 'bi' be fully expressive and be monogamous?  Who didn't see this coming.

I wonder how this comes down if it was a Republican man sleeping around with random gender staffers, boozing it up, missing flights.  No problem?"

Title: Knaggs
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 30, 2019, 02:39:01 PM
A very good friend of distinguished service vouches for this man and asks that we donate:

https://www.starexponent.com/news/knaggs-aims-to-be-th-district-s-resolute-gop-voice/article_b0011d8f-8127-561c-b76b-d5378f015fa2.html?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_857289
Title: Re: Knaggs
Post by: G M on October 30, 2019, 06:05:19 PM
A very good friend of distinguished service vouches for this man and asks that we donate:

https://www.starexponent.com/news/knaggs-aims-to-be-th-district-s-resolute-gop-voice/article_b0011d8f-8127-561c-b76b-d5378f015fa2.html?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_857289

Looks like a good guy.
Title: george papadopoulos running for Hill's seat
Post by: ccp on October 31, 2019, 10:26:48 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/george-papadopoulos-convicted-trump-campaign-012412524.html


 :-o :?
Title: george papadopoulos running for Hill's seat
Post by: ccp on October 31, 2019, 10:29:23 AM
moving Doug's post here  from cognitive diss. of the Left thread:

"This young man [George Papadopoulos] deserves a fair chance to clear his good name.  I heard Jennifer Horn (sp?) comment on this on Sebastion Gorka yesterday.  There are other good conservatives already running in the "jungle primary".  At some timely point in the campaign, Republicans need to self-limit their choices to one or risk having two Democrats be the choices in the general election."
Title: i almost felt sorry for her at the beginning of her speech
Post by: ccp on November 02, 2019, 11:16:44 AM
which completely changed to anger when she launched into this partisan tirade with the typical political correct propaganda:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/02/aoc-suggests-katie-hills-fate-rooted-sexism-doesnt-happen-male-members-same-way/

Nonetheless most people will remember this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross
Title: Massachusetts just have to have their Kennedies
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2019, 05:52:04 PM
moving from House to Senate:

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/joe-kennedy-ed-markey-democrats-massachusetts/2019/11/05/id/940251/

 :x
Title: Return of the tax games
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 11, 2019, 08:55:19 AM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/return-of-the-tax-games-11576022797?mod=MorningEditorialReport&mod=djemMER_h
Title: tax games
Post by: ccp on December 11, 2019, 09:27:30 AM
I could bring up article on the link above but got to it here (w/o having to subscribe or log in )

https://www.wsj.com/articles/return-of-the-tax-games-11576022797

not only does it screw over the typical tax payer but reducing taxes on others (never a bad thing by itself but then the LEFT will then raise taxes elsewhere to compensate - meaning us!)

the last two sentences really ticks me off as well:

* . But what’s in this for Republicans, who passed tax reform in 2017 to simplify the code? The GOP risks rubber-stamping the Democratic agenda and enriching the Beltway tax industry in return for a few special-interest trinkets.*
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 11, 2019, 10:04:54 AM
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal speaks in Washington, D.C., Dec. 10. PHOTO: SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Impeachment suggests a hopelessly partisan Washington, but sometimes this is more for show. Republicans and Democrats are working together behind the scenes to fleece taxpayers with another burst of special-interest tax subsidies before they leave for the year.

In a rare moment of wisdom or confusion, Congress let its annual package of tax handouts expire at the end of 2017. This “extender” bill, as it’s called, is Congress’s usual way of slipping repeat tax perks to such favored friends as Nascar track proprietors, racehorse owners and green-energy outfits.

Now the main tax writers in the House and Senate are on a mission to make up for lost subsidies. Republicans have one useful purpose in wanting to pass technical corrections to their 2017 tax reform, such as fixing a mistake that denied retailers the ability to depreciate store improvements. Democrats see a political opening and want to use an extender deal to add tens of billions in new welfare-tax subsidies and a large expansion of gifts to energy companies.

Democratic House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal wants to make the $2,000 child tax credit fully refundable, which means extending it to people who don’t pay taxes. He also wants to extend the earned-income tax credit to childless adults. The Joint Committee on Taxation says the combined cost of these proposals is $80 billion over 10 years.

Over in the GOP Senate, Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley wants to bring home the green for Iowa. His top goal is reviving a $1-a-gallon tax credit for blenders of biodiesel. He’s also in favor of renewing what he calls “green-energy incentives,” including tax credits for renewable electricity and energy-efficient homes.

Republicans are also debating whether to extend the wind production tax credit. This corporate giveaway has bled taxpayers since 1992 and is finally due to meet its overdue death at the end of this year. But some in the GOP want to subsidize more noisy wind turbines across America.

Mr. Neal knows political leverage when he sees it, and in preparation for his talks with Mr. Grassley introduced the Green Act that includes a long wish-list of subsidies. Its lowlight is a huge expansion of the electric-vehicle tax credit. Current law gives a $7,500 tax credit to the relatively affluent buyers of an auto maker’s first 200,000 electric vehicles, and some of the big car makers have hit that limit. Mr. Neal wants to raise the limit to 600,000 cars, at an estimated cost of $16 billion over a decade.

Mr. Neal’s bill also has handouts for solar power, microturbines, hydrogen fuel cells, carbon capture technology, waste-energy recovery products, and so much more. No cost estimates yet, but count on a big number.

The Democratic political motives here are obvious given how they have nothing so far to show for retaking the House in 2018. They want to grease business lobbies with subsidies that will be repaid with campaign contributions to keep the House in 2020. By larding the tax code with credits that reduce revenue, they also increase fiscal pressure to raise tax rates across the board—a priority of the political left.

But what’s in this for Republicans, who passed tax reform in 2017 to simplify the code? The GOP risks rubber-stamping the Democratic agenda and enriching the Beltway tax industry in return for a few special-interest trinkets.
Title: Trump in the Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 23, 2019, 07:42:08 AM
It's hard for challengers to raise money in the Congressional races and it's hard to do advertising in congressional districts that take up only part of a media market where you have to pay for the ad in the whole media market. 

Enter President Trump who has been raising money hand over fist.  When he sets up a rally in a key area, all of his best supporters living quietly in the area send his campaign their cell number and email address in order to get the "free tickets" and they are working those lists hard for fundraising,

Without a doubt and especially in the aftermath of impeachment, Trump is running against the Democrat House just as much as he is running against their future nominee.  By someone's count, there are 31 Democrats running for reelection in Trump friendly districts.  I think the number is higher because he will outperform the polls.  Trump is already running ads against those Representatives for their impeachment vote.

As I like to say just a little too often, this changes everything.

Trump's impeachment vindication comes not from acquittal in the Senate, but from winning back the House.  He is otherwise CERTAIN to become the first, twice-impeached President in his second term.
Title: Sen. Moynihan
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 26, 2019, 11:05:50 AM
BTW, the Congresswoman Bella Abzug mentioned in the article is the woman who, with my mother, co-chaired the McCarthy for President campaign in the 17th CD of NY.  The comittee met in our dining room and various luminaries of that time visited:  Ted Sorenson, Betty Fridan, then Congressman Ed Koch, McCarthy campaign chairman Allard Lowenstein, and more.  This came to an end when my step-father out for shouting too loud too many times hahaha.


https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/a-senator-who-will-be-sorely-missed-at-trumps-impeachment-trial?source=EDT_NYR_EDIT_NEWSLETTER_0_imagenewsletter_Daily_ZZ&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_122619&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9d3fa3f92a40469e2d85c&cndid=50142053&esrc=&mbid=&utm_term=TNY_Daily
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 26, 2019, 02:33:20 PM
MCarthy or Moynihan ?

Moynihan is one of the few Democrats I respect though disagree with the liberal.

The other would be Congressman Van Drew

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 27, 2019, 12:47:52 PM
Eugene McCarthy
Title: don't know him
Post by: ccp on December 27, 2019, 02:06:56 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_McCarthy

i was too young or for that matter mostly before me.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 27, 2019, 04:55:56 PM

"Though he was initially given little chance of winning, the Tet Offensive galvanized opposition to the war and McCarthy finished in a strong second place in the New Hampshire primary. After that primary election, Kennedy entered the race and Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election. McCarthy and Kennedy each won several primaries before Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968"

This was when the committee headed by Bella Abzug and my mother was active.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 31, 2019, 07:26:53 AM
Chris Christie: Three House Seats In Deep Blue New Jersey Could Flip Red Because Of Impeachment
-----
Dear Nancy, Schiff, AOC, 'Omar,' Dean Phillips and Nadler, It would be a shame if something happened to your precious little House majority...

Nothing hurts more than a self inflicted wound.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 31, 2019, 02:05:59 PM
Wasn't there something about redistricting lines falling to Reps benefit for about 3-4 seats as well?
Title: Don't believe this for even a millisecond
Post by: ccp on January 01, 2020, 06:45:06 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/aoc-to-lose-her-congressional-district-after-2020-census/
but it is nice to dream
Title: Re: The US Congress, Is Pelosi's new action binding on Iran?
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2020, 08:34:10 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-moves-to-limit-trumps-actions-in-iran-with-war-powers-resolution-vote

They should have considered the idea of future Presidents with different policies when they passed the last authorizations. 

Iran can strike us.  We cannot strike back.  This makes us safer, how?

Wag the dog:  Trump should not take any actions in an election year because the Democrats' crazy responses would then also have to happen in an election year.  Unfair!
Title: Re: Don't believe this for even a millisecond
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2020, 08:42:19 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/aoc-to-lose-her-congressional-district-after-2020-census/
but it is nice to dream

They don't lose their seat, but they will see districts redrawn and could have two incumbents in one new district.

She (and 'Omar') lose their seat when a different democrat beats them in a primary.  All these wackos come from far-Left districts.
Title: Meet Dalia al-Aqidi
Post by: ccp on January 17, 2020, 03:24:11 PM
https://pjmedia.com/election/meet-dalia-al-aqidi-the-patriotic-republican-muslim-who-wants-to-defeat-ilhan-omar/

 :-D  8-) :-)
Title: Re: Meet Dalia al-Aqidi
Post by: DougMacG on January 17, 2020, 04:34:23 PM
https://pjmedia.com/election/meet-dalia-al-aqidi-the-patriotic-republican-muslim-who-wants-to-defeat-ilhan-omar/

 :-D  8-) :-)

Thank you for this.  A republican can't win, but to run hard, present an alternative, work to change minds and close the gap is crucially important.  People said a Democrat couldn't be elected Senator in Alabama, but if the ruling party candidate is weak enough or the field is divided, you never know.
Title: A Republican not likely to win
Post by: ccp on January 17, 2020, 05:05:01 PM

Dough wrote:
"A republican can't win, but to run hard, present an alternative, work to change minds and close the gap is crucially important"


But she win or lose ----
Would it not be great for DJT to go and campaign in her district for her and America?

Title: Patriotic Republican Muslim woman running against Ilhan Omar
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 18, 2020, 09:57:43 AM
https://pjmedia.com/election/meet-dalia-al-aqidi-the-patriotic-republican-muslim-who-wants-to-defeat-ilhan-omar/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=QAmMF3YjHKc&feature=emb_logo
Title: US Congressional races, Trump (and Pelosi) Nationalizes the House Race
Post by: DougMacG on February 07, 2020, 09:50:43 AM
First this, ccp regarding Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis: 
Doug wrote:  "A republican can't win, but to run hard, present an alternative, work to change minds and close the gap is crucially important"
But she win or lose ---- Would it not be great for DJT to go and campaign in her district for her and America?

  - Yes!  Minnesota the almost purple state, not her district the far Left city, is embarrassed of Omar.  When Trump fills Target Center downtown Mpls. with election excitement, he draws from the entire state and region.  Keep in mind that conservative western (swing state) Wisconsin is part of the Greater Twin Cities area and media market. 

The Twin Cities area includes two suburban Congressional Districts that flipped R to D in 2018.  Trump winning MN and Republicans winning back these two districts are closely related challenges.  Those supposed moderates joined with Pelosi, Omar, Tlaib and AOC on impeachment, resistance and policy.  That is not what voters were promised.  Meanwhile Trump brought peace and prosperity, not what they were told would happen if he was elected.  Trump's rise with suburban women, if true, flips these two seats and others like them possibly winning the House, also clinches the Presidency.  The Presidential race and the House races are deeply intertwined.

The city is also a great place to break the bond between blacks and Democrats. Omar can't be beat by a Republican conservative in a far Left district, and Trump won't carry California or NY, but every split between her party and the constituent groups they exploit for votes is a win.

The impeachment vote and the tear up of the speech frames the House contest.  Trump's ego says he has to be a great, two term President.  Greatness requires winning back the House, otherwise that loss is forever part of his legacy, as it was with Obama who lost his legacy.  Winning back the House negates impeachment and is needed to advance any agenda. It's a national race now.

Related:  http://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/the-republicans-house-chances-its-on-trump/
Title: Dershowitz : Schumer and Pelosi have to go
Post by: ccp on February 09, 2020, 04:58:06 PM
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/nancypelosi-chuckschumer-alandershowitz-2020/2020/02/09/id/953273/

agree but we may get someone like a socialist next

best option
Republicans win back the House
in '20. and then pressure will be on Pelosi.

I don't know if either can be dislodged while both alive though - they and their mob are not just going to walk off into the sunset
They NEVER do

they have to be dragged out kicking and screaming
Title: Congressional races, AOC meet MCC, Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
Post by: DougMacG on February 11, 2020, 10:25:27 AM
https://nypost.com/2020/02/11/former-cnbc-anchor-michelle-caruso-cabrera-to-take-on-aoc-in-primary/

"What I've learned from the BP oil disaster, the housing debacle and the financial collapse is that government is over-regulating our lives and yet is never going to protect us."  - MCC  2010
https://www.amazon.com/You-Know-Right-Prosperity-Government/dp/1400169623?tag=nypost-20
Title: AOC Congressional District seat in jeopardy?
Post by: ccp on February 24, 2020, 03:16:53 PM
https://thegreggjarrett.com/yikes-ocasio-cortez-giving-money-to-progressives-so-she-is-less-lonely-in-congress/
Title: FL Dems reject Sandernista defense of Castro
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 25, 2020, 11:32:27 AM
https://www.newsweek.com/miami-democrat-who-represents-cuban-district-labels-bernie-sanders-defense-fidel-castro-1488773?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1582574754
Title: CA buyer's remorse
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 07, 2020, 01:37:26 PM
https://www.westernjournal.com/buyers-remorse-sets-gop-leads-86-ca-districts-dems-flipped-2018/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=empowerconservatives
Title: Sen. Cotton continues to shine
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 31, 2020, 04:49:04 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/the-senator-who-saw-the-coronavirus-coming/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=blog-post&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=more-in&utm_term=first
Title: Will it be AOC "we hardly knew you?"
Post by: ccp on April 09, 2020, 03:37:34 PM
https://nypost.com/2020/04/08/michelle-caruso-cabrera-raises-1-million-in-bid-to-topple-aoc/
Title: President's power to adjourn Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 16, 2020, 07:39:02 PM
1)

https://reason.com/2020/04/15/noel-canning-redux-justice-scalia-wrote-that-the-president-could-use-the-adjournment-power-to-block-senate-intransgience/


===============

2)  Yes, Trump Can Close Congress
The Constitution gives him the power to resolve a ‘disagreement’ over the ‘time of adjournment.’
By Sai Prakash
April 16, 2020 7:01 pm ET

Every president eventually reaches into a bag of tricks. Donald Trump is no different. On Wednesday he demanded that Congress adjourn so that he can make recess appointments—temporary appointments permissible when the Senate is recessed. If Congress fails to adjourn, he threatens to close it, using constitutional authority no president has ever deployed. The president has it right. And he has James Madison, the father of the Constitution, on his side.

For decades, presidents abused their Article II recess appointment power, bypassing Senate consent. During George W. Bush’s presidency, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid devised a gambit to stop it. Every three days two senators would gavel open the Senate and then quickly close it. Mr. Reid insisted that this ritual meant that the Senate was in session, meaning Mr. Bush couldn’t make recess appointments. After Republicans deployed the maneuver against President Obama, the Supreme Court endorsed it. The court concluded that if the Senate says it is ready to do business, it is in session. This was dubious, for if almost all senators are hundreds of miles away from the Capitol, the Senate can’t really be in session.


Mr. Trump’s counter-maneuver should win the grudging respect of the wily Mr. Reid. “If the House will not agree to [an] adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford,” the president said Wednesday. “It is a scam what they do.”

It may seem odd that the president is able to close another branch of government. But Article II of the Constitution empowers him to assert that there is a “case of disagreement” between the chambers “with respect to the time of adjournment” and adjourn Congress himself. If the Senate resolves to adjourn and the House refuses to do so, Mr. Trump can shutter Congress.

So said James Madison. In 1788, Madison observed: “Were the Senate to attempt to prevent an adjournment, it would but serve to irritate the Representatives, without having the intended effect, as the President could adjourn them.” This is the converse of our situation. If the House were “to prevent an adjournment,” it would serve no purpose, “as the President could adjourn” Congress.

We should feel no sympathy for Congress. The House pretends to be open for the sake of preventing recess appointments. Yet as things stand, because neither chamber is actually meeting in any real sense, nothing can pass. Hence the Senate is in a de facto recess. Under current rules, when legislators go home, we have a Potemkin Congress.

If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to cooperate, the Senate should agree to adjourn for 10 days or more. If after a few days the House refused to pass an adjournment resolution, Mr. Trump could cite the disagreement and adjourn Congress and make recess appointments. Neither Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could force the Senate back into session.

Any recess appointments would be challenged. But the courts would be hard-pressed to deny that there was a disagreement, especially since James Madison supports the president’s invocation of an express constitutional power.

Mr. Prakash is a law professor and Miller Center fellow at the University of Virginia and author of “The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument Against Its Ever-Expanding Powers.
Title: Gingrich: Pelosi's dereliction of duty
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 18, 2020, 11:45:29 AM
https://www.gingrich360.com/2020/04/newts-facebook-live-video-nancy-pelosis-dereliction-of-duty/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 20, 2020, 05:46:01 AM
Republicans who care had better step it up  right now or LOSE.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/19/house-elections-cash-rich-democrats-tighten-grip-194570
 
Recruitment flops and lackluster fundraising have weakened Republicans’ chances in over a dozen competitive House districts, leaving them with an increasingly narrow path back to power.

Though GOP strategists feel confident they will see some gains this cycle, the latest fundraising reports out last week painted a bleak picture of their odds of netting the 18 seats needed to recapture the House, particularly with campaigning frozen by a global pandemic.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 20, 2020, 07:14:57 AM
Doug,

Why do you think that is?
I hate to say it but Trump is not inspiring during this epidemic
yes I know the media is nearly 100% against him but his briefings are not helping to me
right after last nights initiation into his talk where he holds up a WSJ and discusses how it compliments HIM, I fell to sleep
and of course I read later that CNN and the rest continue to badger him and of course he reacts the way he always does and will

Is there really more than a few who are not just tired of all this

His best chance of winning is he give Biden a mini mental status test during the next debate showing Biden is in early stages of dementa

Just my 2 cents

if it ain't trump fatigue then what is it with Republicans?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 20, 2020, 07:53:55 AM
Doug,
Why do you think that is?
I hate to say it but Trump is not inspiring during this epidemic
yes I know the media is nearly 100% against him but his briefings are not helping to me
right after last nights initiation into his talk where he holds up a WSJ and discusses how it compliments HIM, I fell to sleep
and of course I read later that CNN and the rest continue to badger him and of course he reacts the way he always does and will

Is there really more than a few who are not just tired of all this

His best chance of winning is he give Biden a mini mental status test during the next debate showing Biden is in early stages of dementia

Just my 2 cents

if it ain't trump fatigue then what is it with Republicans?

The worry is November, not what people are thinking in April.  But what happens in April greatly affects November.  Democrats are now stuck with Biden, short of some combination of miracles for them.  Republicans are stuck with the congressional candidates they recruit and select now.  Incumbents used to have a 98% success rate.  To disrupt that, you need everything to go right for you.

What the country needs is not only a Republican sweep of House, Senate and White House, but it has to be the right ones, running for the right reasons, and courageousluy sticking to their principles.  A rare find.  Republicans won House, Senate and White House through most of 2001-2006 - and governed like Democrats.  They had some tax cuts and some temporary economic growth, but grew government terribly and  left all the destructive forces in Washington untouched.

Another two years of Trump sharing power with Pelosi-Omar-AOC will mean more of the same.  The fight with each other prevents a win against all that is wrong, such as the screwed up FDA and CDC, not to mention government taking over housing, healthcare and everything else.

Recruiting a top, smooth talking Democrat to move to Washington and help the Left rule the country is a dream job for him or her, in a dream place with dream powers.  Recruiting a common sense, limited government supporting conservative to leave family, community and private sector behind and move to Washington to be treated like dirt and be called racist and worse, just to try to save their country while swimming upstream, is a nightmare requiring enormous personal sacrifice, just to take the blame for all that goes wrong - because no one has ever really cut the size and scope of government.

Similar problems exist for recruiting the best conservative minds to go into education and journalism.  We are at a gigantic disadvantage because that is not what these kinds of people aspire to do.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 20, 2020, 08:18:29 AM
appreciate the response
but you kind of side stepped part of my question while answering the more general concept also on the mark.

but

is there Trump fatigue and is this spilling over to the Congessional races or are they more local phenomena?

 :|




Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 22, 2020, 08:07:53 AM
kind of side stepped part of my question...
is there Trump fatigue and is this spilling over to the Congessional races or are they more local phenomena?


I do not know on Trump fatigue.  Stories of huge viewership of his daily briefings seem to come from March.  I think people have virus fatigue.  Strangely, some of us long for the return of more conventional political issues.

Trump wanted to run against Sanders and socialism.  By getting Biden he doesn't get the clear ideology to run against but most likely eliminates the threat of a serious third contender, Howard Schultz or Bloomberg.

For the congressional races he wants to nationalize against AOC, Omar and the gang.

6 BIG Senate races will be local in nature, but the national mood matters.

One issue left behind by the virus is that these pretend moderates in their suburban swing districts all voted for impeachment based on nothing that was going nowhere.  Washington spun its wheels while the trouble of the century was brewing.  Democrat supported institutions failed.  Trump, at some point, needs to get back to calling them out and running against the Democrat House, their obstructionism, their failures and their screwed up agenda.  Individual R. candidates will not be able to fully make that case.

But for now, Trump was right to be the face of the virus fight.  Trump fatigue on that front is far preferable to the Bush Katrina charge that was sure to otherwise come his way.  He is the uniter, not the rich guy out playing golf on his own closed golf courses while the scientists lock down the nation.  Make America great again is what everyone is thinking right now, if he didn't hold the copyright on it.

If people blame trump for the virus hitting the US so hard, Trump loses.  If people rightfully blame  China, Trump is the number one person in the world standing up to China, without question.

Nine out of 10 Americans now see China as a threat, Pew Research
https://qz.com/1842150/what-americans-think-are-the-greatest-threats-from-china/

In the end, the question of Trump fatigue is binary.  We are sick of a lot of things, but the alternative to Trump is Biden. 

Trump achieved TWICE the growth rate of Obama-Biden.  The big question for November I think is, who can lead us back to economic growth better and faster?  The only two answers to that are Trump and Trump denial.  Then for Congress the question becomes, which party in Congress can work better with President Trump to lead us back to robust economic growth.  The answer is Republicans, but expect the debate to be confused and conflated by a billion dollars of influence spent to say otherwise.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 22, 2020, 09:07:15 AM

[. Nine out of 10 Americans now see China as a threat, Pew Research ]

Is pelosi ahead of this ?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3036017/nancy-pelosi-wants-us-be-tougher-china-donald-trump-aligning-eu-pressure

certainly not as much as she thinks,  if she is bashing Trump for his stance on China and not the Dems.
she took a few comments about Trump saying nice things about Xi out of context

Bloomberg , Feinstein , Biden family

https://qz.com/1842150/what-americans-think-are-the-greatest-threats-from-china/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv7yVCwv6NU
Title: Sen. Richard Burr R-NC, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, FBI
Post by: DougMacG on May 15, 2020, 06:39:43 AM
FBI serves warrant on senator in investigation of stock sales linked to coronavirus
MAY 13, 20206:54 PM UPDATED 7:17 PM
WASHINGTON  —  Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said.
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a law enforcement action.

Sen. Burr steps aside as Intelligence Committee chair after FBI warrant in stock inquiry
May 14, 2020
The seizure represents a significant escalation in the investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work.

To obtain a search warrant, federal agents and prosecutors must persuade a judge they have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. The law enforcement official said the Justice Department is examining Burr’s communications with his broker.

Such a warrant being served on a sitting U.S. senator would require approval from the highest ranks of the Justice Department and is a step that would not be taken lightly. Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.

A second law enforcement official said FBI agents served a warrant in recent days on Apple to obtain information from Burr’s iCloud account and said agents used data obtained from the California-based company as part of the evidence used to obtain the warrant for the senator’s phone.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-05-13/fbi-serves-warrant-on-senator-stock-investigation
-----------------------------
[Doug]
A.  On the forum we try to treat scandal on the right same as we would treat scandal on the Left.  If this were AOC, Biden or Schumer, we would be all over this.

B.  On the other side of this, I don't think it took "Inside Information" to decide to sell your stocks in the face of a virus causing outbreaks and lockdowns in a province with seven times the population of London.  He could have just been reading the forum.  I sold my stock at that time just looking at how the Chinese shutdown would hurt earnings of DOW, NASDAQ, S&P companies and knowing how panicky other investors would react to those numbers when they come out, NOT anticipating a complete shutdown of the USA and the world.

C.  The day in question was Feb 13, 2020. 
https://www.propublica.org/article/burr-family-stock
That is TWO WEEKS AFTER WHO declared coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency.  2 weeks after Trump shut down all flights to the US from China, not exactly early in this crisis.  2 weeks after articles in Hospital Review report sold out masks.  Had he done this in Nov-Dec 2019, very early January, I might suspect inside information.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/30/who-declares-coronavirus-outbreak-a-global-health-emergency/
What sold-out coronavirus face masks teach about price-gouging, January 31st, 2020
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, sales of medical face masks have spiked, especially since the government confirmed the first human-to-human transmission of the virus.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/supply-chain/what-sold-out-coronavirus-face-masks-teach-about-price-gouging.html

The strange thing about mid-Feb, check my posts, is that stocks had not dropped even though anyone/everyone could see that bad health and economic news was coming.

D.  The default position of an elected politician should be to be out of stocks while in public office - to avoid this kind of thing, yet they have some right like the rest of us to earn a return on their savings and investments. 

E.  As indicated in the article, this is a very serious move by DOJ/FBI.  It is either deep state running wild or it is serious people like AG Barr looking at serious indications of violation of insider trading law.

Insiders knew the least of anyone in this crisis.  He could have bought a mask, sanitizer or toilet paper stocks.  Just closing out his position while we see where this goes seems cautious, prudent, logical to me.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 15, 2020, 07:06:54 AM
Rush pointed out we don't see the same treatment of similarly corrupt appearing Diane the Feinstein

he says no mention of seizing her phone etc

only she answered a few questions and she happily turned over a few documents in a quiet back door chat with agents.

no headlines
no "seizure"

why are crats always treated differently?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 15, 2020, 11:56:19 AM
I'm willing to wait and see on this.

1) I'm willing to give Barr the benefit of the doubt in the absence of contrary evidence;

2) the facts could be quite different in each of the cases in ways that present distinct evidentiary issues.
Title: House Proxy Voting
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 27, 2020, 05:43:05 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-SH5rzp-4A
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 27, 2020, 07:43:22 PM
Deep State Barr will say the right things while the FBIDNC targets republicans.


I'm willing to wait and see on this.

1) I'm willing to give Barr the benefit of the doubt in the absence of contrary evidence;

2) the facts could be quite different in each of the cases in ways that present distinct evidentiary issues.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races MN
Post by: DougMacG on June 22, 2020, 07:32:26 AM
Every race for the Senate and House this year is going to matter, not just the Presidency, and margin of victory or defeat matters too.

[Copying info to this thread:]
Jason Lewis, Republican candidate for US Senate in Minnesota, Planned Parenthood's Tina Smith seat.  Lewis was a local talk show host, formerly a frequent guest host for Rush Limbaugh, former congressman in one of the suburban districts that flipped Dem in 2018.  [Give money] https://lewisformn.com/  He leans constitutionalist, libertarian and anti-hawk, maybe of the Rand Paul mold.


https://www.lacyjohnson.com/  Lacy Johnson, Republican candidate for Ilhan Omar's seat in congress. 
Does race matter?
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.J_2nKqi0k7cKXNeI9BA8HgAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1)
Title: The Filibuster is going, going , , ,
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 26, 2020, 05:55:56 AM
The Filibuster Is Going, Going . . .
Chris Coons, a key Biden ally, signals Democrats will break the 60-vote rule for legislation.
By The Editorial Board
June 25, 2020 7:21 pm ET

As progressive radicalism sweeps America’s streets and civil-society institutions, one question is whether its agenda can be translated into law. One obstacle is the Senate filibuster, which constrains partisan majorities by requiring 60 votes for most legislation. But if Democrats take control of the Senate in 2020, expect the rule to be torched as soon as it impedes the Democratic agenda.

The latest indication comes from Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a moderate Democrat with a reputation as an institutionalist who in 2017 along with Maine Republican Susan Collins led an open letter in support of the filibuster. “We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process,” they wrote in a letter signed by 61 Senators.

But that was when Republicans controlled the Senate. Now Mr. Coons tells Politico, “I will not stand idly by for four years and watch the Biden administration’s initiatives blocked at every turn.” He added: “I am gonna try really hard to find a path forward that doesn’t require removing what’s left of the structural guardrails, but if there’s a Biden administration, it will be inheriting a mess, at home and abroad. It requires urgent and effective action.”

In the Democratic presidential primary, Elizabeth Warren called for getting rid of the filibuster while more moderate candidates like Sen. Cory Booker resisted. Mr. Coons’s apparent change of heart suggests the progressives will have little problem winning out once they are trying to pass legislation they deem “urgent” on a party-line vote. Notably, Mr. Coons is one of Joe Biden’s main Senate confidants.

Perhaps the filibuster’s days have been numbered since then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid axed it for lower-court judges on a party-line vote in 2013. But the result of a unified Democratic government unconstrained by the legislative filibuster could be a dramatic redistribution of political power that most Americans don’t suspect.

Congress could pass statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, tilting the Senate further left. A simple Senate majority could also change the composition of the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court. The mere threat of this may already be causing Chief Justice John Roberts to move left.

President Trump has been falling in the polls, and on present trend he’ll take the GOP Senate down to defeat too. The stakes for the upper chamber are far greater than in a typical election, and Republicans will have to start making that case to the voters.
Title: Bongino : crats plan to get rid of fillibuster in Senate
Post by: ccp on June 29, 2020, 05:05:51 PM
51 will rule
you can skip the commercials:

https://bongino.com/ep-1285-who-is-really-behind-this-chaos
Title: Congressional races, (former) Rep. Mia Love's district
Post by: DougMacG on July 01, 2020, 07:29:32 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/505371-former-nfl-player-burgess-owens-wins-utah-gop-primary

Let's win this seat back.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 01, 2020, 07:33:28 AM
I donated to Mia Love a few times, but then I saw her get snarky with President Trump.  Owens winning the primary appears to be very good news.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, John James R-Michigan
Post by: DougMacG on August 04, 2020, 06:05:10 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/04/in_2nd_try_james_sees_different_mi_challenge_and_outcome_143870.html
Title: Cori Bush joins the Squad
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 05, 2020, 11:04:47 PM
The Squad’s New Member
National progressives topple a third House baron this year.
By WSJ The Editorial Board
Aug. 5, 2020 8:25 pm ET


The big news from the latest round of primary elections on Tuesday was the defeat of 10-term Missouri Congressman William Lacy Clay to a left-wing challenger. This is the third such upset this year, and together they illustrate the Democratic Party’s continuing move to the left and the growing nationalization of House races.

Mr. Clay is a House baron and scion of a St. Louis political dynasty. His father founded the Congressional Black Caucus four decades ago, and he’s a thorough-going liberal, but he was also willing to work with Republicans as he did in late 2018 to pass criminal-justice reform.

Mr. Clay easily fended off a challenge from Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush in 2018, and he took her seriously in the rematch. But he lost 49%-45.5% after he was targeted by the party’s new and aggressive national progressive groups. One ad hit him for joining House Republicans in 2016 to oppose the Obama Labor Department’s fiduciary rule that harmed savers and retirees.

Mr. Clay tracked to the left by endorsing the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, but he was still considered insufficiently liberal because he didn’t support defunding police like Ms. Bush.

He joins eight-term Illinois Rep. Daniel Lipinski and New York’s 16-termer Eliot Engel in this year’s camp of Democratic incumbent exiles. Mr. Lipinski became a target for his long-held pro-life views while Mr. Engel’s pro-Israel stance offended the new progressive orthodoxy. Mr. Engel’s opponent and likely successor supports a universal basic income and dismantling police, among other progressive fashions.

In other primary news, Detroit Rep. Rashida Tlaib, squad-mate of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, handily beat moderate challenger Brenda Jones, who came close to defeating her two years ago. “If I was considered the most vulnerable member of the Squad, I think it’s safe to say the Squad is here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger,” Ms. Tlaib crowed.

These results will echo through the Democratic House majority and pull it further to the left on policy and make it more partisan on politics. Incumbents will be less inclined to work with Republicans lest they be vulnerable to a primary challenge. Good luck to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in managing a larger squad.
Title: Re: Cori Bush joins the Squad
Post by: DougMacG on August 06, 2020, 04:04:00 AM
 “If I was considered the most vulnerable member of the Squad, I think it’s safe to say the Squad is here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger,”   Tlaib crowed.

   - Ilhan Omar has a fight as well.  Aug 11.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 19, 2020, 09:15:13 AM


This Is a Rough Year to Be a Down-Ticket Republican

North Carolina is a key swing state in the presidential race, has one of the top five or six most important and competitive Senate races this cycle, and also a governor’s race this year. You would think the Republican candidate in the gubernatorial race, Dan Forest, would at least be in the ballpark against incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper. But Forest is trailing badly — by 14 points in the most recent poll, and by 20 in one in July. In the Senate race, incumbent Republican Thom Tillis is doing better, but is consistently trailing by a few points. Tarheel State Republicans have their work cut out for them.

Michigan is a top-tier swing state in this year. Just about every Republican loves John James, the 2018 Senate candidate who outperformed every other Michigan Republican who sought a statewide office and who the GOP believed had a much better shot against the less-well-known incumbent Democrat Gary Peters. So far James is doing . . . eh, maybe okay at best. The CNBC poll shows James trailing by three points, the EPIC/MRA poll has him down by ten, as does the Gravis poll. A CNN poll last month had him down by 16 points.

In Maine, history has demonstrated that incumbent Republican Susan Collins is really, really tough to beat. But she trailed in all four public polls conducted in July by four or five points. It would be foolish to count Collins out, but she’s probably the underdog at this point.

In Arizona, appointed Republican senator Martha McSally would presumably have the advantage of quasi-incumbency as a wind at her back; and McSally only lost her Senate bid in 2018 by 2.3 points. But she consistently trails Democrat Mark Kelly, sometimes by as little as two points, sometimes by as much as twelve points.

In Kansas, the state GOP dodged a metaphorical bullet when Roger Marshall beat Kris Kobach in the Senate primary. The first post-primary poll shows Marshall ahead . . . but only by two points. That could be worse, but it is far from the kinds of leads that Republicans running statewide are used to enjoying in Kansas.

In Iowa, only three polls have been conducted this year, and all of them show incumbent Republican Joni Ernst in a tight race. Every Iowa Republican probably expected a tough race in a state that is proving important for the presidential election as well, but keep in mind six years ago, Ernst’s race was supposed to be close, and she won by more than eight points.

The one recent poll in Colorado’s Senate race put incumbent Republican Cory Gardner down by six points to former governor John Hickenlooper. As grim as that sounds, that’s a dramatic improvement from the spring, when Hickenlooper led by double digits.

Perhaps the most surprising poll result of the cycle was Quinnipiac’s late July, early August poll in South Carolina, showing challenger Jaime Harrison tied with incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham. Previous polls showed Graham ahead by comfortable margins. The jury is still out on whether Quinnipiac detected dramatic movement in what is seen as a deep-red state, or was just an odd outlier. (Perhaps the sample is unrepresentative of who is likely to vote this fall. In that Quinnipiac survey, 31 percent of South Carolinian registered voter respondents self-identified as Republicans; in the 2016 exit poll, 46 percent of South Carolinian voters self-identified as Republicans.)

Georgia has two simultaneous Senate races this year, and incumbent David Purdue is favored over challenger Jon Ossoff. And so far all of the polling shows Purdue ahead . . . by the low-to-mid single digits.

Not all the recent Senate polling shows bad news. The only poll of Minnesota’s Senate race so far this year puts Republican Jason Lewis within three points of Tina Smith, the woman appointed to replace Al Franken. That same survey put Trump within three points in Minnesota. Maybe all the riots in Minneapolis and calls to abolish the police aren’t good for the Democrats up there.

Republicans recently got a pleasant surprise in Montana, when the most recent Emerson poll put incumbent GOP senator Steve Daines ahead by six points over Democrat Steve Bullock, the current governor. An earlier poll had put Bullock ahead by two points.

The last few polls in Texas suggested the talk that Biden could win the Lone Star State was overwrought, and Jon Cornyn is on pace to win comfortably. Right now, it appears Beto O’Rourke’s Senate bid was the high-water mark for Texas Democrats.

The rest of the governor’s races are mostly in deep red states and look pretty safe for Republicans. Mike Parson, who took over in Missouri after Eric Greitens resigned, is looking solid. In Montana, Representative Greg Gianforte is enjoying a lead, although he’s not quite body-slamming his Democratic rival. In New Hampshire, incumbent Republican Chris Sununu is way ahead of both potential Democratic challengers. The only poll in Indiana’s governor’s race so far this year put incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb ahead by 20 points.

We’re just not seeing a lot of public polling for House races. The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling offered a survey showing the open-seat race in Montana is a tie. The Deseret News poll shows Republican Burgess Owens — J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets! — tied with incumbent Democrat Ben McAdams in Utah in Mia Love’s old district. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has a four-point lead in the open-seat race Iowa’s Second District, which would be a GOP pickup.

Add it all up, and it turns into a pretty gloomy outlook for down-ticket Republicans. There are exceptions here and there, but deep red states look a little less red, promising first-term Republicans such as Gardner, Ernst, and Tillis are in tough shape, the purple states look a little more blue, and light blue-ish states where Republicans thought they had a shot look out of reach. Republican governors appear to be doing noticeably better than Republican senators, so maybe this is just a tough year to be associated with the status quo in Washington. Or maybe it’s easier to develop an identity separate from President Trump when you work in a state capital.

This is where someone will insist you can’t trust poll numbers, the polls were wrong before — eh, not so much in 2017, 2018, and 2019 — and Donald Trump will win reelection in a landslide, winning back the House for the GOP and expanding the Republican Senate majority, et cetera. Maybe the nation’s pollsters, large and small, all got together and decided to put their thumbs on the scale to make the numbers look worse for Republicans. The GOP had better hope that’s the case.
Title: US Congress; Congressional races, US Senate R-MN?
Post by: DougMacG on September 03, 2020, 12:59:05 PM
40% of Minnesotans say Tina who?

Jason Lewis tied in latest poll.  This changes the battleground.

https://secure.winred.com/jason-lewis-for-senate/donate

What difference does control of the US Senate? Supreme Court for one thing.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 03, 2020, 04:41:34 PM
My mom wants to make useful donations but at 88 years old is easily scammed. 

Could use the Senate names and legit URLs for

Arizona
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Lindsay Graham
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 04, 2020, 06:13:03 AM
The big defect in the Dem convention was what was not said, condemning violence, standing up to China, etc.

My complaint with the Republican is what was not said.  The President and the party did not merge the election of the President with the need to win the House and Senate as well in order to govern along with an agenda of what they can accomplish if they win.

Maybe the separation of these races is strategic.  It is Democrats who want to merge the anti-Trump vote with holding the House and taking the Senate.
---
Enter Nancy and the closed salon wash and blow job.  Perhaps her arrogance is our best asset.  The event sounds small and petty but the forced closures are destroying businesses and lives, destroying our country with their arrogance.  Their one size fits all governance, no matter the damage it causes is fully exposed in this one small act.  Americans should send Democrats with all their power and arrogance packing.

Here is Newt opining on this:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-heres-why-pelosis-blow-out-could-lead-to-a-blowout-election

Newt Gingrich: Here's why Pelosi's blowout could lead to a blowout election
Pelosi’s aristocratic behavior could have hair-raising consequences for Democrats
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, DONATE TODAY
Post by: DougMacG on September 04, 2020, 07:09:39 AM
My mom wants to make useful donations but at 88 years old is easily scammed. 

Could use the Senate names and legit URLs for

Arizona
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Lindsay Graham

These are all links directly from their websites, not from advertising.

Martha McSally, Arizona:
https://secure.winred.com/martha-mcsally/donate?utm_medium=website&utm_source=website

Thom Tillis, North Carolina
https://secure.winred.com/thom-tillis/website

No US Senate race in Wisc. this year.
Jason Lewis, MN
https://secure.winred.com/jason-lewis-for-senate/donate

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
https://secure.winred.com/team-graham/donate

John James, Michigan
https://secure.winred.com/john-james/donate?_ga=2.118003273.1515767453.1599228213-1983601612.1599228213

Susan Collins, Maine
https://secure.winred.com/susan-collins/donate-contributebutton

Cory Gardner, Colorado
https://secure.winred.com/cory-gardner/website/?recurring=true&utm_medium=website&utm_source=header

Steve Daines, Montana
https://secure.winred.com/steve-daines/donate


I thought mom was a Democrat.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 04, 2020, 07:55:11 AM
THANK YOU.

She was a Democrat in 1968 and 1972 against Nixon.

Somewhere along the way she got hit over the head with a baseball bat in the form of a police raid on her home in upstate NY because the police thought she was dealing drugs out of an brownstone in Harlem she had rehabbed into a rooming house (it was written up in the NYT btw).  They pointed guns at her sweet dog and took her computer and business records and did not give them back until she had to hire a lawyer and sue.

Anyway, she is a STRONG Trump supporter!!!
 
Title: Chamber of Commerce betrays itself
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 04, 2020, 08:58:25 AM
Chamber of Errors
The business lobby abandons free-market principles to back 23 freshman Democrats.

By Kimberley A. Strassel
Sept. 3, 2020 7:09 pm ET

To err is Washington, and even the most seasoned Beltway players can be forgiven the occasional strategic mistake. But deliberately ignoring history, evidence and principle by engaging in an act that undermines one’s reason for existence is another matter. Meet the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The nation’s premier business lobby this week finalized its decision to help re-elect 23 House Democratic freshmen. Most of those endorsed spent their first term reliably voting to end U.S. business as we know it. Of the chamber’s new favorite politicians, 20 have voted to abolish right-to-work states; 18 said yes to a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage; and 14 supported the House’s $3 trillion blowout, styled the Heroes Act—among other votes designed to crush the life out of free markets. This from an organization whose tag line reads “Standing Up for American Enterprise.” These days it’s more like “prostrating ourselves for crumbs.”

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
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The old tag line was more befitting of chamber CEO Tom Donohue, the feisty Irishman who as recently as 2008 led the chamber in a full frontal effort to deny Barack Obama a filibuster-proof Senate majority. Today’s chamber reflects the growing influence of Suzanne Clark, who replaced Mr. Donohue as president in 2019, and chief policy officer Neil Bradley. In their choice between defending free enterprise and making nice on the cocktail circuit, the drinks are winning.

The endorsements are best viewed as the chamber leadership’s bow to both political correctness and dubious strategy. Internally, the outfit is increasingly under pressure from tech and Wall Street executives who want a focus on climate change, equal pay and raising energy taxes. The chamber’s website touts its diversity initiatives: “The U.S. Chamber Celebrates Women’s Equality Day.” “At Historic U.S. Chamber Headquarters, Temporary Art Installation Celebrates Black Lives Matter Voices.” Good luck finding a policy paper on, say, the economic cost of a higher gasoline tax (a levy the chamber supports these days).

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Externally, the chamber is falling for the old tried-and-failed belief that it can buy goodwill by making nice to swing-seat Democrats in the majority. The 23 endorsements are supposed to prove that the chamber is truly bipartisan and that it maintains distance from Republicans—and thus persuade Democrats to work with the chamber to modulate the latest progressive promises to double corporate taxation, jail CEO “polluters” and eliminate fossil fuels.

History shows otherwise. The chamber’s golden era was the 1980s, when its commitment to free-market principle made it a powerhouse. Its chief economist, Richard Rahn, with the support of President Richard Lesher, produced an economic platform that was solidly for lower taxes, less regulation and free trade. The chamber was able to brush aside the special pleadings of this or that industry, even as it demonstrated bipartisanship, for instance by opposing the 1982 Reagan tax increase. While other trade organizations cut deals, the chamber did not—and that made it a force to reckon with.

The chamber’s clout waned with the elevation of William Archey, who subscribed to the make-nice strategy, to the position of senior vice president for policy and congressional affairs. In 1993 the chamber threw itself behind Hillary Clinton’s health-care plan, as well as other Democratic policies. It never got anything in return, though the chamber’s members did revolt, resigning in droves. The board dumped Archey in 1994, and Mr. Lesher followed in 1997. That’s how Mr. Donahue came by his job.

The chamber is now repeating history. Local chambers and members across the country are furious that this week’s endorsements stack the decks against true free-market candidates. Letters are pouring in; members are threatening to quit. It’s not the party affiliation; they approve of the chamber supporting free-market Democrats. They complain that the chamber juked free-marketeers by changing its scorecard formula to ease the path for Democratic endorsements. Instead of measuring members purely on votes, the chamber now awards points for “leadership” and “bipartisanship.” That’s how a business lobby ends up endorsing members who voted for the February PRO Act, which would eliminate right to work, independent contractors and secret ballots in union elections.

Mostly, they want to know how the chamber could be so gullible as to think these Democrats will stand with business when it counts. Sure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will cut a few loose here or there to burnish their “moderate” credentials. But she will never allow them to cost her a floor vote.

Supporters will argue the chamber isn’t spending any money on House races. What really counts, they say, is the chamber’s support for continued GOP control of the Senate. Tell that to companies in those swing districts left at the mercy of their antibusiness Democratic representatives.

It’s hard to see what the chamber accomplished with this week’s move. Democrats will continue to shut its doors to the chamber, though now Republicans will too. That’s what comes with putting politics ahead of principle.

Write to kim@wsj.com.
Title: AZ Dem Senate candidate Mark Kelly- real rich real quick including deals w China
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 08, 2020, 01:34:09 PM
https://www.westernjournal.com/report-details-dem-senate-candidate-mark-kelly-got-rich-quick-including-selling-china/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=huckabee
Title: Sen. Ben Sasse: Make Senate Great Again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 09, 2020, 08:52:37 AM
Make the Senate Great Again
To restore the world’s greatest deliberative body, we need to think big.
By Ben Sasse
Sept. 8, 2020 2:19 pm ET
SAVE
PRINT
TEXT
479




ILLUSTRATION: BARBARA KELLEY
What would the Founding Fathers think of America if they came back to life? Their eyes would surely bug out first at our technology and wealth. But I suspect they’d also be stunned by the deformed structure of our government. The Congress they envisioned is all but dead. The Senate in particular is supposed to be the place where Americans hammer out our biggest challenges with debate. That hasn’t happened for decades—and the rot is bipartisan.

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Many on the left think the problem is the filibuster, which requires a supermajority to end debate and enact most legislation. But ending the filibuster would allow political parties to change the direction of the country dramatically with a succession of shifting 51-49 votes. That’s a path to even more polarization and instability. The Senate’s culture needs dramatic change aimed at promoting debate, not ending it. Here are some ideas:

• Cut the cameras. Most of what happens in committee hearings isn’t oversight, it’s showmanship. Senators make speeches that get chopped up, shipped to home-state TV stations, and blasted across social media. They aren’t trying to learn from witnesses, uncover details, or improve legislation. They’re competing for sound bites.

There’s one notable exception: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the majority of whose work is done in secret. Without posturing for cameras, Republicans and Democrats cooperate on some of America’s most complicated and urgent problems. Other committees could follow their example, while keeping transparency by making transcripts and real-time audio available to the public.

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• Abolish standing committees. The Senate is supposed to be the world’s greatest deliberative body, but it operates on about 20 permanent fiefdoms. Dividing legislative work is important, but there’s no corporation that would tackle its problems by creating 20 permanent committees and running every decision through them. The Senate should instead create temporary two-year committees, each devoted to making real progress on one or two big problems. Committees should draw power from their accomplishments, not based on which industries need to supplicate before the gavel.

• Pack the floor. Serious debate happens only if senators show up. Ninety-nine percent of the time you see a senator talking on the floor, he’s speaking to a chamber with somewhere between zero and two colleagues present. The Senate’s rules privilege the majority, which controls the agenda and floor time. Senators ought to be packed on the floor having real debates. We can do that by changing the rules to allow committees to control some floor time. Elections have consequences, so the majority leader should control the majority of the Senate’s time, but committees should be able to command specific times for specific debates.

• Live together. A lot of time is spent demonizing the opposition, but most senators can get along quite well. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii is as liberal as the day is long, but he’s my friend. Senators should live, eat, and meet in dormitories when the Senate is in session. It’s hard to demonize people you spend time with every day.

• Cancel re-election. One of the biggest reasons Congress gives away its power to the executive branch is that it’s politically expedient for both parties to avoid the decisions that come from the work of legislating. Lawmakers are obsessed with staying in office, and one of the easiest ways to keep getting re-elected is by avoiding hard decisions. We ought to propose a constitutional amendment to limit every senator to one term, but we should double it from six years to 12. Senators who don’t have to worry about short-term popularity can work instead on long-term challenges.

If that’s a bridge too far, at least ban fundraising while the Senate is in session in Washington. It’s an everyday experience to sit down at a $2,000-a-plate lunch fundraiser and then run over to make committee votes. Lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, but it shouldn’t be the primary focus of senators when we’ve got work to do.

• Repeal the 17th Amendment. Ratified in 1912, it replaced the appointment of senators by state legislatures with direct election. Different states bring different solutions to the table, and that ought to be reflected in the Senate’s national debate. The old saying used to be that all politics is local, but today—thanks to the internet, 24/7 cable news and a cottage industry dedicated to political addiction—politics is polarized and national. That would change if state legislatures had direct control over who serves in the Senate.

• Sunset everything. For decades Pennsylvania Avenue has been a one-way street, as authority flowed from Congress to the executive branch. When the unelected bureaucracy gets power, it doesn’t let go. We ought to end that by having the Senate create a “super committee” dedicated to reviewing all such delegations of power over the past 80 years and then proposing legislation to sunset the authority of entire bureaucracies on a rolling basis. Does, say, the Health and Human Services Department ever answer for its aggressive regulatory lawmaking? Of course not. Sunset all its authority in 12 months and watch lawmakers start to make actual laws.

• Make a real budget. The power of the purse is Congress’s primary lever—and the area where Congress is most unserious. The budget process is completely broken, and every couple of months lawmakers are faced with a monumentally stupid decision: Shut the government down or spend 102% of what was spent last year, with no oversight. It’s an endless series of all-or-nothing brinkmanship fights—continuing resolutions, omnibus spending deals and debt-ceiling hikes. We ought to fix that with two-year budgeting that includes all federal spending, including on entitlements. We ought to end the distinction between appropriation and authorization. Legislation that authorizes federal action should also appropriate the money to pay for it.

These aren’t partisan proposals, because congressional dysfunction isn’t a partisan problem. Lawmakers—Republicans and Democrats—don’t make laws. Over years, Congress made the choice to shirk its duty and cede power to the executive branch. Recovery will be hard, but it’s time for Congress build some muscle and figure out how to serve the American people by doing our constitutionally mandated jobs again.

Mr. Sasse, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Nebraska.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Pelosi
Post by: DougMacG on September 10, 2020, 05:28:08 AM
“A woman who is 3rd in line to have access to our nuclear codes is claiming that she was duped by a hair salon. Let that sink in.”
Title: Beautiful on outside (with lots of artificial help and ugly as sin inside)
Post by: ccp on September 10, 2020, 07:50:51 AM
Like the metaphor

take away all the makeup and her real ugliness just reeks:

https://twitter.com/mightybusterbro/status/1246484010458644481

I suspect this is photoshopped but we know she must looks something like this - that is why she needed to put on a beautiful face - to cover up all the damn ugliness behind her phony veneer.

Title: Re: Beautiful on outside (with lots of artificial help and ugly as sin inside)
Post by: DougMacG on September 10, 2020, 08:58:28 AM
Without work done, the picture might be about right.  Nothing wrong with aging as we all go through it.  It's her policies and her hatred of us that's ugly.

Funny how seemingly small things become gigantic.  For all she's done wrong, the haircut might be what costs them the House and saves the republic.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 10, 2020, 09:17:52 AM
".Nothing wrong with aging as we all go through it "

yes .  but some age more gracefully than others.  :wink:
Title: Morris: Reps likely to keep Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 11, 2020, 09:48:02 AM
https://www.dickmorris.com/gop-will-probably-keep-senate-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 16, 2020, 06:42:15 AM
Running against Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis is a black businessman from the northside, Lacy Johnson.  He can't win but is deserving of your support.  People need to hear and consider another voice.
https://www.lacyjohnson.com/
https://secure.winred.com/lacy-johnson-for-congress/donate

Running against pretend centrist Dean Phillips, wealthy decendent of Big-Vodka, in my 2018 flipped suburban district is black businessman Kendall Quails.  I suppose he is also a long shot because of the expanding socialism in the wealthy inner suburbs, but deserves all the support he can get:
https://kendallforcongress.com/
https://secure.winred.com/kendall-for-congress/donate

Black lives matter or just Black Leftism matters?  How about celebrating and elevating some of the successful ones as leaders and role models?!
Title: Senate confirmation process, lose support of 6 Republicans and still confirm
Post by: DougMacG on September 21, 2020, 10:36:47 AM
If let's say Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney (and up to three others) abstain / vote present in the confirmation instead of voting no - because they don't like the timing or the process, the vote would be 47-47 with the tie breaker going to VP Mike Pence.  The Justice is confirmed.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 22, 2020, 10:50:51 AM
Discussing this at

https://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=1850.1550

Note that McSally's seat does not go all the way to Nov. 3.
Title: Now this is a campaign ad!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 25, 2020, 10:18:45 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=67&v=nWTqpEPOHXg&feature=emb_logo
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Barrett confirmation
Post by: DougMacG on September 27, 2020, 07:11:16 AM
First try to shoot her down:  She will take away healthcare.
   - Sen. Debbie Stabinow D-Mich, Fox News Sunday

 Sen. Doug Jones announced Friday he won’t support the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice nominee before the election.
https://www.wsfa.com/2020/09/25/sen-doug-jones-wont-support-confirmation-supreme-court-nominee-before-election/

Sen. Doug Jones will soon be former Sen. Doug Jones.

Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Nothing unconstitutional about proceeding with the confirmation, just stupid.

As with Kavanaugh hearings, we will see which side benefits having their constitutional principles (or lack thereof) exposed.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 29, 2020, 05:48:48 AM
Democrats Prepare To Give Republicans Free Ad Footage Of Them Attacking Successful, Religious Mother Of 7

https://babylonbee.com/news/republicans-looking-forward-to-all-the-free-ad-footage-theyre-about-to-get-of-democrats-interrogating-successful-religious-mother-of-7/?utm_content=buffer4fe07&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
------------------------------------------

Outcome based jurisprudence?

"She will take away healthcare..."  Also 'overturn Roe v Wade', allegedly.

What is weird is how open Democrats are about WANTING Justices to be politicians in robes instead of umpires calling balls and strikes on constitutionality without regard to ideology.  Are the Democrats admitting their legislation and their past rulings are not constitutional?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 02, 2020, 06:09:22 AM
Speaking of covid and carrying out governmental duties, let's hope / pray all Senators stay safe and healthy.
Title: Republican House, Republican Senate
Post by: DougMacG on October 02, 2020, 04:34:57 PM
Candidates mentioned previously, but I just gave money to some local contenders:
Verified sites, direct to the candidates:

Jason Lewis running for US Senate against Tina Smith in MN.  If Trump flips MN, Jason could too.  That would win the US Senate for sure.
https://secure.winred.com/jason-lewis-for-senate/donate

Lacy Johnson, Black Republican endorsed candidate to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar.  Long shot but hey... worth a try.
https://secure.winred.com/lacy-johnson-for-congress/donate

Kendal Qualls, Black Republican running for Congress in my district, was R for ages, flipped D in 2018.  Also long shot the suburbs are worth fighting for.
https://secure.winred.com/kendall-for-congress/donate

Google any candidate.  Go to their real site, not the google ad.  Click on donate.

Last chance to make a difference.  "Everyone invited".
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 03, 2020, 12:53:10 PM
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/oc-register-gop-could-lose-five-more-legislative-sets-in-orange-county/
Title: orange County
Post by: ccp on October 03, 2020, 02:04:06 PM
where is all this money coming?

it ain't from illegals?



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 08, 2020, 10:26:48 AM
I go to make donations and I see this at the bottom of the page:

"Paid for by WinRed. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. WinRed.com"

Huh?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Senate races
Post by: DougMacG on October 09, 2020, 02:56:46 PM
Doug,
Your honest opinion
Are we looking to hold the Senate ?

Today it is 53R-47D, plus one sure pickup in Alabama.

RCP "No Toss ups" today says 51-49 Dems if the election were held today and if the polls were right. 
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/senate/2020_elections_senate_map_no_toss_ups.html
Figuring a tiny, wrong pro-Dem poll bias back out of it, maybe it is 50-50 or 51-49 Republican today.

Dem win means a Dem clean sweep against Susan Collins Maine, Thom Tillis NC, Jodi Ernst IA, Martha McSally AZ, and Cory Gardner Colo.
If we lose all those 5, we've lost the country.  [Sell]

But Tillis will win.  Ernst will win.  Collins very possible.  If it's a big R year (if the polls are wrong), maybe all of them win.
-----------------------------
We're going to have the best quarterly economic growth news in history announced in the weeks before the election. We're going to have a treatment and a vaccine, and peace and prosperity coming...  IF Republicans could capture all that in a persuasive message in a big hurry that connects and spreads, - this whole thing is winnable.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 09, 2020, 03:13:38 PM
thank you for assessment

even if we win it sounds like only by pubic hair can we hold on

I hope 2022 is a better looking yr for the Repubs

if the country has not been all sold out by then with court packing and two new forever Democrat free shit/government employee states


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 10, 2020, 09:49:12 AM
Made major (for me anyway) donations to:

Lindsey Graham(Sen SC)
Thom Tillis (Sen. NC)
Dan Forrest (Gov NC)
Kewis (Sen MN)
Steve Daines (Sen MT)
Joni Ernst (Sen. IA)
John James (Sen MI)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 10, 2020, 03:48:06 PM
I donated small amount to Graham and NJ Congressmen Van Drew who switched parties.

We need Lindsey to win.

He is sometimes off, but for most things he is one of the most articulate Repubs which we need more of.

I am thinking Nunes too.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 10, 2020, 09:30:12 PM
I have a check for Nunes to deposit on Monday.

Wrt LG, plenty there I disagree with but his loss would be a disaster for the command presence of our side.  I wrote him a big check.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 10, 2020, 11:00:17 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/17/are-black-republicans-running-for-office-the-death

https://joecollinsforcongress.com/donate-now/

any more Black Republicans ?

I am trying to find them but do not see on google
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 11, 2020, 06:32:59 AM
Any polls on Collins vs. Waters?  Does he have a real shot?
Title: cannot find polls on google search
Post by: ccp on October 11, 2020, 07:55:14 AM
 do not know veracity of the this money report :

https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2020&id=CA43
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 11, 2020, 11:16:03 AM
TY.  Looks like he has outraised the deranged hag, but has less to go for the final stretch.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 12, 2020, 07:12:36 AM
Here is a political add from him-- very good!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3wMj24GjtA&feature=emb_logo
Title: Re: The US Congress; Critical Senate races, Donate!
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2020, 06:04:37 AM
https://www.senateleadershipfund.org/
https://www.susancollins.com/
https://www.thomtillis.com/
https://www.lindseygraham.com/
https://joniernst.com/
https://www.corygardnerforsenate.com/
https://www.mcsallyforsenate.com/

Lose the Senate, lose the country.
Title: Is there anything a Black Caucus member can do other then play the race card?
Post by: ccp on October 20, 2020, 08:00:15 AM
"negotiating" the stimulus plan

this forever race baiter claims the Dems are treated like "second class " citizens"

"we are not stupid"

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/10/20/clyburn-on-stimulus-deal-we-are-not-just-going-to-take-anything-simply-because-itll-be-something/
Title: Re: Is there anything a Black Caucus member can do other then play the race card?
Post by: DougMacG on October 20, 2020, 08:41:31 AM
"negotiating" the stimulus plan

this forever race baiter claims the Dems are treated like "second class " citizens"

"we are not stupid"

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/10/20/clyburn-on-stimulus-deal-we-are-not-just-going-to-take-anything-simply-because-itll-be-something/

"Clyburn on Stimulus Deal: ‘We Are Not Just Going to Take Anything Simply Because It’ll Be Something’"

He has this exactly backwards. Public spending should be the part that we can all agree on, meaning the lower of the two sides.

Is every bill slavery reparations, or what the hell does it have to do with race?
Title: Senate polls tightening
Post by: DougMacG on October 22, 2020, 07:29:41 AM
For some reason, ($200 million of out of state money) Jone Erst has been trailing in Iowa.  Now up 1.
In neighboring MN, Jason Lewis has been down double digits the whole campaign to Planned Parenthood's Tina Smith.  Now down only 1.  McSally in AZ within 2, with the margin of error.  Thom Tillis NC pulled even.

Like pp says about states 'locked in', I believe both sides at this point can say with certainty that they might win and they might lose this year, in the House, Senate and Presidency.

What is hard to believe is that Republicans are roughly even politically in the face of 93% bad media coverage.  They are even with everything down to the search engines, social media platforms, all networks and almost all newspapers, even the Drudge Report bought out and turned against you, imagine what could be done on a level playing field!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Senate, ACB
Post by: DougMacG on October 26, 2020, 08:32:20 AM
Susan Collins to vote no on Barrett.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/collins-ernst-split-barrett-confirmation-tough-re-election-bids-n1244710

No what?  Not qualified?? Not enough information? Not vetted?  Not enough time to consider?

Cowardly final move.  Does this endear her to Democrats?  Remove her from criticism. Not at all.

All the clairvoyance of the high school basketball coach who cut Michael Jordan

Advice and consent, your advice Senator is let Joe Biden and the Democrats fill vacancies that occur while Republicans are in power?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Democrat civility?
Post by: DougMacG on October 28, 2020, 06:49:47 AM
Civility issue is a Trump phenomenon?  Dem Speaker of the House tore up the State of the Union speech on national television, including this JANUARY reference to coronavirus:

"Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases.  We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China.  My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-state-union-address-3/

They also impeached over a corruption investigation into one of their own because the allegations against Joe Biden had already been"debunked".  Really?  How?  Where?  By whom?
Title: US Congress; Congressional races, Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina
Post by: DougMacG on October 28, 2020, 06:58:00 AM
Sen. Thom Tillis could use your vote! Do we have anyone in NC?   )
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 28, 2020, 08:51:05 AM
Republican Senate wins in 2018 election under the cloud of the Mueller investigation do not even include that Republicans replaced Flake, Corker and McCain, rest his soul.  2020 will include defending many seats from the Republican takeover of 2014 and could involve the loss of Susan Collins.  (I hope Susan Collins wins.)

51 or 52 seat majority this year is not all bad. 50-50 is a defeat no matter which way the presidential race goes.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 28, 2020, 09:00:48 AM
Republican Senate wins in 2018 election under the cloud of the Mueller investigation do not even include that Republicans replaced Flake, Corker and McCain, rest his soul.  2020 will include defending many seats from the Republican takeover of 2014 and could involve the loss of Susan Collins.  I hope Susan Collins wins but if that's the worst loss, it's not a bad year.

51 or 52 seat majority this year is not bad. 50-50 is a defeat no matter which way the presidential race goes.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 28, 2020, 05:22:16 PM
I donated to Tillis.  For the record, my friends here hold him in low regard, but regardless, we need to keep the Senate.

Probably will be voting tomorrow.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 02, 2020, 04:47:11 PM
I donated to Tillis.  For the record, my friends here hold him in low regard, but regardless, we need to keep the Senate.

Probably will be voting tomorrow.

Would like to know the negatives on Tillis.

Much prognostication on Pres and Senate races.  It seems ticket splitting is a thi g of the past.  (We'll see.) The swing states are largely same as the Senate key tossups. If Trump wins, Republicans hold the Senate. But if Trump wins decisively, why isn't the House in play? Allegedly because of white suburban women, but if they are out in force and all Dem, Trump doesn't win.

So I pose two possibilities, Republicans win it all. If mainstream polling was right all along, Dems win it all. 

I'll go with the former.

I think all thw obsession with fraud and cheating will make cheating small and difficult. Last time we had recounts only in the states Trump won closely and his lead grew.  In 2000, the recount insanity did not change the outcome.  The exception was Al Franken v. election night winner Norm Coleman. That Nov 2008 election was settled in July 2009.  If we follow that mold, welcome Pres Nancy.  Ahhhh!

Everyone vote, all the way up and down the ballot, and check in with EVERY like minded person you know. Offer rides.  Make it happen.

The margin of victory or defeat matters - in every race.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 03, 2020, 06:18:08 AM
IIRC Tillis was RINO on The Wall , , ,
Title: Senate in 2022
Post by: ccp on November 04, 2020, 08:40:19 AM
What   :-o

in 2022 out of 34 senate seats up for election 22 are Republican ?

what the hell

again ? !!!

not till 2024 does the numbers flip (as they stand now ):

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_elections,_2022
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 04, 2020, 08:50:06 AM
they are tyring to steal it from John James too:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/03/us-senate-michigan-gary-peters-john-james-election/6040293002/
Title: Re: Senate in 2022
Post by: DougMacG on November 04, 2020, 09:15:18 AM
What   :-o

in 2022 out of 34 senate seats up for election 22 are Republican ?

what the hell

again ? !!!

not till 2024 does the numbers flip (as they stand now ):

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_elections,_2022

OMG. Looks like most of the Republicans are in 'safe' seats, with some exceptions, Pat Toomey PA, not running, Ron Johnson WI, Burr retiring NC. GA again. Some exposure for the Democrats as well, NV, NH, AZ.

Maybe we lose Murkowski in a primary...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_Senate_elections

Republicans better get their act together someday soon.
Title: Maxine (mad max) vs Joe Collins
Post by: ccp on November 04, 2020, 10:05:49 AM
sorry to see Collins lose big to Waters

but not surprising

it is  impossible to get a Minority incumbent out of a safe district until they die

look at the squad

and so many others
hell they could do cocaine while in a hotel with prostitutes and get voted in.

Title: same gamesmenship of Trump done to John James
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2020, 04:22:39 AM
he was ahead but suddenly tons of Democrat ballots just turn up out of the blue
to squeak out a victory for a Democrat:

https://www.google.com/search?q=john+james+senate+race&oq=john+james+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59l3j69i60l2.5525j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

We need more Blacks to come over to our side.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 05, 2020, 04:54:41 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-james-campaign-alleges-lack-of-integrity-in-vote-count
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2020, 05:36:15 AM
Crafty,

Is this not the kind of election theft they did when Democrats stole Congressional seats in traditionally Republican locations in California?

of course they tried the same thing in '16 in Midwest states for hillary

this time only on rocket ship scale

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 05, 2020, 05:46:01 AM
So hard to keep track of all  this with accuracy  , , ,
Title: here is what happened in California in '18
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2020, 05:57:13 AM
https://www.creators.com/read/dick-morris/12/18/how-dems-stole-7-house-seats-in-california
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 05, 2020, 12:33:44 PM
CCP:  At last a good summary of what happened there!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2020, 01:15:32 PM
"So what the Democrats did was they looked at the Election Day returns and then probably targeted those districts they lost where the margin was close enough that victory might be snatched from the jaws of defeat by a little ballot harvesting."

it is obvious minority operatives were going around and possibly giving out Lebron Zuckereberg and Bloomberg money
for a votes
    as one method

one can simply dream other ways to do this

Dick recommends the Republicans do the same  in 2016.  But have we ?
certainly not to same degree.

Instead spending all their time hitting people up for 5 to 10 $
they would have better done this to counter the "urban " voting blocks which in some states control the whole thing
Title: Re: here is what happened in California in '18
Post by: DougMacG on November 05, 2020, 04:36:57 PM
https://www.creators.com/read/dick-morris/12/18/how-dems-stole-7-house-seats-in-california

"Early voting is fine, but late voting amounts to unequal protection of the laws. "
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 06, 2020, 12:59:12 PM
Karl Rove on

at best we have 51 seats in Senate and may only have 50

Agree with PP

In that we are screwed
and SCOTUS will never reverse an election

I don't agree with the 4th turning theory though



Title: US Congress races, hard right gun rights activist wins in Colo.
Post by: DougMacG on November 07, 2020, 06:45:07 PM
Funny that her party affiliation is Republican.  Could have been anything.  Wait, no, she won the seat and supports gun rights, that means Republican, like the brand or not.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/colorado-election-Lauren-Boebert.html
Title: question
Post by: ccp on November 08, 2020, 07:32:59 AM
Should I donate to the two remaining senate races in Ga?

Or am I throwing my money away?

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 08, 2020, 03:27:03 PM
I will be donating as best as I can.  If the Dems get to 50, America as America is done.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2020, 04:36:14 PM
Agree.  I will do same but if this comes down to money, we lose.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Georgia , Perdue, Leffler
Post by: DougMacG on November 09, 2020, 04:53:24 AM
https://secure.anedot.com/perdue-for-senate/donate-today?source_code=volthankyou

https://secure.winred.com/georgians-for-kelly/donate/

Title: feedback FYI
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2020, 07:20:19 AM
my connection to the Senate

said they have enough money and did not recommend I contribute

when I asked if it would help
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Georgia Dem Ossoff: Ban guns
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2020, 04:35:07 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/10/democrat-jon-ossoff-ban-sale-semi-automatic-rifles-high-cap-magazines/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Georgia Dem Ossoff, ban guns
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2020, 04:59:25 AM
Democrat Jon Ossoff: Ban Sale of Semi-Automatic Rifles, ‘High Cap’ Magazines

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/10/democrat-jon-ossoff-ban-sale-semi-automatic-rifles-high-cap-magazines/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Georgia Senate races
Post by: DougMacG on November 12, 2020, 05:37:23 AM
Marco Rubio speaks at Loffler rally.
https://youtu.be/UNVuf-e5QRA
Title: The Anti-Squad begins to form
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2020, 09:58:03 AM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2020/11/13/nicole-malliotakis-is-entering-congress-with-a-message-for-the-squad-n2580017
Title: GA: Warnock's blood libel
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2020, 05:44:18 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/11/raphael-warnocks-blood-libel/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202020-11-13&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Title: Abrams
Post by: ccp on November 16, 2020, 06:02:02 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/15/stacey-abrams-more-than-600000-georgians-already-requested-mail-ballots-for-runoff-election/

are we doing this

canvassing every potential voter
and gathering votes
for us

why can't we go door to door
play there game with nursing home residents
and pull of people from the street
and buy them a starbucks for their vote

someone should hire PIs to follow these creeps around and get them on camera
illegally getting votes
why can we not do this

or are we?  though I doubt it .
Title: Republicans take the house 2022
Post by: DougMacG on November 17, 2020, 07:08:23 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/11/13/part_2_what_redrawn_house_maps_could_mean_in_2023_144651.html#2
Title: Dem House leadership to be re elected?
Post by: ccp on November 17, 2020, 06:03:00 PM
I think it probably very good for us if fancy nancy is the face of the Dems:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/11/17/the-news-just-keeps-getting-worse-for-house-democrats-n1153877
Title: Re: The US Senate races Georgia, Rand Paul
Post by: DougMacG on November 25, 2020, 05:05:33 AM
https://dailycaller.com/2020/11/23/rand-paul-georgia-libertarians-republican/

Libertarians should vote Republican?  What, ans miss out on all the fascism coming?
Title: Ilhan Omar underperforms
Post by: ccp on November 26, 2020, 05:32:11 AM
https://www.westernjournal.com/analysis-shows-ilhan-omar-biggest-underperformance-house-incumbent-country/

https://www.google.com/search?q=cossack+hat+image&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=elBK7Yre7mRVBM%252ChfvW7sQqK429sM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRzMGSCC9q6vuz1saOpC9kyyXowHg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwja786CqaDtAhUEw1kKHaYkAhgQ9QF6BAgBEEc#imgrc=elBK7Yre7mRVBM
Title: Re: Ilhan Omar underperforms
Post by: DougMacG on November 26, 2020, 08:16:55 AM
https://www.westernjournal.com/analysis-shows-ilhan-omar-biggest-underperformance-house-incumbent-country/

From the article:
"In Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, Biden received 328,764 votes, President Donald Trump received 72,323 votes, Omar received 255,920 votes and her Republican challenger Lacy Johnson received 102,878 votes."

Omar underperformed, black Republican Lacy Johnson 'overperformed', broke through the black, Democratic firewall.  It is now okay in the neighborhood to be black and vote Republican.   That changes the get out the vote operation.  Now Democrats have to talk to blacks about issues, not just fill up buses and pass out ballots.

Telling also was that Omar won her primary roughly 60-40. A normal incumbent should win 99-1 but this was a clear choice between regular Democrat and off the edge wacko left and the latter includes the majority of urban Dems. 

The huge margins in the city in the general election show that Democrat support is way too concentrated.  Biden won the state but Republicans won the State Senate and flipped one congressional seat to make a divided delegation of 4-4.  If not for Dem success in the rich white suburbs where they flipped two seats in 2018, that representation would be 6 - 2 Republican, even if losing Minneapolis and St Paul by huge margins.
Title: 8 not yet called Congressional races ; Repubs up in 8
Post by: ccp on November 27, 2020, 08:11:14 AM
https://www.dailywire.com/news/8-u-s-house-races-still-have-not-been-called-republicans-lead-all-8-races
Title: Re: 8 not yet called Congressional races ; Repubs up in 8
Post by: DougMacG on November 27, 2020, 11:30:10 AM
https://www.dailywire.com/news/8-u-s-house-races-still-have-not-been-called-republicans-lead-all-8-races

Why would they call it when the Republican still leads?  Must be some ballots somewhere.

Who will be the four most centrist Dems when Pelosi only has a 4 seat margin?  I'm guessing the last centrist Dems lost this year.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 27, 2020, 01:35:15 PM
"Why would they call it when the Republican still leads?  Must be some ballots somewhere."

Great point!
Makes perfect sense.
I hadn't thought of that.

No coincidence they all lean Republican .....    :wink:
Title: US Senate races, Mark Steyn, Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on November 27, 2020, 07:16:00 PM
“Georgia Republicans need a record turnout in January to put Perdue and Loeffler beyond the margin of error, beyond the margin of lawyer, and beyond the margin of sewer…”
– Mark Steyn now on Tucker Carlson Tonight
Title: Re: US Senate races, Gingrich, Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on December 08, 2020, 07:42:20 AM
“Georgia Republicans need a record turnout in January to put Perdue and Loeffler beyond the margin of error, beyond the margin of lawyer, and beyond the margin of sewer…”
– Mark Steyn


Gingrich: Republicans Have to 'Turn Out More Votes Than Stacey Abrams Can Steal'
https://pjmedia.com/election/tyler-o-neil/2020/12/07/gingrich-republicans-have-to-turn-out-more-votes-than-stacey-abrams-can-steal-n1196164

Unfortunately ask Chavez-Maduro, there are not more votes possible than a corrupt totalitarian regime can steal, once in full power.

I don't think Georgia is going to allow a second round of cheating. 

Trump rally video for Senators Loeffler and Perdue in Georgia:  Speech starts at about 3:52
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/12/05/watch_live_president_trump_rallies_with_perdue_and_loeffler_in_georgia.html

Turning point in America.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 08, 2020, 09:16:41 AM
https://webmail.earthlink.net/wam/preview.jsp?folder=INBOX&msgid=75742&x=323021503#name_5
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 09, 2020, 07:21:24 PM
Here's a group photo of me with all the House Republicans who lost races this year.

  Kevin McCarthy twitter, pictured with... no one.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1336462544895156225
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Warnock compared Castro to America
Post by: DougMacG on December 10, 2020, 08:57:07 AM
https://pjmedia.com/election/tyler-o-neil/2020/12/09/bombshell-raphael-warnock-carried-water-for-fidel-castro-days-after-cuban-dictators-death-n1201041

Two days after former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died in 2016, Pastor Raphael Warnock — now a candidate for U.S. Senate in the Georgia runoff elections — defended Castro’s legacy as “complex,” comparing it to the legacy of the United States of America. Warnock previously worked as assistant pastor at a church that invited Castro to speak in 1995.

Two days after former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died in 2016, Pastor Raphael Warnock — now a candidate for U.S. Senate in the Georgia runoff elections — defended Castro’s legacy as “complex,” comparing it to the legacy of the United States of America. Warnock previously worked as assistant pastor at a church that invited Castro to speak in 1995.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

No, you commie.  Fidel Castro is not like the legacy of America, at least before your arrival on the stage.
Title: Crenshaw to the rescue
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 14, 2020, 08:59:43 PM
https://twitter.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1338184981684908033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1338492834752688128%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fformer-socom-head-says-rep-dan-crenshaws-video-is-embarassing-2020-12
Title: I have relative in Georgia
Post by: ccp on December 19, 2020, 09:56:33 AM
states bombarded with texts emails calls and people knocking on door
asked if repubs or demos and was told "both"

she voted and put sign on door:

" already voted!!!"

 :-D

(voted R )

I am glad the repubs are out pulling for votes too!
Title: Looking out for the little people!
Post by: G M on December 21, 2020, 11:13:02 PM
https://gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/060/894/038/original/7813ae23f17acfdd.png

(https://gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/060/894/038/original/7813ae23f17acfdd.png)
Title: chump change for the masses
Post by: ccp on December 22, 2020, 03:53:23 AM
$600 dollars

is about$2 dollars per day

we can go to the dollar store and splurge for 2 items per day:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/g4823/dollar-store-finds/?slide=1

Thank us legislatures and kiss our hands.
The best part is DJT can't even take credit for it .  .......hahahahhahaha
Title: illegals to get "stimulus" checks maybe more than citizens
Post by: ccp on December 22, 2020, 06:27:21 AM
more confiscation and transfer money in shell game to by votes:

Households With Illegal Aliens Get Up to $1,800 While U.S. Citizens Get Only $600

Tuesday December 22, 2020 8:19 AM

The bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus aid bill is just one giant F-you to American taxpayers.

“Family members of unauthorized immigrants are now eligible to get stimulus checks under the $900 billion deal reached last night,” the Wall Street Journal’s Michelle Hackman reported Monday. “That eligibility is retroactive, so adults excluded last time could get up to $1800 now.”
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Tulsi
Post by: DougMacG on December 22, 2020, 07:03:13 AM
Age 39, I didn't know she was 'retiring' from Congress.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/12/21/gabbard_immoral_and_bad_health_policy_to_give_vaccine_to_members_of_congress_before_elderly.html

I thought Democrats had one member I liked, but she doesn't take their marching orders well. Maybe she'll land in media.
Title: Gabbi
Post by: ccp on December 22, 2020, 08:46:35 AM
she could get a job as a model

CNN would never hire her

Fox ?

she is right about those over 65 or 75 should get vaccine and "front line health workers"
first (not me - I work from home)

why give vaccine to younger low risk essential worker s first
most are not that much at risk


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Calif Senate seat Kamala Harris
Post by: DougMacG on December 23, 2020, 06:14:22 AM
'VP elect' Harris has not resigned her Senate seat.  What's up with that? Is there some doubt with the election? Vote fraud?

https://deadline.com/2020/12/gavin-newsom-alex-padilla-kamala-harris-senate-1234660634/

"Harris, the first California Democrat on a presidential ticket, has not said whether she will resign her Senate seat before the President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20."
Title: Gabbi
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 23, 2020, 08:48:33 AM
Gabbi is interesting and easy to look at, but do remember that she is a Sandernista and holds many views with which we strongly disagree.
Title: Re: Gabbi
Post by: DougMacG on December 23, 2020, 12:47:18 PM
Gabbi is interesting and easy to look at, but do remember that she is a Sandernista and holds many views with which we strongly disagree.

Yes.
Title: did not see tucker : a shock - democrat who lies
Post by: ccp on December 23, 2020, 03:16:56 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/12/23/watch-wife-georgia-democrat-raphael-warnock-tells-police-hes-great-actor-after-domestic-dispute/

not like the dems will care

they rage about Trump lies
as though they are so honest and filled with integrity

this will NOT be seen on the jornolister Mario's kid , protector of female rights show
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 23, 2020, 09:17:56 PM
Though I loathe Warnke (quelle surprise!) upon watching the footage I thought she was a liar.
Title: trafalgar polls of Georgia races
Post by: ccp on December 27, 2020, 04:34:55 AM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pollster-predicts-loeffler-victory
Title: Georgia Senate races - Raphael Warnock
Post by: DougMacG on December 29, 2020, 09:17:26 AM
Dems hopes of ruling the world hinge on the election of what appears to be a very bad man.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/12/from-the-mixed-up-files-of-rev-raphael-warnock.php

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/camper-recounts-abuse-at-warnock-church-camp/

Warnock has faced scrutiny over his 2002 arrest for allegedly obstructing a child abuse investigation by Maryland State Police that centered on the camp’s treatment of children. Washington’s account is buttressed by records from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, obtained by the Free Beacon earlier this month, which indicated that campers were routinely left unsupervised; staffers were not subject to required criminal background check; and at least five cases of child abuse or neglect were brought against the camp’s director, who was ultimately forced to resign.
-------------------

Or what 'honest Democratic voters' might say, 'yeah, whatever'.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 29, 2020, 09:59:00 AM
".Or what 'honest Democratic voters' might say, 'yeah, whatever'."

OR "they all do it"

so what blah blah blah ....

to end the discussion
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 30, 2020, 07:18:10 AM
Next Tues, Jan 5 will determine the majority of the Senate and the magnitude and direction of the country.

A leftist wacko and a Dem empty suit go up against two mainstream Republicans in what was until a minute ago a mostly conservative state.  Advantage Democrats:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/senate/ga/georgia_senate_runoff_election_perdue_vs_ossoff-7319.html
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/senate/ga/georgia_senate_special_election_runoff_loeffler_vs_warnock-7318.html

My prediction:  We won't know the result on election night and may never agree on the result.

What has happened to our republic?
Title: "What has happened to our republic?"
Post by: ccp on December 30, 2020, 07:28:32 AM
while republicans slept

the LEFT has stolen it from within
and China is destroying it from without

never trumpers think it is a good idea we simply allow them back in
after voluntarily helping keep Trump out.

don't think so

don't even think about it jeb or Mitt.......
Title: Mitt
Post by: ccp on January 03, 2021, 08:57:52 AM
I could not remember last time Romney was elected

it was Nov 2018 - so he has 4 yrs to go

I do like him as person but no longer as what we need in a all Republicans today
I do hope Utah will wake up and get someone else in 2024 - if there even is  a Republican Party left

with 13 Supreme Courts Justices with no electoral college and 54 Senate seats
and total censorship of the Right.
Title: Re: Mitt
Post by: DougMacG on January 03, 2021, 09:38:30 AM
It's not just political.  I no longer like him as a person.  I wish a healthy and happy retirement for him, and would like to help arrange that.

He will be turning 78 in 4 years at the start of a second term. I can't imagine he wants to spend these remaining prime years in Washington.  Who needs it.  He already cleared his name. He stood up against Trump and did everything he could to ruin his presidency, starting with running for that Senate seat.  Mission accomplished.  He personified what we knew, Never-Trump means Never-Republican.  He never could explain how what he did in capitalism was a good thing, making companies more streamline, more efficient, more competitive, so by his own definition he is a bad, bad man trying to make amends for past sins by sabotaging free market conservatism for a living.

Standing up to Biden won't be as fun and he isn't as good at it, lacking any policy-based core principles.

Trump was hard on Romney in the first campaign, trying to put himself above him.  Romney ran a weak campaign and lost.  Didn't like having that pointed out. 

Romney is a deeply religious man, Mormon which is Christian.  What does the bible say you do about that?  Focus all energies on revenge, right?  I don't think so, but anyway, it's done.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races - Georgia, Senate
Post by: DougMacG on January 03, 2021, 09:52:48 AM
I have to think Republicans will win these two races though they will be extremely close.

I have to believe cheating won't be as easy this time.

My backup prediction is the Loeffler wins and Perdue not.

No matter the outcome, what does it say for the future of the Republic if Georgia's 16 electoral votes are trending wacko Left?

How do we win national elections after we lose Georgia (and Texas)?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 03, 2021, 10:07:25 AM
How do we win national elections after we lose Georgia (and Texas)?

we don't

and that is the plan .

yet never trumpers , like Roms , like Lincoln project self appointed elites
have nothing to say about this

because they only care about their own insider status

Wall street will sell us out to China to make a buck




Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Big day today in Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on January 05, 2021, 08:23:09 AM
Call everyone you know in Georgia.

Trafalgar Group says THIS was THE unforced error:
https://fortune.com/2020/12/31/2000-checks-are-socialism-for-rich-people-says-mcconnell-killing-hope-of-extra-stimulus/
$2000 checks are ‘socialism for rich people’ says McConnell, killing hope of extra stimulus

70% of Georgians think taking this money after the government forced you to not works does not equate to welfare.  Democrats are getting good mileage with this.  Elect the R's and you'll never see your money.

For months it was Nancy Pelosi holding up the stimulus.  No matter?  Can a $2000 or $4000 check sway 2% of the electorate, or 0.2%, the margin of victory or loss in Georgia?  Probably yes.

There goes the Republic.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2021, 09:44:52 AM
".Trafalgar Group says THIS was THE unforced error:
https://fortune.com/2020/12/31/2000-checks-are-socialism-for-rich-people-says-mcconnell-killing-hope-of-extra-stimulus/
$2000 checks are ‘socialism for rich people’ says McConnell, killing hope of extra stimulus"

Trump knew he could buy votes with the 2 K bribe
and Nancy of course tried to jump in front when she agreed
as she knows how easy it is to bribe voters

Then come McConnell with the 230 thing (perfectly valid) but of course the Dems who always wine about the rich are now suddenly for the rich
refuse to make a deal
and can now turn around and point the finger at the Republicans

If votes can be bought with.a donut and coffee
imagine what 2 K will do....

Doug I don't like what you are posting as I respect your opinions
  your worry is ringing alarm bells
that we are likely screwed....

 :-(

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 05, 2021, 02:22:43 PM
ccp, I don't like the negativity I posted either.  We'll know soon enough. Just think every like minded person in Georgia better know that if we lose it all and they didn't vote, there is no going back, ever.

They aren't called 'illegals' voting next time.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 05, 2021, 07:49:39 PM
Republicans up by 2-3% with 87% of the expected vote in.
What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/05/georgia-senate-race-455148
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 05, 2021, 07:58:37 PM
Republicans up by 2-3% with 87% of the expected vote in.
What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/05/georgia-senate-race-455148

Have they paused the count yet?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 05, 2021, 08:16:46 PM
"Have they paused the count yet?"

91% in.  Same margins.

When they say 91% of the expected vote in, that does not include the unexpected vote.

OMG, a water main broke, clearing the vote count area of observers...    just kidding, I think...
---------------------------
95% in.  One race just flipped., the other - margin down to near zero lead.
---------------------------
Newt: https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/1003649?section=politics&keywords=newt-gingrich-georgia-mcconnell-covid&year=2020&month=12&date=30&id=1003649
---------------------------

More up to date count:
https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/107556/web.264614/#/summary
15 precincts left to report out of 2656.  Why is always the Dem ones that come in last?

Now it looks like the pause is on.  Counting up how many they need.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2021, 02:02:52 AM
This changes everything.
Title: Re: finger pointing begins
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2021, 07:20:33 AM
https://news.yahoo.com/republicans-turn-trump-georgia-loss-083619753.html

never trumpers getting ready to pounce of course

Never Trumpers who vote for the other side and tell Republicans not to vote are not Republicans.

The claims weren't 'baseless'.  Even if some claims turn out wrong or not even enough to overturn, there was a basis for them.  But that's how yahoo of the msm reports.

Some of the fracturing happened in Georgia.  The Georgia Governor and Sec of State were part of the problem, refusing to investigate and to cooperate with investigations.  What's wrong with finding the truth?  The Governor's appointment of Loeffler turned out not good.  As stated by Newt and Trefalger, the 2000 stimulus game should not have been allowed to be turned against Republicans after Pelosi held up checks for months into the election.

Also radical Leftist Stacey Abrams went out and registered every African American in Georgia to vote over a 10 year period.  Where are the Republicans who work that hard?

The unexpected death of a popular US Senator set this up, then Perdue was quarantined on the 5 most important days of his campaign.

Worst news is, Georgia isn't conservative anymore.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 06, 2021, 07:48:04 AM
"Also radical Leftist Stacey Abrams went out and registered every African American in Georgia to vote over a 10 year period.  Where are the Republicans who work that hard?"

all about race, all the time

thanks Barry Goldwater .

trump made inroads but not enough
maybe he could have shown ( or faked) sympathy at times more
I don't know if would have made a difference ; the left was never going to give him credit for anything
and bash him for anything they could even dream of.

now senile Joe will be given credit for everything and not bashed for anything
trump will be blamed for everything for yrs
that is wrong

the thought of the grinning Harris going in to make tie breaking votes - to think she should have that much power
     she is ALL about "identity politics". - and now even that phrase is racist

the left uses RAce in everything then when called out about it label those who call them out racists.

can't predict the future but not looking good for the Republican party now

sadly our best bet could be after Left's takeover they dump the country into the garbage can and  then we can move into the debris heap and set us back on course


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2021, 08:15:59 AM
Race:  "trump made inroads but not enough".

   - Yes, but if Dems won let's say 85% of that vote instead of 95% of that vote, then it still pays big dividends to them to turn out the vote, without even asking who they support.  The momentum shift there may pay big dividends down the road.


"can't predict the future but not looking good for the Republican party now"

   - Yes, perhaps this is the low point.  If so, we are in a pretty good position of a losing brand name.  We have roughly half of the House of Representatives with re-districting coming that favors R's.  We have half the Senate, but not control.  We (almost) won the Presidency, 40,000 votes in question separate us from victory out of 160 million cast.  We have a majority of the Governors 27-23, and control of the state legislatures in 30 states.

And our very best asset coming into what we hope will be a resurgence ... what I credit for all my success in competitive sports ... weak opponents.   )

Joe Biden.  Really?  And not Joe in his prime Biden, but this one, you know, the thing, put on the record player, 2020.

Kamala Harris.  Received 0.0% of the vote in zero states after being the favorite but many to win it all.  Kamala MLK Harris, born to bring us fweedom.  The one we look to for inspiration in that special time of year when Kwanzaa comes around again.

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer.

Iran deals back on the table, cavorting with China, close the economy, stall the economy, summer of recovery, with it's going to be a cold dark winter optimism. They don't even want economic growth.

It's easier to criticize than to govern.  There isn't 10 cents of charisma among the above and they aren't grooming new leaders or new arguments, just bolder plans.  Every Dem I know is unexcited about Biden, just hated Trump and everyone who stood with him.  Now we start over, and do it better this time.


Title: ann coulter take
Post by: ccp on January 07, 2021, 06:26:21 AM
Trump political ? blunders

https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2021/01/06/the-election-is-over-heres-the-truth-about-trump-n2582677
Title: Re: ann coulter take
Post by: DougMacG on January 07, 2021, 07:18:38 AM
Trump political ? blunders

https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2021/01/06/the-election-is-over-heres-the-truth-about-trump-n2582677

"The usual problem with Trump is that he’s all talk, no action."

  - You lost me there, Ann. Wouldn't it be exactly the other way around? Two people are living comfortably in Palm Beach Florida, both upset about where the country is headed.  One jumps in, changes the electoral map of the country, gets elected, builds a wall, brings middle east peace, stands up to China, stands up to Germany, brings about the lowest black unemployment rate in history, raises national wealth more in a year than his predecessors did in the previous two decades.  The other sits home and complains.  All talk. No action.  She has all the negative qualities of Trump and none of the positive ones. 
Title: The US Congress; Democrat Article of Impeachment
Post by: DougMacG on January 13, 2021, 07:56:28 AM
Link follows.  Basically the high crime is he said: "we won this election, and we won it by a landslide’’.

Even more inciting was the hundred thousand times the media complex said, "baseless allegations", while acting in lockstep to block dissemination of any information relevant to the basis of the allegations, and the courts refusal to give standing to any American official, citizen or state to present the alleged evidence.

https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hres24/BILLS-117hres24ih.pdf

Title: a preponderance of the evidence
Post by: ccp on January 13, 2021, 08:40:05 AM
obviously shows the  election was stolen and rigged

in my mind it is beyond reasonable doubt

but for people who are naive as to the extent of fraud that could be committed and covered by so many
it is beyond their doubt I guess

people who are too trusting
believe "authorities" "establishment " types "

Title: Looks like Lindsey wants to be Senate leader
Post by: DougMacG on January 21, 2021, 06:01:57 PM
https://www.dailywire.com/news/graham-calls-on-mcconnell-to-stand-up-and-fight-back-against-unconstitutional-impeachment

Graham Calls On McConnell To ‘Stand Up And Fight Back’ Against ‘Unconstitutional’ Impeachment
Title: what if pat leahy dies
Post by: ccp on January 27, 2021, 05:16:21 AM
Vermont governor is Republican

does he name replacement

what a "coup" that would be

of course to be sure ,  I wish pat leahy well 
Title: Re: what if pat leahy dies
Post by: DougMacG on January 27, 2021, 11:08:39 AM
Vermont governor is Republican

does he name replacement

what a "coup" that would be

of course to be sure ,  I wish pat leahy well

I don't know anything about the Republican governor of Vermont, but it's a pretty sure bet he or she is Republican in name only or wouldn't be Governor of Vermont. Expect a far left Dem to replace Leahy if that happened. Looks like Leahy will be okay for now.
Title: Congresswoman Marjorie Greene
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2021, 03:45:19 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/30/marjorie-taylor-greene-vows-i-wont-back-down-as-de/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=sqZqSfE%2BBIO8e5doGROwcFepEGt301%2BpJLNh7Bp8XSf7y5TSp8I4FX3OMrTA%2BL7l&bt_ts=1612042199345

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/republican-jewish-coalition-rebukes-rep-taylor-greenes-indefensible-jewish-space-laser-theory/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%202021-01-30&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Title: Re: Congresswoman Marjorie Greene
Post by: G M on January 30, 2021, 04:18:50 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/30/marjorie-taylor-greene-vows-i-wont-back-down-as-de/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=sqZqSfE%2BBIO8e5doGROwcFepEGt301%2BpJLNh7Bp8XSf7y5TSp8I4FX3OMrTA%2BL7l&bt_ts=1612042199345

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/republican-jewish-coalition-rebukes-rep-taylor-greenes-indefensible-jewish-space-laser-theory/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%202021-01-30&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart

Yawn. Let me know when they get upset at the numerous anti-semites on the dem side.


 :roll:


https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/01/29/photo-obamas-close-associations-notorious-anti-semite-louis-farrakhan/

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2021, 04:41:39 PM
OTOH we don't want to sink to their level.  Among other things our people need to have moral superiority to be motivated.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 30, 2021, 05:57:35 PM
OTOH we don't want to sink to their level.  Among other things our people need to have moral superiority to be motivated.

Ah yes, the Mittens Romney "I will not dignify this assault on my person by stooping to their level and fighting back." strategy.

How's that working out for us?


You think the Sunni states working with Israel don't still hate the Israelis? You think this Israelis don't know that?

We are at war, When it's life of death, you take the allies you can get.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2021, 08:12:50 PM
Sorry, if we need anti-semitic crackpot loons like this broad we have already lost.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 30, 2021, 08:15:05 PM
Sorry, if we need anti-semitic crackpot loons like this broad we have already lost.

Show me the source quote.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2021, 08:41:12 PM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9198791/Greene-claimed-deadly-California-fire-caused-space-lasers-linked-Rothschilds.html?fbclid=IwAR2CY2JquOpKCQ9VqjMgG6ijNv8MRaDjjBiD1eU7_9TPrMX64AO0wX9CXOs

There is more, but this is what I could lay my hands on in this moment.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 30, 2021, 08:53:34 PM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9198791/Greene-claimed-deadly-California-fire-caused-space-lasers-linked-Rothschilds.html?fbclid=IwAR2CY2JquOpKCQ9VqjMgG6ijNv8MRaDjjBiD1eU7_9TPrMX64AO0wX9CXOs

There is more, but this is what I could lay my hands on in this moment.

So, mentioning the Rothschilds makes one an anti-semite ?


BTW, I saw Jewish Space Laser open for Nine Inch Nails at Red Rocks in '91...

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 31, 2021, 04:39:31 AM
As I mentioned, there is more in a similar vein-- I just don't have the citations handy.

And yes, mentioning the Rothchilds IS a good indicator in my experience as a Jew.
Title: Continuing research on Greene
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 31, 2021, 04:55:37 AM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/yes-there-is-an-enemy-within-rep-marjorie-greene_3678619.html?utm_source=morningbrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2021-01-31

Any confirmation from Trump himself?

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-voices-support-for-embattled-rep-marjorie-greene-during-call-report_3678724.html?utm_source=morningbrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2021-01-31

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 10:10:22 AM
As I mentioned, there is more in a similar vein-- I just don't have the citations handy.

And yes, mentioning the Rothchilds IS a good indicator in my experience as a Jew.

Howabout Soros? Can we mention Soros, or is that anti-semitic as well? Media Matters, funded by Soros and the source for the story you posted likes to push that as well.

As far as believing "conspiracy theories including QAnon, which centers on former President Donald Trump making moves against a Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic, child sex trafficking ring filled with Democratic politicians and prominent liberals"

https://filmdaily.co/news/epstein-prince-andrew-staff/

UN-Possible! Right?
Title: Jewish Space Laser Agency; This is all MISHIGAS!" (LOL)
Post by: ccp on January 31, 2021, 10:17:40 AM
Jewish Space Laser:


https://forward.com/opinion/463295/the-jewish-space-laser-agency-responds-we-didnt-start-the-fire/

FWIW I don't hate Soros , Bloomberg, Zuckerberg and the Wall St and  Democrat lawyer mob because they are Jews
but because they make me disappointed in my fellow Jews and sometimes ashamed of being  Jewish.

Justified. - someone else can psychoanalyze me but that is how I feel.





Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 10:25:41 AM
As I mentioned, there is more in a similar vein-- I just don't have the citations handy.

And yes, mentioning the Rothchilds IS a good indicator in my experience as a Jew.

Howabout Soros? Can we mention Soros, or is that anti-semitic as well? Media Matters, funded by Soros and the source for the story you posted likes to push that as well.

As far as believing "conspiracy theories including QAnon, which centers on former President Donald Trump making moves against a Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic, child sex trafficking ring filled with Democratic politicians and prominent liberals"

https://filmdaily.co/news/epstein-prince-andrew-staff/

UN-Possible! Right?

https://www.insider.com/jeffrey-epstein-private-island-temple-2019-7
Title: It is bad enough when Repubs vote against the Party
Post by: ccp on January 31, 2021, 10:56:26 AM
but why do they ALWAYS find it necessary to go on an enemy news outlet and give us another back stab;

give fodder for the likes of Chuck Todd or Stephanopolous ?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kinzinger-claim-im-possessed-devil-172843081.html
Title: Re: It is bad enough when Repubs vote against the Party
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 11:01:10 AM
but why do they ALWAYS find it necessary to go on an enemy news outlet and give us another back stab;

give fodder for the likes of Chuck Todd or Stephanopolous ?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kinzinger-claim-im-possessed-devil-172843081.html

It's the republican wing of the DC Uniparty. As long as they get invited to the right cocktail parties they are happy to pontificate about their "values".
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 31, 2021, 12:56:06 PM
C'mon GM, you've seen me after Soros plenty and Glenn Beck, #1 enemy of Soros has his own thread on this forum.

"FWIW I don't hate Soros , Bloomberg, Zuckerberg and the Wall St and  Democrat lawyer mob because they are Jews but because they make me disappointed in my fellow Jews and sometimes ashamed of being  Jewish."

OTOH going after "the Rothchilds" reeks of the hoary worst of the old hatred.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 02:59:59 PM
C'mon GM, you've seen me after Soros plenty and Glenn Beck, #1 enemy of Soros has his own thread on this forum.

"FWIW I don't hate Soros , Bloomberg, Zuckerberg and the Wall St and  Democrat lawyer mob because they are Jews but because they make me disappointed in my fellow Jews and sometimes ashamed of being  Jewish."

OTOH going after "the Rothchilds" reeks of the hoary worst of the old hatred.


https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/04/uc-davis-student-newspaper-declares-criticism-of-the-chinese-communist-party-is-racist/

https://www.mediamatters.org/glenn-beck/becks-second-day-soros-attacks-features-more-anti-semitic-stereotypes

See how the tactic works? Now, if Rep. Greene were tossing around slurs or saying "6 million wasn't enough", that's different.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 31, 2021, 03:10:56 PM
"going after"the Rothchilds" reeks of the hoary worst of the old hatred.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Going after them without even a hint of any other reason to even bring them up is what makes it at least look anti-semitic.

https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-expressed-support-for-assassinating-democrats-cnn-2021-1
In 2018, Greene wrote on Facebook that "the stage is being set" to hang Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
In 2019, she liked a Facebook comment suggesting Nancy Pelosi get a "bullet to the head." 

The source here is lousy.  Odds are there was something more to both of these.  The first one is arguably just words.  We don't hang people anymore even though Democrats are currently accusing Trump of treason, implying he should be hanged  The second one is stupid.  The words are visual and violent.  Neither is worse than what the opposition does often.  Both I assume were from before she was a candidate.  None of that makes it okay.  We operate in a double standard world.  I doubt she advocates taking power via assassination, and then runs for office.  Still, you can't 'like' over-the-top rhetoric and be a leader or hold public office - as a Republican.

I don't want N.P. to get a blank to her blank; I want her voted out - democratically, peacefully and patriotically - and live a long, happy and healthy life in retirement with all her ill-gotten riches.

Republican in name only:  The Republican label means something important to me.  Crafty's definition of American Creed sums it up, something about free markets, free minds and free people.  When politicians lips move and they aren't 100% focused on advancing exactly those things, they are hurting the cause. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 03:21:37 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/bill-clinton?source=%2Fnews%2Fbill-clinton-sits-with-louis-farrakhan-at-aretha-franklins-funeral

https://mediadc.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/563a40e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2290x1288+0+17/resize/1200x675!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmediadc.brightspotcdn.com%2Ff0%2F14%2Fce9e93d74b6fad875fdf3e8825d3%2Fap18243541859634-1.jpg

(https://mediadc.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/563a40e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2290x1288+0+17/resize/1200x675!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmediadc.brightspotcdn.com%2Ff0%2F14%2Fce9e93d74b6fad875fdf3e8825d3%2Fap18243541859634-1.jpg)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 31, 2021, 04:47:36 PM
The double standard is a feature, not a bug. A fact as clear as a stolen election.
A Republican could not pal around with Louis Farrakhan.

Imagine if the sides were reversed on abortion.  If Republicans wanted to build baby killing factories in black neighborhoods, and wanted taxpayer support to thin the herd of the unwanted unborn five times more likely to be black than white.  Abortion would be 100 or 1000 times more cruel than slavery and we would be destroyed.

Keith Ellison represented Louis Farrakhan unapologetically for a decade before running for office.  He became national party vice chair with all this in his background, and was elected congressman of Minneapolis and Attorney General of Minnesota where he still serves.  Ilhan 'it's the Benjamins baby' [Jewish lobby slur] Omar, not her real family name, was elected to replace him in Congress.  If you watch "Blackhawk Down" with her, she is pulling for the other side.  She's with the terrorists dragging dead Americans through the street for the imperialist crime of trying to bring humanitarian relief to her native Somalia.  She faced a primary and general election challenge this year and won both with wide margins.  Scott Johnson of Powerline called both of them out on all this a hundred times as the Minneapolis StarTribune yawned and published hate Trump cartoons daily.  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/louis-farrakhans-br-first-congressman

That doesn't mean Republicans can do it.  Just the opposite.  One mis-speak, retweet one bad tweet and you're out.

Hollering unfair works only one way.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on January 31, 2021, 05:05:40 PM
The double standard is a feature, not a bug. A fact as clear as a stolen election.
A Republican could not pal around with Louis Farrakhan.

Imagine if the sides were reversed on abortion.  If Republicans wanted to build baby killing factories in black neighborhoods, and wanted taxpayer support to thin the herd of the unwanted unborn five times more likely to be black than white.  Abortion would be 100 or 1000 times more cruel than slavery and we would be destroyed.

Keith Ellison represented Louis Farrakhan unapologetically for a decade before running for office.  He became national party vice chair with all this in his background, and was elected congressman of Minneapolis and Attorney General of Minnesota where he still serves.  Ilhan 'it's the Benjamins baby' [Jewish lobby slur] Omar, not her real family name, was elected to replace him in Congress.  If you watch "Blackhawk Down" with her, she is pulling for the other side.  She's with the terrorists dragging dead Americans through the street for the imperialist crime of trying to bring humanitarian relief to her native Somalia.  She faced a primary and general election challenge this year and won both with wide margins.  Scott Johnson of Powerline called both of them out on all this a hundred times as the Minneapolis StarTribune yawned and published hate Trump cartoons daily.  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/louis-farrakhans-br-first-congressman

That doesn't mean Republicans can do it.  Just the opposite.  One mis-speak, retweet one bad tweet and you're out.

Hollering unfair works only one way.

This is why IDGAF about Greene's screwball posts. Enough of the circular firing squad and purity tests.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 31, 2021, 05:31:53 PM
Agreed.  I don't care either.  Republicans are 'forced' to respond and no one even knows exactly what the tweets were or what was meant by them.  There is a presumption, that if she said it, we all think it, when she probably didn't even say it and certainly didn't mean it.

Who said, "If they bring a knife, we bring a gun."

(https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/07/Barack_Obama_Bring_A_Knife_To_A_Gun_Fight_-_Hillary_Clinton_-_YouTube.jpg?resize=1200,630&quality=65)

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bringing-a-gun-to-a-knife-fight/

Endorsed twice by the NYT, Wash Post etc. and elected twice AFTER saying that.
Title: NRO: Manchin should join the Reps
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 07, 2021, 01:20:12 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/joe-manchin-cant-beat-republicans-so-he-should-join-them/
Title: Re: NRO: Manchin should join the Reps
Post by: DougMacG on February 07, 2021, 02:54:13 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/joe-manchin-cant-beat-republicans-so-he-should-join-them/

Agree.

Another crazy idea would be for (author) Kevin Williamson and all of National Review to join the GOP before they invite others in.
Title: Re: NRO: Manchin should join the Reps
Post by: G M on February 07, 2021, 04:17:28 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/joe-manchin-cant-beat-republicans-so-he-should-join-them/

Agree.

Another crazy idea would be for (author) Kevin Williamson and all of National Review to join the GOP before they invite others in.

KW wouldn't want to rub elbows with all the disgusting flyover country dirt people.
Title: Warnock up for re election 2022
Post by: ccp on February 11, 2021, 08:39:19 AM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/02/10/georgia-sen-warnock-under-investigation-for-voter-registration-misconduct/?sh=6be2e8e46ea0
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 16, 2021, 05:19:33 AM
Hannity asked Jason Chaffetz if he would run for Romney's Senate seat

good idea
but he probably is too cozy at Fox

Title: US Congress; McConnell's Speech
Post by: DougMacG on February 16, 2021, 06:30:35 AM
Note that acquittal was done before Mitch scathed.  He had voted to acquit but needed to tell us how guilty Trump was.

Unmentioned by almost all is Mitch's wife, who Mitch used his clout to get Trump to hire, served 4 years without complaint, then left at the last minute in 'protest'.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/15/mcconnells-impeachment-ploy-was-not-statesmanship-but-an-attack-on-the-base-and-republicans-must-remember-it-well/
Title: Saw Burgess on Tucker tonight
Post by: ccp on February 16, 2021, 07:48:46 PM
thought he could take on and beat Romney

but he is too old

age 69 and Romney not on ballot again till NOV. '23

Could Burgess do 6 yr term starting at 72?

Title: US Congress; Congressional races, GOP to take back 4 Senate Seats in 2022
Post by: DougMacG on February 27, 2021, 02:48:23 PM
Take back the majority!
Sen Rick Scott:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-rick-scott-predicts-gop-will-flip-dem-senate-seats-in-georgia-arizona-new-hampshire-and-nevada-in-2022
Pick up Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada.
14 Democrat seats coming up for reelection.
Title: Re: US Congress; Congressional races, GOP to take back 4 Senate Seats in 2022
Post by: G M on February 27, 2021, 05:18:58 PM
Take back the majority!
Sen Rick Scott:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-rick-scott-predicts-gop-will-flip-dem-senate-seats-in-georgia-arizona-new-hampshire-and-nevada-in-2022
Pick up Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada.
14 Democrat seats coming up for reelection.

 :roll:

Are we voting our way out of vote fraud?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Sen Joe Manchin
Post by: DougMacG on March 07, 2021, 07:03:02 AM
Joe Manchin is on all the shows this morning.  He was the swing vote for the 2 trillion boondoggle and he is concerned about debt.  He worked with his Republican friends on compromises to it, whatever the f that means. 

Apparently he's not a math guy.

He is the fulcrum that decides the fate of the republic in the balance.  He's guessing that a $1400 check to a lot of under 75k people in WV will buy a lot of understanding.

What a moron.  But he's all we have to keep the filibuster from breaking further.

God help us.
Title: Kelly Tshibaka seeking to unseat Murkowski in Alaska
Post by: ccp on March 29, 2021, 02:26:39 PM
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/alaska-senate-lisa-murkowski-kelly-tshibaka/2021/03/29/id/1015606/


 :wink:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 29, 2021, 06:45:51 PM
Good.
Title: US Senate 2022, 2024
Post by: DougMacG on April 06, 2021, 05:27:46 PM
Biden's popularity will be the key.  Breakeven is 49%, where it is equally likely that either party controls the Senate.

"If he enters the midterms at 45% -- roughly where presidents have been for the last four midterm elections -- Democrats would lose between one and four seats, possibly setting Republicans up for a massive Senate majority after the 2024 elections."
   - Sesn Trende, Real Clear Politics   https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/04/06/a_senate_majority_if_you_can_keep_it_145531.html
-------------------------------------------------------

Dems, Are you SURE you want to end the filibuster?
Title: The Filibuster made the Civil Rights Act possible
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 12, 2021, 08:34:21 PM
The Filibuster Made the Civil Rights Act Possible
It prevented Southern senators from blocking debate and created the conditions for consensus.
By David Hoppe
April 11, 2021 4:51 pm ET

Sens. Thomas Kuchel, Philip Hart, Edward Kennedy, Mike Mansfield, Everett Dirksen and Jacob Javits at the passing of the Voting Rights Act, 1965.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES



The debate over the future of the Senate’s legislative filibuster has focused on the simple use of majority power to crush the opposition. While the future of America’s bicameral legislature and the balance of power created by the Founders is riding on this debate, many have lost sight of the true nature and value of the Senate, an institution that takes time and requires compromise to find long-term answers to major issues. Critics have linked the filibuster to Jim Crow segregation, but the tactic actually played a crucial role in passing civil-rights legislation and ensuring it was accepted by the South.

Rule 22, which establishes a procedure called “cloture” to end a filibuster, was created to provide a way to close debate with support of a supermajority in the Senate and move to pass legislation. The rule protected the minority’s rights while allowing a compromise to be achieved that would ultimately result in legislation being passed.


For the first 47 years after Rule 22’s enactment in 1917, there were only five successful attempts to cut off debate in the U.S. Senate. A few senators felt so strongly about their right to extended debate that they vowed never to vote for cloture, even for legislation they supported.

There were several successful filibusters of civil-rights legislation between 1917 and 1964. But after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to make the Civil Rights Act his chief legislative priority. He worked with Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Minority Leader Everett Dirksen to maneuver the bill through the challenges of senators who planned to filibuster.

It began with Mansfield meeting with Georgia Democrat Richard Russell, the leader of the senators opposed to the Civil Rights Act. Mansfield promised there would be no tricks and he would keep Russell fully informed of Mansfield’s actions as he guided the bill through floor debate. Some insisted the bill should be driven through and passed as quickly as possible, but Mansfield treated every senator equally and fairly. He believed legislation should be addressed “not in the seeking of short-cuts, not in the cracking of nonexistent whips, not in wheeling and dealing, but in an honest facing of the situation and a resolution of it by the Senate itself.”


Consideration of the bill, which had passed the House, began in February 1964. Throughout the following months the filibuster continued. Senators of both parties offered many amendments, some of which passed. A total of 543 hours, 1 minute and 51 seconds were consumed by the longest filibuster in Senate history. Most importantly, the Senate and the country saw an open process that allowed the minority every opportunity to debate and offer amendments. They saw the leaders of both parties in the Senate work to gather the 67 votes then needed to cut off debate and pass a bill that extended civil rights to black Americans across the U.S.

Writing in the Atlantic 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Michael O’Donnell observed: “In the years since, the act has been a remarkable success. Its acceptance in the south was surprisingly quick and widespread. In a stroke, the act demolished the rickety but persistent foundation for segregation and Jim Crow.”

Perhaps that had something to do with the way the act passed—not by a simple majority forcing its will on the minority but by allowing the two sides to argue their case at length, by allowing the legislative process of debate and amendment to proceed unhindered, by gathering the votes needed to show the country that it must change the law, by carrying the country along through the months of discussion and compromise, by fulfilling the highest expectations of the Founders, Mansfield, Dirksen and other senators built support for a law the country needed. In the words of Victor Hugo, quoted by Dirksen during the close of debate in 1964, “Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come.”

A bipartisan consensus seems like a distant dream in this divided country, but the filibuster is central to achieving it. Ramming legislation down the throats of the minority by a narrow margin or a single vote breeds animosity, distrust and unrest. The filibuster, by slowing down legislation and giving time to build a solid majority, achieves consensus where it seems impossible. By giving the minority time to be fully heard and negotiated with, passage of legislation with bipartisan support creates a path for a more stable, peaceful democracy.

Mr. Hoppe was chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, 1996-2001.
Title: Dems 218 Repubs 212
Post by: ccp on April 14, 2021, 09:17:10 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democratic-majority-two-vote-margin-julia-letlow

I didn't realize it is this close  :-o

so the next time CNN tells us there is any kind of mandate for Biden etc. we can all be even ore confident this is fake news .

Title: Re: Dems 218 Repubs 212
Post by: DougMacG on April 14, 2021, 09:55:14 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democratic-majority-two-vote-margin-julia-letlow

I didn't realize it is this close  :-o

so the next time CNN tells us there is any kind of mandate for Biden etc. we can all be even ore confident this is fake news .

Flip 2 votes and a bill doesn't pass.
Title: PA Senate seat, Lt Gov Fetterman
Post by: DougMacG on April 16, 2021, 08:07:42 AM
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/16/john-fetterman-profile-2022-senate-politics-pennsylvania-481259
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 16, 2021, 10:29:31 AM
Fetterman - he is still a democrat

the dems seem to find one criticism of him

 he is a white man

 :roll:
Title: Murkowski snakes again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 21, 2021, 07:46:07 PM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9497097/Republican-Sen-Lisa-Murkowski-breaks-ranks-votes-confirm-Biden-DOJ-nominee.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 28, 2021, 11:18:00 AM
How do I discover exactly who is my Congressman?  My zip code is 28387 if that helps.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on April 28, 2021, 08:28:42 PM
How do I discover exactly who is my Congressman?  My zip code is 28387 if that helps.

See if this is right: 
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/NC/2
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 29, 2021, 05:44:40 AM
Thank you.  It would appear that I am in the Ninth District, represented by Congressman Dan Bishop.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 30, 2021, 05:18:56 AM
"CNN's Dana Bash accused Scott of lying about the new voting law, which some pundits have referred to as "Jim Crow 2.0."

"He's the only Black Republican in the United States Senate and talking about the Democrats attacking these voting restrictions that are being passed across the country and these states as Jim Crow – worse than Jim Crow and fighting back against that kind of rhetoric; was interesting but it’s actually – it’s not necessarily true," Bash said.

SEN. TIM SCOTT RIPS WASHINGTON POST DURING BIDEN REBUTTAL: THEY SUGGESTED MY FAMILY'S POVERTY WAS 'PRIVILEGE'

CNN senior political correspondent Abby Phillip agreed and laughed with her colleague that Scott's take on the Georgia voting measure was just "not true" and dismissed Scott's speech as "partisan." CNN commentator Van Jones nodded and predicted that Scott "lost a lot of African-Americans by the tens of millions when he said ‘America is not a racist nation.'"

ME : 

 well Dana, we would have had 2 if the Dems did not **steal** the election in Michigan from John James

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._James#:~:text=James%20ran%20as%20the%20Republican,made%20unsubstantiated%20claims%20of%20fraud.

as for Van Jones (O's side kick ) comment  - we shall see......
Title: Alaska primed to grab Murkowski by the collar & belt & chuck her out the window
Post by: ccp on May 02, 2021, 09:21:14 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/01/gop-murkowski-challenger-kelly-tshibaka-senator-sucks-up-to-cnn-supports-radical-biden-administration/

If only we can hold for 2 and then 4 yrs.....

by then another 5 million of illegals flooded into the country...or more
 there wil be up to 30 M in th USA


although biden will still refuse to stop illegals ALIENS from flooding

Title: another Dem cheating scandal ?
Post by: ccp on May 04, 2021, 08:56:08 AM
https://www.creators.com/read/stephen-moore/05/21/why-did-biden-census-bureau-add-25-million-more-residents-to-blue-state-population-count
Title: Re: The US Congress; Bye Liz, the party needs a real leader
Post by: DougMacG on May 12, 2021, 11:05:14 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2021/05/12/breaking-liz-cheney-ousted-from-gop-leadership-n1446271

Liz, What is "The Big Lie"?  The thing about "The Big Lie" in quotation is that she is parroting lying media and Democrats.  If she knows what happened in the vote count, she should say, because no one else knows.

Why is her ire aimed at Republicans?  When she defines her enemy, she includes the majority of Republicans.
That's fine but why be in political leadership of your political enemy.

Back to the beginning, Trump took an unfair, mostly after the fact, ruthless, public attack against the Iraq war, which was Liz Cheney's father's signature achievement of his life, and Trump made other unnecessary and hurtful attacks against the Bush administration which include her father.  Liz Cheney is justified in hating Trump for the rest of her life.  But won the race for the nomination in 41 states, and then in 50 states.  if Liz can't get passed her hatred, she is not a Republican leader. 

Liz's hated aside, Trump unified Republicans, brought in more Democrats, blacks and Hispanics than any recent nominee, got elected President, stood up against Iran, stood up to N.K., stood up to China, held Germany's and NATO's feet to the fire, negotiated Middle East Peace, repealed senseless over-regulation, passed pro-growth tax rate cuts, brought prosperity, employment, and wage gains like we haven't seen in a long time.  The Republican contest against Trump is over by 5 years. The contest for the next nomination doesn't begin until after these midterms.  That may be divisive no matter who runs.  But don't serve in leadership now if your agenda is to divide the party.  She doubled down on division and now she's out of leadership.  Next she will likely be out of Wyoming elected office.  Too bad.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 12, 2021, 12:23:56 PM
"Why is her ire aimed at Republicans?  "

good question

remarkable how the Bush Republicans and even some Reagan ones

just refuse to admit they are WRONG

I have to say , seeing her damage our cause with anti republican banter on liberal media outlets
    is terrible

I really liked her genius father



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Rep Cheney
Post by: DougMacG on May 12, 2021, 04:18:34 PM
ccp:  [Liz Cheney] I really liked her genius father

I liked her Dad as well.  Trump is unfair regarding Bush Cheney and the Iraq war, but she endorsed him in 2016 anyway.  Saddam needed toppling and we had full justification to do that.  The part where the war went on years after Saddam was toppled is fair grounds for debate. 

Dick Cheney started as a Ford Republican and grew wiser with experience.  His debate with Joe Lieberman was remarkable.  Contrast that with the first Trump Biden debate.  Cheney won the election for Bush and Trump lost the election for himself in 90 minutes each.

Dick Cheney was neutralized by the Scooter Libby thing which was a war with the deep state that George Bush wouldn't fight.  Also haunted by the hunting accident and by the Iraq war.  Bush wouldn't fight his critics on the war (General Betray-us?) and wouldn't toot his own horn on 51 months of economic growth.  Bush never shut down Dem programs like Fannie Mae lending to unqualified borrowers for more than 100% of market value that led to the financial collapse.  Where was Dick Cheney on that, I don't know, but he lost his 'gravitas'.

Cheney and Bush families could be a bit more tolerant of criticism instead of just declaring war on their own.

Liz endorsed Trump in 2016 and voted with him 93% of the time.  Her zeal now is ad hominem against Trump and really about 2024.

Counterproductive is what she's being now.  She brought Trump back into the headlines where he loves it, and she isolates herself.  If she wanted to win the Presidency or effectively support someone else, she needed to unite the Trump and not-Trump Republicans, not start a war within the party.

"[March] peacefully and patriotically", he said.  To say that incited violence is pure bullshit.  What angered the half the country was to get no investigation, no adjudication and no voice in the media with VERY reasonable concerns.  We know there was fraud.  We know the electoral and key swung states were very close.  No one (except maybe the perpetrators) know if the fraud was enough to swing the election.  To call it "The Big Lie" is to insult half the country and jump in bed with Democrats, deep state and media.  So there she may lie. 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 12, 2021, 06:10:25 PM
 To call it "The Big Lie" is to insult half the country and jump in bed with Democrats, deep state and media.  So there she may lie.

That is why she has to go.
At the very least from leadership.

She is going to be on Fox tomorrow
  If she starts in with "starting a new party"

or the election was won fair and square or we need HR1 and SR1
she is finished for me.



Title: US Congress; House defeats Hamas sanctions on party line vote
Post by: DougMacG on May 19, 2021, 08:07:20 PM
I get it, that Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib are anti-Israel.  But how is it my allegedly moderate Dem, (Jewish) representative Dean Phillips (and all Democrats) votes with them, against the interests of Israel, against the survival of Israel, for the destruction of Israel, protecting the terrorists?

Take religion out of it, Israel is our ally, Hamas is our enemy, right?

The bill was supported by every House Democrat in the last Congress.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/house-democrats-vote-against-hamas-sanctions/
Title: US Congress; Democrats have turned against Israel
Post by: DougMacG on May 26, 2021, 08:06:41 AM
At one point it looked like Omar, Tlaib, AOC and the gang were hurting the Democrats with their anti-Israel, anti-Jew rhetoric.  Now it seems to be all of them have turned that direction.

Strange how often we have to explain why Israel is our ally, and the reason is not religious.

If we had journalists, every Dem in Congress should be asked, true or false: Israel is an apartheid state.  Gaza respects the rights of minorities better.  Iran wants peace.  The Abraham accords were unsettling.  All false.

Good article here on the shift of Democrats in Congress, with specifics:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/05/the_deterioration_of_democratic_support_for_israel_.html


Title: Congressional races 2022, Leaders meet with Gingrich, New Contract with America?
Post by: DougMacG on May 26, 2021, 09:21:25 AM
What do Republicans believe in?  Only a very few could answer that accurately because messaging is all over the map.

Republicans have not duplicated the clarity of message they had running with Newt in 1994.  The off-year election presents the opportunity to shift the national discussion to a debate about policies.  Both Clinton and Biden presented themselves as centrists, not left wing ideologues and both governed their first two years as Leftists.  Some Dem voters (all R voters) in '92 and in 2020 don't believe they voted for all of this.

Trump has two strengths in politics, conservative policies that work and his ability to draw attention.  Gingrich's strength is his ability to focus on a policy message.  It's good they are talking.

https://thehill.com/policy/555459-trump-working-with-gingrich-on-policy-agenda-report?rl=1
Title: Congressional races 2022, Newt continued...
Post by: DougMacG on May 28, 2021, 02:01:20 PM
"We have found 20 issues that are positive and have 85 percent support which could give us a huge advantage over the Democrats in 2022,"   - Newt

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/byron-yorks-daily-memo-trump-newt-and-2022

"Ninety percent of all Americans want people who enter the country illegally to be tested for COVID-19 before they are released by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol...The Democratic Machine has been blocking every effort to hold a vote on this reform...Some 87 percent who make up the American Majority want mandatory deportation for noncitizen gang members...The Democratic Machine is opposed...80 percent of Americans want to fully fund the police and law enforcement, including 69 percent of Democrats...74 percent favor mandatory life sentences in prison for cop killers...72 percent favor mandatory prison sentences for anyone attacking police...The Democratic Machine simply turns a deaf ear to these views...Taxpayer-provided giveaways (welfare, health care, free college) for people in the country illegally are opposed by the American Majority (75 percent of Americans)."

And more: "The American Majority (81 percent) wants to require photo identification to vote. H.R. 1 opens the door to eliminating voter identification...the American Majority recognizes the disaster that was inflicted upon children by the teachers' unions during the pandemic, and 81 percent of Americans now favor school choice for every child...The Democratic Machine is bitterly opposed...The whole process of 'wokeness' and equity-over-equality is generally embraced by the Democratic Machine and repudiated by the American Majority. The Democratic Machine in the House passed a rule on the first day erasing 'mother, father, son, daughter' and more than two dozen gendered terms from the House rules document. Some 66 percent of Americans favor restoring pro-family, gender-based language to the House rules...Some 85 percent of Americans favor religious freedom...The Democratic Machine is relentlessly in favor of placing sexual orientation and gender rights over traditional rights."
---------------------------------------------

[Doug] Since the Democrats in power seem to want to destroy the nation, it isn't that hard to find issues that divide Far-Left Governmentism from the freedom seeking American people.

The local Dem House member of a divided district will tell you he or she is a moderate, centrist, "problem solver".  If so, then why do you vote (nearly) 100% of the time with the people who favor all THIS?
Title: Re: Congressional races 2022, Newt continued...
Post by: G M on May 28, 2021, 02:06:02 PM
How are those issues polling with Dominion voting machines and dem vote counters at 4 AM?


"We have found 20 issues that are positive and have 85 percent support which could give us a huge advantage over the Democrats in 2022,"   - Newt

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/byron-yorks-daily-memo-trump-newt-and-2022

"Ninety percent of all Americans want people who enter the country illegally to be tested for COVID-19 before they are released by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol...The Democratic Machine has been blocking every effort to hold a vote on this reform...Some 87 percent who make up the American Majority want mandatory deportation for noncitizen gang members...The Democratic Machine is opposed...80 percent of Americans want to fully fund the police and law enforcement, including 69 percent of Democrats...74 percent favor mandatory life sentences in prison for cop killers...72 percent favor mandatory prison sentences for anyone attacking police...The Democratic Machine simply turns a deaf ear to these views...Taxpayer-provided giveaways (welfare, health care, free college) for people in the country illegally are opposed by the American Majority (75 percent of Americans)."

And more: "The American Majority (81 percent) wants to require photo identification to vote. H.R. 1 opens the door to eliminating voter identification...the American Majority recognizes the disaster that was inflicted upon children by the teachers' unions during the pandemic, and 81 percent of Americans now favor school choice for every child...The Democratic Machine is bitterly opposed...The whole process of 'wokeness' and equity-over-equality is generally embraced by the Democratic Machine and repudiated by the American Majority. The Democratic Machine in the House passed a rule on the first day erasing 'mother, father, son, daughter' and more than two dozen gendered terms from the House rules document. Some 66 percent of Americans favor restoring pro-family, gender-based language to the House rules...Some 85 percent of Americans favor religious freedom...The Democratic Machine is relentlessly in favor of placing sexual orientation and gender rights over traditional rights."
---------------------------------------------

[Doug] Since the Democrats in power seem to want to destroy the nation, it isn't that hard to find issues that divide Far-Left Governmentism from the freedom seeking American people.

The local Dem House member of a divided district will tell you he or she is a moderate, centrist, "problem solver".  If so, then why do you vote (nearly) 100% of the time with the people who favor all THIS?
Title: Re: Congressional races 2022, Newt continued...
Post by: DougMacG on May 28, 2021, 03:56:49 PM
How are those issues polling with Dominion voting machines and dem vote counters at 4 AM?

Lots of these states have R legislatures, making state election laws and oversight of Dem cities possible.  Reigning in Google, Facebook, Twitter can be part of the message.  Winning local elections matters and bringing people in with common interest on national issues helps that.  Having a consistent, coherent message in opposition and winning the issues debates matters.   Without all that, we are the caricature they draw.  No one else is ever going to put our message out for us. 
Title: Re: Congressional races 2022, Newt continued...
Post by: G M on May 28, 2021, 04:44:32 PM
"Lots of these states have R legislatures, making state election laws and oversight of Dem cities possible"

This would involve actually standing up to the dems, which most elected repubs are unwilling to do. They might be called racist or not invited to the right cocktail parties.



How are those issues polling with Dominion voting machines and dem vote counters at 4 AM?

Lots of these states have R legislatures, making state election laws and oversight of Dem cities possible.  Reigning in Google, Facebook, Twitter can be part of the message.  Winning local elections matters and bringing people in with common interest on national issues helps that.  Having a consistent, coherent message in opposition and winning the issues debates matters.   Without all that, we are the caricature they draw.  No one else is ever going to put our message out for us.
Title: Senate Parliamentarian rules only one more sidestep this year
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 02, 2021, 12:38:18 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/dems-can-only-sidestep-gop-on-one-bill-this-year-senate-parliamentarian-rules/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=24034780
Title: US Congressional races, Sen. Hershel Walker, Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on June 21, 2021, 11:12:53 AM
All things equal, the Senate just flipped.
https://www.outkick.com/herschel-walker-sure-sounds-like-he-is-set-to-run-in-georgia/

This affects more than Georgia.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 21, 2021, 05:59:13 PM
This would be GREAT news!
Title: The Stupid Party strikes again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 24, 2021, 08:42:12 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/republicans-are-on-the-verge-of-giving-up-all-their-negotiating-power/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20210624&utm_term=Jolt-Smart 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 24, 2021, 01:20:43 PM
oh my god
please say above post is a misunderstanding
no wonder they are all smiles on CNN today
and dems are out on the cables smiling with Joe's "big achievement"
and picture of Republicans who support with Romney in center of the shot

Title: how to tell bad faith negotiators from those who are sincere
Post by: ccp on June 26, 2021, 07:24:30 AM
The Republicans need to get better negotiating training it seems

Romney et al. are such dupes:

https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/dealing-with-difficult-people-daily/bargaining-in-bad-faith-dealing-with-false-negotiators-nb/

REMEMBER RULE # 1 -  >

Democrats ALWAYS negotiate in bad faith!

Title: Re: how to tell bad faith negotiators from those who are sincere
Post by: G M on June 27, 2021, 12:16:12 PM
They aren't dupes. They are on the other side.


The Republicans need to get better negotiating training it seems

Romney et al. are such dupes:

https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/dealing-with-difficult-people-daily/bargaining-in-bad-faith-dealing-with-false-negotiators-nb/

REMEMBER RULE # 1 -  >

Democrats ALWAYS negotiate in bad faith!
Title: Why Herschel Walker with win GA US Senate seat
Post by: DougMacG on June 29, 2021, 05:09:32 AM
https://www.savannahnow.com/story/opinion/2021/06/24/trump-endorsed-herschel-walker-would-win-us-senate-football-georgia/5318241001/
Title: Kelly Tshibaka, Republican for Alaska US Senate (vs. Lisa Murkowski)
Post by: DougMacG on July 01, 2021, 08:49:13 AM
https://www.kellyforak.com/news

Send money.
Title: JD Vance for Senate from Ohio
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 01, 2021, 06:18:44 PM
https://amgreatness.com/2021/07/01/conservative-investor-jd-vance-joins-ohio-senate-race/
Title: Can JD Vance win?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 02, 2021, 06:30:40 AM
https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/02/jd-vance-ohio-senate-rabbi-stabbed-boston-stacey-abrams/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10771&pnespid=g.R89fRZWRGNZJFcDOnvp39Wjh_Xqv2WuPl7R3J.
Title: Re: JD Vance for Senate from Ohio
Post by: DougMacG on July 02, 2021, 06:31:26 AM
https://amgreatness.com/2021/07/01/conservative-investor-jd-vance-joins-ohio-senate-race/

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/07/01/jd_vance_announces_run_republicans_dont_care_about_voters_they_think_theyre_bigoted_or_stupid.html
Title: JD Vance
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 02, 2021, 07:28:04 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmVjKIEC8rw
Title: Re: JD Vance
Post by: DougMacG on July 02, 2021, 08:27:26 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmVjKIEC8rw

Very interesting.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Murkowski challenger endorsed
Post by: DougMacG on July 11, 2021, 06:42:11 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/07/10/alaska-republican-party-endorses-murkowski-challenger-kelly-tshibaka/

Get out the wallet.
Title: Sen. Klobuchar should resign sooner rather than later
Post by: DougMacG on July 19, 2021, 07:03:01 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/07/18/sen_amy_klobuchar_supreme_court_justice_stephen_breyer_should_retire_sooner_rather_than_later.html

Breyer is as a good a justice now as he ever was, no compliment intended.  Pressure for him to move along is clearly age discrimination.  His appointment to the Supreme Court was for life term.  What part of that does Amy not understand.  Klobuchar clearly believes Democrats are in imminent danger of losing the Senate, perhaps before the midterm election.  Secondly she knows neither Biden nor Harris has any likelihood of winning reelection.  [Do you even call it reelection if it was wrongly decided the first time?]

Klobuchar would be heir apparent to the throne right now if only she was a little blacker.  But she's never be anything beyond white and cisgender.  She is racist by definition of the Left and she should resign in disgrace so that Keith Ellison or Ilhan Omar can be appointed to that seat never held by anyone other than an entitled white.

But Klobuchar won't leave and neither should Justice Breyer.
Title: The Klobuchar grin
Post by: ccp on July 19, 2021, 09:27:28 AM
notice nearly every time she appears in public she has that grin :

I don't know if she has had some sort of procedure or botox that would do this:

https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=klobuchar+image&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY4fGAxu_xAhUkneAKHfFFB3sQjJkEegQIAhAC&biw=1440&bih=789

Title: here comes the hit job
Post by: ccp on July 23, 2021, 01:07:50 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/herschel-walker-eyes-senate-run-165340886.html

There is definite suppression of Blacks in the US,

when they are Conservative.
Title: Liz going down in flames
Post by: ccp on July 26, 2021, 01:00:37 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/07/26/liz-cheneys-polling-plummeting-wyoming-gop-voters/

nothing like listening to your voters voices.  :roll:

can someone get her a copy of American Marxism

she will have time to read it soon
when she is retired

for upholding Democracy!!!! :wink:
Title: Re: Liz going down in flames
Post by: DougMacG on July 26, 2021, 03:13:42 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/07/26/liz-cheneys-polling-plummeting-wyoming-gop-voters/
nothing like listening to your voters voices.  :roll:
...

Dick Cheney and wife Lynn met at age 14 in Casper Wyoming, an amazing local story of love, success and rise to national and international historic importance. 

Dick Cheney was [failed] President Ford's chief of staff; his young family lived in Washington DC.  In 1977 as Ford left office, he moved his family back to Casper to reestablish a local base [to get back to Washington].  The next year, 1978, he was elected to the House and the family moved back to Washington [McClean, VA].
https://www.politico.com/magazine/gallery/2013/11/growing-up-cheney-000007/?slide=0

Liz is a product of Washington.  Love for Liz in Wyoming ran through her father - and the hope that she would rise to similar, national conservative importance.  That dream ended in shame as she jumped to the wrong side of an important national feud still going on.

She could have been neutral or skeptical on the question of stolen election, taking a wait and see approach.  She could have said the record is mixed, Trump didn't do enough to stop it but he did say go peacefully and patriotically, so I cannot vote to convict.  She could have voted no on after-office 'impeachment' citing even the reason Chief Justice Roberts did, no jurisdiction - but she didn't.   

As a national conservative, she started with no charisma or crossover appeal, then she turned on her own side.  Her future is full of choices.  She can be Mitt Romney's chief of staff or be the conservative Juan Williams of some liberal network - in Washington, not Wyoming.

It's no big deal being unpopular back 'home'.  She only went back to Wyoming to get back to Washington.
Title: Re: The US Congress, Sen. Sinema not fully in step with her radical party
Post by: DougMacG on August 02, 2021, 10:23:02 AM
It seems like she knows Arizona is not yet a blue state, in spite of the 2020 vote count.  Politicians have more accurate polling than what narrative agenda media feed to the public.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/28/key-vote-sinema-says-shes-a-no-on-democrats-3-5t-reconciliation-bill/

Key vote Sinema says she’s a ‘no’ on Democrats’ $3.5T reconciliation bill,   July 28, 2021

Sinema:  "I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”

[Doug] A second no vote takes pressure off of Joe Manchin and puts it back on Biden-Pelosi-Schumer to govern better.
Title: "data scientist" to run against Gaetz in Florida
Post by: ccp on August 06, 2021, 10:32:43 AM
https://news.yahoo.com/data-scientist-who-clashed-with-de-santis-returns-to-florida-as-covid-surges-preparing-to-run-against-matt-gaetz-162223028.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebekah_Jones

I think Gaetz should ask her out.
They would be cool  power couple and she is attractive

Title: online rumor Pelosi stepping down in not too distant future
Post by: ccp on August 10, 2021, 12:29:35 PM
I suppose before she gets routed in 2022.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/10/atlantic-magazine-nancy-pelosi-will-announce-shes-stepping-down/

to be replaced with Brooklyn's Barack Obama

Don't bother reading Wikipedia about him

this is likely more informative :

https://www.conservativereview.com/accepting-gops-covid-relief-proposal-would-be-unconditional-surrender-rep-hakeem-jeffries-says-2650345604.html

Title: Liz Cheney getting her parting shots at Trump
Post by: ccp on August 15, 2021, 12:44:56 PM

before she gets her ass booted out of office next year:

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2021/08/15/liz-cheney-there-is-no-question-that-trump-and-pompeo-also-bear-very-significant-responsibility-over-afghanistan-n2594168
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 15, 2021, 05:17:34 PM
Well, on this is she wrong?

And yes, Biden's execution is worthy of hara kiri but that is a separate matter.
Title: Elizabeth Cheney
Post by: ccp on August 16, 2021, 04:43:37 AM
"Well, on this is she wrong?"

True

Trump refused to listen to anyone is Syria
and appears to have been ready to do same in Afghanistan
though it is not clear he would have let the Taliban move right back in
General Jack Keane you may have seen yesterday ,
said that it is true Trump made some sort of deal with the Taliban , but WITH CONDITIONS, including they had to share power.

Pompeo was on saying this and Gen. Keane said that was true.  I trust him.

That said does Cheney have to go on enemy news to emphasize the point about Trump and minimizing the point about Biden.



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 16, 2021, 05:42:43 AM
"Well, on this is she wrong?"

My one cent.  Not quite fair to say same thing would have happened under Trump.  It Did happen under Biden.

The American people would not have voted for Liz Cheney's plan that brought us the Obama Biden's in the first place.

Trump got it down to a zero casualties 'war'.  Bush Cheney did not do that.  Obama didn't, Biden didn't.

Trump had the Taliban at the table.  Biden lost that.  That Trump would have made all the same mistakes is mere noise in the room and grievance. Destroy your own party grievance.

This chapter is on Biden alone. IMHO.

We had a leave behind force.  Now we can't fly a plane out of the country.

Nothing whatsoever was learned in Iraq.  Or Saigon.

On Syria, seems to me events vindicated Trump.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 16, 2021, 05:44:14 AM
Gen. Keane is awesome.  Wish America had more like him!
Title: Re: The US Congress, The Biden impeachment
Post by: DougMacG on August 16, 2021, 08:04:53 AM
Just adding to what is already said on border non-enforcement topic:

Impeachment is a political process that takes place in the political chambers based (partly) on constitutional issues.  Before Pelosi-Schiff started screwing around with it, the term used to be conflated with the removal part of the process, not merely a tactic to divide the country and weaken the sitting President.  [How could anything weaken Joe Biden?]

As a practical matter, removal happens only when the President's only party turns on him.

In the current context, it would take only 4 Dems in the House to turn on him to make a majority, but it would not come to a vote without the Speaker's support.  We don't 4 Dems or the Speaker turning on him in this Congress.

Then there is the idea that making a case for impeachment could be part of R's taking the House back.  They are already projected to do that without that.  I'm not sure the public is eager for another (botched) impeachment and removal trial.

On the Senate side it takes 2/3rds majority, 67 Senators, voting to convict.  Right now we have zero Dems and certainly not all 50 R's.  After the midterms you still have roughly zero Dems  and not all R's voting yes.

If you could remove Biden, you get Harris.  If you could remove both simultaneously, you get Pelosi.  If you wait for after the midterms, you would get Kevin McCarthy, but then for sure no Dems will vote yes.

Border non-enforcement for example is a policy issue (to them).  Frankly, if a person like Joe Manchin broke that far from his party, he wouldn't be a Democrat and 17 aren't about to switch parties.

Then it comes to back, in my estimation, to just making the political case that these people are destroying our country.

That does not mean we should not publish Articles of Impeachment here for people to see - that would be passed unanimously if every officeholder in Congress put the constitution and the country ahead of politics and their party.
Title: Re: The US Congress, The Biden impeachment
Post by: G M on August 16, 2021, 08:29:07 AM
The system is totally corrupted and beyond saving. You aren't voting your way out of this.


Just adding to what is already said on border non-enforcement topic:

Impeachment is a political process that takes place in the political chambers based (partly) on constitutional issues.  Before Pelosi-Schiff started screwing around with it, the term used to be conflated with the removal part of the process, not merely a tactic to divide the country and weaken the sitting President.  [How could anything weaken Joe Biden?]

As a practical matter, removal happens only when the President's only party turns on him.

In the current context, it would take only 4 Dems in the House to turn on him to make a majority, but it would not come to a vote without the Speaker's support.  We don't 4 Dems or the Speaker turning on him in this Congress.

Then there is the idea that making a case for impeachment could be part of R's taking the House back.  They are already projected to do that without that.  I'm not sure the public is eager for another (botched) impeachment and removal trial.

On the Senate side it takes 2/3rds majority, 67 Senators, voting to convict.  Right now we have zero Dems and certainly not all 50 R's.  After the midterms you still have roughly zero Dems  and not all R's voting yes.

If you could remove Biden, you get Harris.  If you could remove both simultaneously, you get Pelosi.  If you wait for after the midterms, you would get Kevin McCarthy, but then for sure no Dems will vote yes.

Border non-enforcement for example is a policy issue (to them).  Frankly, if a person like Joe Manchin broke that far from his party, he wouldn't be a Democrat and 17 aren't about to switch parties.

Then it comes to back, in my estimation, to just making the political case that these people are destroying our country.

That does not mean we should not publish Articles of Impeachment here for people to see - that would be passed unanimously if every officeholder in Congress put the constitution and the country ahead of politics and their party.
Title: 9 of 10 fastest growing cities - republican in Texas and Florida
Post by: ccp on August 23, 2021, 05:53:45 AM
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/22/census-congressional-district-changes-506467
Title: Re: 9 of 10 fastest growing cities - republican in Texas and Florida
Post by: DougMacG on August 23, 2021, 06:55:26 AM
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/22/census-congressional-district-changes-506467

Are they coming to join in that success or to destroy it?   
Title: Herschel Walker, the next US senator from Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on August 25, 2021, 05:31:22 AM
https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/breaking-herschel-walker-is-running-for-us-senate-in-georgia/6GZ3BDZBHJHRFFJA76PT2K2XLA/

That white supremacist racist label doesn't seem to stick as well on people like Larry Elder and Herschel Walker.

This isn't two people coming out conservative.  This is a sea change.
Title: Herschel Walker for Senate (GA)
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 25, 2021, 07:25:32 PM
https://rumble.com/vlocbg-the-left-panics-as-herschel-walker-drops-epic-ad-for-ga-senate-run.html?mref=4pvd7&mc=b2gay&fbclid=IwAR3k2Hc7CQy2vJ7JZ3pXVMzCxM1KUeRsRLSFMGtVWMz_ntr4vLIk1Bu1vOs
Title: Gaetz exonerated
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 05, 2021, 06:45:55 AM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/09/01/matt-gaetz-exonerated-after-man-charged-with-extortion-n2595102
Title: WSJ on Sinema
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 06, 2021, 01:08:26 PM
‘Hi, I’m Kyrsten. I’m in the Arizona House and I’m a socialist.” That’s how the woman who’s now her state’s senior U.S. senator introduced herself to me when we met at an immigration conference in 2006. I found her to be more complicated than a slogan. I told her I worked for a federally sponsored job-training program in college and learned that she is a former social worker who is suspicious of impersonal bureaucracies and genuinely curious about other people.

Lately she’s become a pariah on the left for her skepticism of the $3.5 trillion Biden budget extravaganza. Detractors harassed her in a public restroom to cheers from some media figures. “Saturday Night Live” portrayed her as an obstructionist who’s too ditsy to know what she wants. There’s talk of a primary challenge in 2024.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
WSJ Opinion Potomac Watch
FBI Fisagate/A Bigger IRS/Mavericks v. Progressives


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The anger is explained in part by her history on the left. Yet she’s built a bipartisan coalition in swing-state Arizona. The polling firm Bendixen & Amandi found that 52% of Arizona Democrats and 51% of Republicans view her favorably.

She showed signs of her heterodoxy before her 2018 Senate election. In an ad for that campaign, she deplored how people in Washington “are more interested in their talking points and their ideology than getting stuff done.” This May, the Arizona Republic asked her what her long-term strategy in the Senate was. “Most folks in Arizona aren’t thinking to themselves: ‘What is the government doing for me today?’ ” she said. “They’re often thinking about what the government is doing to me today, right?”


She continued: “I want Arizonans to, 1), not have to think about their government very much. But, 2), when they do, to think to themselves: ‘Well, that it is at least a little less bad than it used to be, it’s less painful than it used to be and Kyrsten has done some work to help make my life a little bit easier and a little bit better.’ ” That restrained legislative approach drives progressives nuts, but calmer ones who know her say it’s rooted in her belief that both the hard right and the hard left are good at arguing but bad at governance.

“Sinema might become a respected, legitimate post-partisan national figure,” says Mike McKenna, former deputy director for legislative affairs in Donald Trump’s White House. “Like Trump, she has the capacity to scramble traditional power structures—but from the other side.”

Ms. Sinema says she can’t be pushed around by either party. Maybe that’s because she does know what she wants. She believes in incremental reform, and that usually sticks only if it’s bipartisan. In her 2009 book, “Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win—and Last,” she wrote of “the dread disease” of “identity politics” and how liberals too quickly embrace the “mantle of victimhood.”

She has said job creation should be Washington’s No. 1 policy goal, and she believes that best happens without vastly higher taxes, debt and new entitlements. That’s a moderate platform, one I bet a majority of the American people, tired of political squabbling, could get behind. The question both parties should be asking isn’t “What does Kyrsten Sinema want?” but “What if Kyrsten Sinema is right?”

Mr. Fund is a National Review columnist and co-author of “Our Broken Elections: Ho
Title: Re: WSJ on Sinema
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2021, 02:02:27 PM
‘Hi, I’m Kyrsten. I’m in the Arizona House and I’m a socialist.”

"She has said job creation should be Washington’s No. 1 policy goal, and she believes that best happens without vastly higher taxes, debt and new entitlements."
---------------------------------------

I've tried not to gush too positively yet about Democrat Senators Manchin and Sinema saving the Republic out of fear they will turn on us before my written word is read.  That said, great courage shown so far by these two.  Can't say that about my faux-moderate Representative Dean Phillips of big-vodka who votes with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time and with anti-American Rep. Omar more than 90% of the time.

If Sinema wants to create jobs, we have a party for that, and it's not the job destruction party where she currently resides.  Read the forum; take a look at the Republican results that preceded her.

It would be even easier for Joe Manchin to switch parties.  Everyone else in his situation already has.
Title: 2022 prospects
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 03, 2021, 10:55:17 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/gop-adds-13-democratic-house-seats-to-2022-midterm-target-list-after-election-night-successes/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=25568464

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/3/democrats-odds-holding-senate-2022-slip-after-tues/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=IQmtz3%2F8DSDTF5JIVZFuwEMnYQIQlzBmTOEnl8nzaU9cGt3wQBdJFFZnOU3UPx9E&bt_ts=1635960783696

Title: Re: WSJ on Sinema
Post by: G M on November 03, 2021, 11:02:16 AM
There is a long tradition of a Washington hack playing "Independent Arizonan" and then doing the dem dirty work after playing it up to the voters back home.

Then again, the local dem lunatics have been doing their best to piss her off.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/mother-bride-weeps-begs-raging-leftists-not-ruin-daughters-wedding-arizona-video/


‘Hi, I’m Kyrsten. I’m in the Arizona House and I’m a socialist.”

"She has said job creation should be Washington’s No. 1 policy goal, and she believes that best happens without vastly higher taxes, debt and new entitlements."
---------------------------------------

I've tried not to gush too positively yet about Democrat Senators Manchin and Sinema saving the Republic out of fear they will turn on us before my written word is read.  That said, great courage shown so far by these two.  Can't say that about my faux-moderate Representative Dean Phillips of big-vodka who votes with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time and with anti-American Rep. Omar more than 90% of the time.

If Sinema wants to create jobs, we have a party for that, and it's not the job destruction party where she currently resides.  Read the forum; take a look at the Republican results that preceded her.

It would be even easier for Joe Manchin to switch parties.  Everyone else in his situation already has.
Title: have to clean house
Post by: ccp on November 12, 2021, 06:48:27 AM
especially in red states

there is no excuse for her to be voted back:

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/11/12/murkowski-defiant-im-running-for-re-election-n428775

From Dougs post in way forward for repubs:

"Each state, house district etc., IMO, needs to choose the most conservative candidate - that can win in that state or district.  Same for the Presidency.  They need to be focused and disciplined, not make the mistakes that sank others recently.  Get a message and stay on message; this is not about rape abortions, secession, or shooting our way out of this mess."

There is NO excuse to have a murkowski in red Alaska.
Title: emerging Senate seats that could flip
Post by: ccp on December 01, 2021, 06:21:08 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/other-senate-democrats-face-risks-in-voting-for-build-back-better
Title: Congressional races 2022, Dems making their own bad situation worse
Post by: DougMacG on December 23, 2021, 08:28:11 AM
I would rate the political bias of this as neutral.  Amy Walters at Cook Political Report:

https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/national-politics/democrats-build-back-better-strategy-puts-democratic-incumbents

From the article:

It's not hard to figure out what these GOP attack ads in battleground Senate races in states held by Democrats like New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia would look like. They would most likely feature this exchange Manchin had with FOX News Sunday host Bret Baier:

"And you know, my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns and where I'm at right now, the inflation that I was concerned about, it's not transitory, it's real, it's harming every West Virginian. It's making it almost difficult for them to continue, to go to their jobs, the cost of gasoline, the cost of groceries, the cost of utility bills — all of these things are hitting in every aspect of their life."

We should also expect to see this quote from Manchin's written statement opposing the current BBB: "the bill will also risk the reliability of our electric grid and increase our dependence on foreign supply chains."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Doug] Isn't it strange that everyone but the Democrats in power seem to know their agenda and its consequences are unpopular (hated) by the American people.
Title: Lieberman: Bring Back Regular Order
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 23, 2021, 09:27:04 AM
Bring Back ‘Regular Order’
First, our elected leaders have to commit to getting things done for their country and constituents.
By Joe Lieberman
Dec. 23, 2021 12:21 pm ET
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TEXT

Sen. Joe Manchin arrives for a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting in Washington, Nov. 18.
PHOTO: TOM WILLIAMS/ZUMA PRESS

Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better bill this week and John McCain’s thumbs down to the repeal of ObamaCare four years ago together are an urgent appeal for Congress and the White House to find bipartisan solutions to America’s problems.

The words Sens. McCain and Manchin used to explain their courageous views should inspire members of Congress and the president to follow their example. That would break Washington’s gridlock and might ease the destructive division among the American people.

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Joe Manchin Torpedoes Build Back Better


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“I’ve stated time and again,” McCain declared after his vote, “that one of the major failures of ObamaCare was that it was rammed through the Congress by Democrats on a strict party-line basis. . . . We need to deliver a bill that will finally deliver affordable healthcare for the American people.”

This week, Mr. Manchin said very similar words: “I cannot move forward on this mammoth piece of legislation,” which is “not targeting things we should be doing, making sure that people who truly need it are getting it. . . . We have things we can do in a bipartisan way—the way the Senate is supposed to work. . . . Just go through the committees. Let’s work it.”

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McCain closed his argument against repealing ObamaCare: “Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We have been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.” In urging his colleagues to “return to regular order,” he used a term from the Senate dictionary that is unknown to most Americans but imperative for our elected lawmakers to revive.


“Regular order” refers to the rules and precedents of the Senate that have let members accomplish great things for our country. “Regular order” requires that a legislative proposal be referred to the appropriate committee, where it is given a public hearing, then discussed, debated, and amended by members of both parties on the committee. If it has the support of a majority in committee, it is sent to the full Senate, where it is debated again and opened for amendments by members of both parties, after which a final yea-or-nay vote is called. That, as Mr. Manchin said, is “the way the Senate is supposed to work.”

“Regular order” is a sensible process that is open to public view and invites bipartisan collaboration in the national interest.

But “regular order” is more than Senate rules and precedents. To work, it requires an attitude toward public service that we haven’t seen much of in Washington in recent years from either party. It begins with a personal decision by elected leaders that their primary purpose is to get things done for their country and constituents, and that getting things done matters more to them than pleasing their party, their campaign contributors, or the increasingly partisan media. “Regular order” requires a willingness to reach common ground—to meet with colleagues of both parties with humility, trust, civility and an open mind, and then to talk, negotiate, and compromise to get the votes necessary to enact good laws.

American history is full of examples of “regular order” working—from the Constitutional Convention, where the Founders resolved differences to enable our new country to survive, to the great bipartisan agreements of more recent times—President Johnson and Sen. Everett Dirksen on civil-rights laws, President Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill on Social Security reform, and President Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich on balancing the federal budget. This shows how much progress “regular order” can enable if the president and bipartisan congressional majorities put it into practice, as President Biden and Congress recently did in enacting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Reform Bill.

Joe Manchin and John McCain appealed to their colleagues to do better for America and showed how it can be done.

Mr. Lieberman is national co-chairman of the bipartisan political-action committee No Labels. He was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000 and a U.S. senator from Connecticut, 1989-2013.
Title: The US Congress does next to nothing on China
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 28, 2021, 02:09:25 AM
WT

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill agree Beijing poses threat

Unable to decide how to write bill to handle it

BY JOSEPH CLARK THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Just three of Congress’ record 238 bills targeting Beijing in 2021 passed both chambers, with key legislation languishing in committees.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle ramped up tough-on-China rhetoric this year and introduced a slew of bills aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on Chinese goods, countering Beijing’s military aggression in the Pacific and bolstering the U.S. commitment to Taiwan.

Almost nothing reached President Biden’s desk.

“Across the U.S. political spectrum, there is agreement that China is a threat. … But there’s no agreement on what to do about it,” said Gordon Chang, a conservative critic of China and author of “The Great U.S.-China Tech War.”

Indeed, tough-on-China rhetoric has emerged as a rare unifier on Capitol Hill.

Since 2018, the number of bills aimed at countering Beijing soared. Between 2010 and 2018, lawmakers introduced on average 45 bills per year that contained China or Taiwan as the main legislative subject as assigned by the Library of Congress.

Last Congress, which spanned 2019 and 2020, lawmakers introduced a total of 379 measures with the same legislative subject terms.

This year alone — halfway through the 117th Congress — lawmakers have introduced 238

bills aimed at China, but both chambers hit a wall when it came to moving the legislation over the finish line.

Of the measures introduced in the previous Congress, 14 became law.

One of the most significant measures targeting China this year — the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics — was achieved through executive action by Mr. Biden, though it was spurred by calls from lawmakers.

The White House cited the communist government’s ongoing persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.

Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom have joined the U.S. in officially shunning the games. Japan announced that it will not send an official delegation but stopped short of announcing a full diplomatic boycott.

The rebuke, however, was purely symbolic.

When it comes to legislative action to counter Beijing — whether it is trade abuses, theft of U.S. intellectual property, the dominance of high-tech manufacturing or the growing military threat — Congress remains mostly gridlocked.

“There is a failure to perceive the situation,” Mr. Chang said. “Both houses should believe that we’ve got one problem right now that is overarching, and that makes other problems minor in comparison.”

Republicans blame Congress’ Democratic majorities for the holdup this year.

Sen. Bill Hagerty said the Democratic leaders’ priorities play into China’s hands.

“As our strategic adversary, Communist China presents the gravest national security threat to the United States in the 21st century,” said the Tennessee Republican. “It’s unfortunate that Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Leader [Charles E.] Schumer have prioritized their biggovernment socialism bills that would cripple our economy, destroy the fossil fuel industry, and have China laughing all the way to the bank, instead of prioritizing bipartisan legislation that truly can help the United States meet the China challenge.”

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, pushed back against the criticism.

He said the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which contains several measures to make bolster competition with China, was “one of the first orders of business this session of Congress.”

“It seems to me that it did receive not only a high priority by putting it out but also widespread bipartisan support, which is incredibly important particularly in sending a message to China that it is a united front view,” he said.

However, the USICA bill hasn’t won final approval from Congress.

For months, both chambers have toiled with separate versions of legislation that combines a wide swath of tough-on-China measures put forward by lawmakers.

In June, the Senate passed the $250 billion USICA, which combined several bills into a 2,276 page China catchall. Eighteen Republicans and all 50 Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

The House version, on the other hand, has been plagued by months of stalled negotiations.

Last month, Mr. Schumer of New York and Mrs. Pelosi of California announced that the two chambers had begun the process of smoothing out differences between the two bills. They vowed to “deliver a final piece of legislation to the president’s desk as soon as possible.”

Few signs of progress have emerged as party leaders have had to scramble to avoid a government shutdown, raise the debt ceiling and move on Mr. Biden’s social welfare spending package before year-end.

Hashing out the differences between the two versions could take months.

Despite the stalled progress on the bills, Congress’ hard-line stance toward China has not gone unnoticed by Beijing. And any new legislation is sure to face an onslaught of pushback.

Last month, Reuters reported that officials from China’s embassy in Washington sent letters to U.S. executives and business groups pressuring them to lobby against bills being floated in Congress to boost U.S. competitiveness against China.

The letters warned that U.S. companies would lose market share in China should those bills become law.

The three bills that did pass both chambers in 2021 went after Chinese technology, bolstered U.S. military posture in the Pacific and restricted imports of products made with Chinese forced labor.

The House and Senate also approved some resolutions in 2021 that expressed the sense or opinion of one of the chambers but did not set policy or trigger government action.

The House passed two resolutions, one condemning the genocide against Uyghur Muslims and another condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown in Hong Kong. The Senate passed one resolution expressing the need to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the origins of COVID-19.


The House passed two tough-on-China resolutions this year, one condemned the genocide against the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. The White House cited the genocide as a reason for its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 28, 2021, 08:05:48 AM
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill agree Beijing poses threat"

20 yrs late

geniuses
Title: Sen Dick Durbin, 2018, Do away with the filibuster would be "end of the Senate"
Post by: DougMacG on January 01, 2022, 12:19:51 PM
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-21-18-marc-short-sen-dick/story?id=52490864
...
STEPHANOPOULOS: What about that nuclear option, doing away with the filibuster?

DURBIN: Well, I can tell you that would be the end of the Senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our Founding Fathers. We have to acknowledge our respect for the minority, and that is what the Senate tries to do in its composition and in its procedure.
----------------------------
Not exactly perfect with his history, but very clear on his position in 2018

2021-2022, They can't wait to end it.  What changed?  Control of the Senate flipped.

Isn't that hypocritical?   Whatever.
Title: Vox : 95% chance Republicans take the House and Senate
Post by: DougMacG on January 04, 2022, 10:02:21 AM
Wow, did I read that right?

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22824620/predicting-midterms-covid-roe-wade-oscars-2022
Title: Re: Vox : 95% chance Republicans take the House and Senate
Post by: G M on January 04, 2022, 10:17:47 AM
Wow, did I read that right?

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22824620/predicting-midterms-covid-roe-wade-oscars-2022

Don’t count your chickens until the dead people have voted at 4AM.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 04, 2022, 10:40:49 AM
Breyer is not a fool — he knows this is the dynamic, and while it likely pains him to be seen as responding to political concerns, I suspect he will ultimately let Biden pick his successor. —DM

hopefully repubs control the senate
and state it is not right for a demented fool to pick a successor so close to the next election

and wait for a repub to take back the white house!

 :-D
Title: JD Vance
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 04, 2022, 10:49:08 AM
Though its POTP I found this interesting:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/01/04/jd-vance-hillbilly-elegy-radicalization/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F35ab908%2F61d47d6f9d2fda3f8b8050ff%2F61cdf026ae7e8a4ac205b2b3%2F9%2F70%2F61d47d6f9d2fda3f8b8050ff
Title: Re: JD Vance
Post by: G M on January 04, 2022, 10:51:31 AM
Though its POTP I found this interesting:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/01/04/jd-vance-hillbilly-elegy-radicalization/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F35ab908%2F61d47d6f9d2fda3f8b8050ff%2F61cdf026ae7e8a4ac205b2b3%2F9%2F70%2F61d47d6f9d2fda3f8b8050ff

Paywalled.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 04, 2022, 10:55:26 AM
A lefty doctor friend with whom I frequently email spar gave me a gift subscription:

The Radicalization of J.D. Vance
As he runs for the Senate, the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author has gone from media darling to establishment pariah. Is his new, fiery, right-wing persona an act? Or is something more interesting going on?

(Jonathan Barlett for The Washington Post; reference photos by Astrid Riecken and the J.D. Vance campaign)
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood
JANUARY 4, 2022
   
Let’s start with the beard. J.D. Vance didn’t used to have one. The Vance who in 2016 achieved incandescent literary fame with his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” was all baby fat and rounded edges. The Vance I’m watching now, from the back of a coffee shop in the depressed steel town of Steubenville, Ohio, has covered up his softer side. In small-format events like this one, addressing a couple dozen primary voters, he spends about 15 minutes attacking corporate and governmental elites for failing the country, then answers questions and mingles for maybe another 45 minutes. Vance, 37, is comfortable in the folksy idiom of GOP campaigning (e.g., “she loved the Lord, she loved the f-word — that’s what Mamaw was”) but he tends to gloss over his famously traumatic childhood, immortalized on screen in Ron Howard’s 2020 film adaptation of his book. In Steubenville, he paces the room with a Big Gulp-sized foam cup in his hand, an Everyman touch that accentuates his new aesthetic.

I’m not the only one thinking about J.D. Vance’s beard. Recently, I asked one of his law school friends to tell me about his personality. “He’s lovely,” the friend said, describing Vance’s smile and laugh. Then he paused. He wanted to talk about Vance’s facial hair. Even as a slightly older law student — Vance had served four years in the Marines before enrolling at Ohio State as an undergraduate — he came across as guileless, boyish. No longer. “He looks different,” the friend said. “He’s going for a kind of severe masculinism thing. He looks like Donald Trump Jr.” Toward the end of our conversation, which was mostly about the way the culture shock of Yale Law School informed Vance’s politics, I asked the friend if he wanted to discuss anything else. He returned to the beard. “That’s honestly occupied an outsized amount of my attention,” he said.

The beard isn’t a bad symbol for Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign — or at least for how that campaign is being received. Discourse around the race centers mostly on the idea that Vance is a changed or fraudulent person. Five years ago, Vance was eloquently decoding Donald Trump supporters for liberal elites, while lamenting the rise of Trump himself. Vance, whose mother is a recovering heroin user, compared Trump to an opioid, calling him an “easy escape from the pain.” Now, since announcing his run, he’s reversed himself on Trump and adopted a bellicose persona at odds with the sensitive, bookish J.D. of his memoir. On Veterans Day, 48 hours after the Steubenville event, Vance tweeted that LeBron James — of Akron, Ohio — is “one of the most vile public figures in our country.” (James had joked that Kenosha, Wis., shooter Kyle Rittenhouse “ate some lemon heads” before crying on the stand during his trial.) Watching Vance campaign, I felt him straining to deliver his talking points in an angry register. It wasn’t just that steel jobs had been offshored; they were outsourced by “idiots” in Washington, to countries that “hate us.”

Commentary about Vance from Never-Trumpers and liberals tends to strike a note of personal chagrin about his evolving image. Pundit Mona Charen, writing about Vance as if he had died, called him an “extremely bright and insightful man who could have been a fresh voice for a fundamentally conservative view of the world.” Frank Bruni of the New York Times predicted that a Vance tweet about Alec Baldwin’s recent accidental shooting incident would “endure as one of the boldest markers of his descent.” In Ohio, meanwhile, the pressure on Vance runs entirely in the opposite direction. Every campaign stop he makes, he patiently tries to explain away his past Never-Trumpism, which has been exhumed in the form of deleted tweets and “Charlie Rose” clips. An attack ad playing his anti-Trump sound bites ends with a woman saying, “That’s the real J.D. Vance.”


Vance’s friends split the difference: They say he’s the same guy but he’s been radicalized. “I think he’s gotten a lot more bitter and cynical — appropriately,” conservative blogger Rod Dreher told me. To Dreher, the change in tone is justified by the course of American politics over the past five years. “Trump remained Trump — but the Left went berserk,” he wrote in a post defending Vance. Still, Dreher — who attended Vance’s 2019 baptism into the Catholic Church — worries about the toll campaigning is taking on his friend. “S--t-posting has become the signature style of young radicals on the right, and this is particularly a hazard I think for Christians,” he told me.

The surface-level changes are indeed striking. Yet the more I watched him, the more it seemed to me that the emerging canon of “what happened to J.D. Vance” commentary was missing the point. Vance’s new political identity isn’t so much a façade or a reversal as an expression of an alienated worldview that is, in fact, consistent with his life story. And now there’s an ideological home for that worldview: Vance has become one of the leading political avatars of an emergent populist-intellectual persuasion that tacks right on culture and left on economics. Known as national conservatism or sometimes “post-liberalism,” it is — in broad strokes — heavily Catholic, definitely anti-woke, skeptical of big business, nationalist about trade and borders, and flirty with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. In Congress, its presence is minuscule — represented chiefly by Sens. Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio — but on Fox News, it has a champion in Tucker Carlson, on whose show Vance is a regular guest. And while the movement’s philosopher-kings spend a lot of time litigating internal schisms online, the project is animated by a real-life political gambit: that as progressives weaken the Democratic Party with unpopular cultural attitudes, the right can swoop in and pick off multiracial working-class voters.

Vance’s Senate race is an almost perfect test of these ideas because the front-runner in the Republican primary, former state treasurer and tea party product Josh Mandel — who, according to recent polling, leads Vance by 6 points — is the candidate of traditional conservative tax-cutters. To those watching the Vance-Mandel slugfest from afar, it may just look like two candidates trying to out-flank each other on the right; but the fissures between them run deep. The Club for Growth, known for its free-market zealotry, is supporting Mandel and has spent roughly $1.5 million on anti-Vance attack ads. One TV spot highlights a tweet in which Vance says he “loved @MittRomney’s anti-Trump screed.” The narrator does not linger on the rest of the message, which reads: “too bad party will do everything except admit that supply-side tax cuts do nothing for its voters.” Before Vance deleted his old anti-Trump tweets, he tended to attack Trump for abandoning his stated commitment to economic populism. In a 2020 interview with anti-establishment pundits Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, Vance contended that Trump’s great political failure wasn’t his handling of the pandemic, but his signature corporate tax cut and his attempts to undo Obamacare.

A couple of weeks after I saw him in Steubenville, Vance called me from the road, on his way to an event in Toledo. I asked about his sudden estrangement from polite society. “The price of being beloved by the establishment is you don’t say anything interesting,” he told me. “And if you don’t say anything interesting, you’re not going to be a useful part of solving any of the problems we have in this country.” What Vance is saying now may or may not prove appealing to voters, but it certainly meets the test of being interesting. “Dominant elite society is boring, it is completely unreflective, and it is increasingly wrong,” he told me. In other words: “I kind of had to make a choice.”

Vance campaigning in Ohio. (J.D. Vance Campaign)
In “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance acknowledged the economic forces that had hollowed out the industrial base of his hometown and wrought problems like domestic violence and opioid abuse. Yet he was reluctant to blame “faceless companies” for the self-destructive impulses of people like his mother, who worked regularly as a nurse until she started stealing prescription narcotics and getting high. Raised in chaos, Vance attributes his success largely to the interventions of his fierce grandmother, Mamaw, the only real source of stability in his life. As the memoir continues, Vance is propped up by a handful of other parental surrogates: the paternalistic Marine Corps and the Tiger Mother herself, his law school mentor Amy Chua, who guided the book to publication.

Vance’s family had moved to the Ohio Rust Belt from rural Kentucky, and the book’s focus on what he deemed Appalachian culture was key to its broad appeal. Published in the summer of 2016, it was pitched as a generous but unsentimental portrait of the disaffected White working class — though not one that drifted into potentially off-putting populist territory. In a rapturous Times review, Jennifer Senior wrote that Vance had situated the problems of his community in a “fatalistic belief, born of too much adversity, that nothing can be done to change your lot.” What he was really writing about, she said, was “despair.”

When “Hillbilly Elegy” came out, Trump wasn’t expected to win the presidency, which made soft-focus TV segments and book-club conversations about his supporters feel like abstract exercises in empathy. After the election, the liberal mentality of urgent resistance no longer coexisted easily with these exercises. In August 2017, after the Charlottesville white supremacist march, journalist Frank Rich tweeted, “Hillbilly elegies have now officially reached their expiration date.” Vance replied, “This is unbelievably stupid. The alt-right is primarily a movement of spoiled rich babies who turned to hate. Don’t blame hillbillies.”

Vance, who was writing regular columns for the Times, felt his relationship with liberals was growing untenable. “For a few weeks, a few months, there was this sort of empathetic moment,” he later told conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro, about the 2016 election. But then, he argued, the narrative shifted: Liberals became convinced Trump’s win was not correlated to economic strife, but rather delivered by Russian interference and Republican racial animus. Whatever the ultimate strength of this diagnosis — which at minimum seemed to discount some portion of voters who had previously supported Barack Obama or Bernie Sanders — it meant that blue-collar voters didn’t need to be won back after all. Which, functionally, gave cosmopolitan America permission to look away from the troubles of rural White America.


When the “Hillbilly Elegy” movie came out on Netflix in 2020, it was not just critically panned but greeted with intense online mockery, and the tenuous cultural diplomacy achieved by the book seemed to unravel for good. (Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83 percent. Critics’ score: 25 percent.) According to Vance’s best friend from Yale, Jamil Jivani, the wounding commentary was the “last straw” in his falling-out with elites.

Ironically, this breakup seemed to bring Vance closer to certain critics who had accused him of blaming low-income Appalachians for their own problems. In his book, Vance cited the research of Harvard economist Raj Chetty, which found that a region’s lack of social mobility was strongly correlated to its percentage of single-family households. Subsequently, he has been more likely to cite MIT economist David Autor’s work on globalization, which estimates that imports from China cost the United States about a million manufacturing jobs in the first decade of the 21st century. By 2020, Vance was tweeting that the legacy of Reaganite-Thatcherite conservatism was “the rise of China, the decimation of the American family, and a lot of tax cuts for the rich.” As his friend Sohrab Ahmari — one of the leading intellectual proponents of national conservatism — suggested to me, Vance had eventually come around “to the correct conclusion of his memoir.”

When we spoke on the phone, I told Vance I found it noteworthy that his book dissected the “learned helplessness” of Scotch-Irish hillbilly culture, while now he plays up external factors. He pushed back on my characterization, arguing that it made sense to talk about one thing in a memoir and the other in a Senate race. Besides, they weren’t mutually exclusive. Take “trade and industrial policy and fatherlessness,” he said. “We should understand deindustrialization as, in part, something that decimates working-class families, and, of course, when you destroy working-class families, then a whole lot of social pathologies move in.”

Vance argues that his alienation from polite society isn’t about him; it’s about them. When his memoir came out, he said, “people like Ezra Klein or David Brooks, you know, establishmentarians, center-right, center-left, however you want to describe their politics, they were sort of interesting people who were willing to challenge their social caste.” After Trump won, he contends, they retreated to their tribe. “Anybody who departs from the standard neoliberal orthodoxy ends up getting blasted, either from right or the left,” he went on. “The institutions that enforce conventional wisdom are incredibly hostile right now.” In effect, Vance is still framing himself as a conservative champion of the dispossessed — one who’s no longer fixating on the perceived failings of the people he grew up with, but of the professional class to which he ascended.

“Anybody who departs from the standard neoliberal orthodoxy ends up getting blasted, either from right or the left,” Vance says. “The institutions that enforce conventional wisdom are incredibly hostile right now.”
In November, Vance delivered the closing speech at the second annual national-conservatism conference, held at a Hilton in Orlando near SeaWorld. Called “Universities Are the Enemy,” the speech wasn’t exclusively about the campus — the title echoes a famous Richard Nixon line — but the priorities of progressive elites. The left, he argued, pushed for lax border control while average Americans were the ones overdosing on fentanyl from Mexico. Grocery and gas bills were skyrocketing, but Janet Yellen escaped blame for inflation because she is the first female Treasury secretary. “So long as we’re trailblazing on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Vance complained, “it doesn’t matter if normal people get screwed.” After the speech, Dreher says, Vance texted him: “When you realize that culture war is class warfare, everything becomes easy.”

National conservatism is the intellectual version of Trumpism, committed to the populist reorienting of the GOP away from free markets and interventionist foreign policy. As Trump never fully pursued his own project, the movement has taken on a slightly anarchic quality; surveying the conference’s speakers, it could be difficult to tell what linked Orban-defender Dreher to, say, Orlando Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac. Still, what the key factions agree on, as Sam Adler-Bell wrote in a recent New Republic essay, is that “classical liberalism — of the sort embraced by previous generations of conservatives — has a big hole in the middle of it where a substantive concept of the Good should be.”

Vance’s immersion in this universe can be traced to his close relationship with billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a NatCon eminence who delivered the conference’s opening speech — and has plunked $10 million into a pro-Vance super PAC. Vance met Thiel about a decade ago, after he gave a lecture at Yale that spoke to a dissatisfaction Vance felt with Ivy League life. Thiel’s reputation on the left has become a word-salad of villainous associations — from the demise of Gawker to the rise of “surveillance capitalism” and Trumpist nationalism. But before he was associated with politics, he was largely known as a critic of technological stagnation, captured by his famous line, “we wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.”

That stagnation, Thiel claimed in his lecture at Yale, was linked to the credentialist rat race Vance and his classmates were engaged in. “If technological innovation were actually driving real prosperity, our elites wouldn’t feel increasingly competitive with one another over a dwindling number of prestigious outcomes,” Vance wrote in a spring 2020 essay in the Catholic publication the Lamp. In that piece, he called Thiel’s talk “the most significant moment of my time at Yale Law School,” helping him see that he “was obsessed with achievement … not as an end to something meaningful, but to win a social competition.”

Vance’s law school friend, the one who talked about his beard, told me that Vance was wrestling with the values of his new milieu throughout his time at Yale. “He is thoroughgoingly illiberal in his instincts,” he said. “I don’t mean it as a slur. I mean it in a technical sense. He is skeptical of the political project of enlightenment liberalism, like, We’re all just autonomous individuals trying to self-actualize and maximize our own interests.”

Jivani, who grew up in Toronto but shared Vance’s low-income background, says Vance drew a connection between Yale’s careerism and its liberal politics: “You’re sitting in a seminar room, you’ve got a professor who’s written a million books, surrounded by 20 students from San Francisco, New York, mostly, all pontificating about how to help poor people in America.” Their solutions, Jivani says, reflected the atomized enclaves they came from: “Yale’s approach is that judges, senators, policymakers can save the world. They completely omit the role of family, community and culture in people’s lives.”

After graduating in 2013, Vance clerked for a federal judge in Kentucky and worked a stint in corporate law. (At Yale, he began dating Usha Chilukuri, who would clerk for then-D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh and later Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, before joining the white-shoe firm Munger, Tolles, and Olson. Now married, they have three children.) He soon left the field and moved to San Francisco to join Mithril Capital, one of Thiel’s firms. From there, he became a partner at AOL founder Steve Case’s venture-capital fund Rise of the Rest, which invests in start-ups not based on the coasts. Vance called the idea “geographic arbitrage,” a sublimely insider-y way of describing an effort to help outsiders. After that, he moved back to southwest Ohio, settling in an exclusive Cincinnati neighborhood where Sen. Rob Portman — whom he is vying to replace — used to live. Vance started a flyover fund of his own, called Narya Capital; its portfolio includes a service that lets you invest in farmland, a Catholic prayer-and-meditation app and a right-leaning video platform. (Vance has aped Thiel’s grating habit of borrowing names from “The Lord of the Rings.” According to the website One Wiki to Rule Them All, Narya is a Ring of Power forged to inspire Elves “to resist tyranny, domination and despair.”)


If you read Vance’s career progression in the context of his Yale-era anomie, you can see a coherent philosophy emerging. Technological stagnation wasn’t just producing a self-centered striver class, but a frayed national fabric. Wealth and cultural capital, after all, were concentrated in the coastal knowledge sectors, and not in once-vibrant manufacturing regions. Vance’s concerns dovetail with a number of recent polemics from across the political spectrum, including Daniel Markovits’s “The Meritocracy Trap,” Michael Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit,” Patrick Deneen’s “Why Liberalism Failed” and Ross Douthat’s “The Decadent Society.” (Vance has said Douthat’s book, which can be read as an expansion on the “flying cars” lament, is the work that best encapsulates his belief system.) American Affairs, the comically dense quarterly journal that informs national conservatism’s policy side, and which Vance reads, is in some ways a never-ending critique of the “professional managerial class.” All these sources, in turn, borrow from a previous generation of, well, proto-post-liberals, including the critic Christopher Lasch, who attacked ostensibly tolerant yuppies for believing they’d earned their spoils and therefore feeling little need to give back to their communities.

For Vance, the story of the past few decades is that the social permissiveness of the left fused with the free-market creed of the right to create the soulless ethic known as neoliberalism. It’s why Vance will decry unregulated capitalism in one breath and porn in the next. It’s also why so many national conservatives are drawn to Catholic social teaching, as opposed to Protestant work-ethic individualism. In his NatCon speech, you could hear Vance articulating both sides of the argument: “The fundamental lie of American feminism of the past 20 or 30 years is that it is liberating for women to go work for 90 hours a week in a cubicle at Goldman Sachs.”

Ahmari — also a Catholic convert, as well as a refugee from the market-oriented Wall Street Journal editorial page — thinks that the “meritocratic, neoliberal world is in some ways an aberration” that basically just benefits educated Western elites. “An open border,” for instance, “is a bonanza to the kind of managerial class people in my milieu, who like, say, cheap nannies and so forth. Not so good for workers on the low end.”

Vance’s solution is economic and spiritual nationalism. On the campaign trail, he riffs that in the old days “what was good for GM was good for America.” The winners of the new economy, in his formulation, are bad for America: liberal-leaning tech companies that cover up for hiring cheap foreign labor with “woke” posturing about gender and race.

The political forefather of this vision is probably Pat Buchanan, who inveighed against free trade and multiculturalism in the 1990s. But it also draws from the milder “Reformicon” blueprints of 10 years ago, as well as older strains of leftism, such as the anti-globalism of the Seattle WTO protests. One unlikely text Vance has cited is Elizabeth Warren’s 2004 book “The Two-Income Trap,” about the financial pressures families experience when two parents enter the workforce.

If you look for it, elements of Vance’s current critique were in “Hillbilly Elegy” too. People like his grandfather, who moved to southwest Ohio to work in the then-bustling Armco Steel plant, strengthened the local social fabric as producers. A generation later, with jobs disappearing, his mom and his neighbors were not just isolated and angry but also, he wrote, “consumerist.”

Just before the pandemic, Vance and Jivani recorded an episode of a podcast together. Jivani asked whether Vance’s nationalist vision could devolve into a more jingoistic or bigoted form. Vance acknowledged the risk but countered that a healthy nationalism was an antidote to right-wing grievance politics. “What this hyper-atomized approach to living has done is it’s denied people a sense of solidarity,” he said. “I think some people go and find it in their racial identity or ethnic identity, and I think that’s especially dangerous.”

But what does a national-conservative vision look like in a primary campaign that doubles as an audition for Trump’s endorsement? The answer, often, has been Vance’s own coarse brand of identity politics. In July, he gave a sneering speech about the “childless left,” including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (whose twins were delivered about a month later). On Twitter, he called Times columnist Paul Krugman “one of the many weird cat ladies with too much power in this country.” In the most charitable reading, Vance was trying to echo Ahmari’s point about a political class that caters to urbane McKinsey consultants. In practice, he came across like the relative who spams you with uncomfortable political memes, or worse.

(J.D. Vance Campaign)
One thing that struck me as I checked out Vance’s campaign events was how rarely voters wanted to talk about topics of local relevance. One night, Vance held an event in Boardman, a suburb not far from the Lordstown GM plant that closed in 2019. That day, a federal trial was taking place in Cleveland that would result in the first-ever jury decision finding chain pharmacies responsible for exacerbating the opioid crisis. One of the two plaintiffs in the trial was Trumbull County, 10 miles north of where we were. Yet nobody in the room — or any other event I went to — asked about drug addiction. It’s not that voters didn’t grill Vance. They just preferred to ask about his past anti-Trumpism, or his relationship with Thiel, or any number of more unexpected national concerns, such as term limits. After the event, I drifted over to a folding table where other candidates had dropped off campaign paraphernalia. A placard for Josh Mandel read “ELECTION INTEGRITY NOW!” on one side and “STOP DEMOCRAT CHEATING!” on the other. I picked up a calendar and learned that former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway would be stopping by the area for a Christmas party.

To get a different lens, I drove to Vance’s home city of Middletown, 35 miles north of Cincinnati. In some sense, it resembles what you’d expect from a community of 50,000 that has lost virtually all the steel and paper mill jobs that once sustained it: the familiar ruin-porn of vacant buildings bearing picturesque signs for long-gone hotels or furniture stores; a windswept main drag announced by the perversely glorious-looking Richie’s Pawn Central; a Dollar General where the family-owned Dillman Foods (which had employed Vance in high school) used to be. The vast Armco steel mill — now known as AK Steel — is still in business, though it has many fewer employees than in its peak years.

Still, a fledgling retail comeback has taken place downtown, anchored by a town-square-type coffee shop called the Triple Moon. There, I met up with 52-year-old Rodney Muterspaw, until recently the city’s police chief. The axis along which Vance is debated locally has less to do with his politics and more to do with whether he betrayed his hometown by depicting everyone as a bunch of degenerates. “People in town were saying, ‘That’s not Middletown,’ ” Muterspaw told me. “Well, hell yeah, that’s Middletown, 100 percent.” Muterspaw is 15 years older than Vance but shares a nearly identical lineage. His grandmother moved to the area from Appalachian Kentucky; his dad worked at Armco steel and didn’t end up raising him. Muterspaw lived with his mom, shuffling between apartment complexes, getting evicted, stealing from stores.

We went for a drive in his Dodge Ram. He showed me Vance’s modest childhood home on McKinley Street. Then we drove to the neighborhood where Ron Howard shot scenes for the movie. He showed me where Amy Adams, playing Vance’s mom, Beverly, ran into the street with a bloody gash on her wrist. “J.D.’s lucky his mom is still alive, you know,” he said. “In the movie, you’ll see the Parkway Inn — that’s where she was getting her fix at. We’ve had problems there for years.” (When I reached Beverly, she told me she had to check with Vance before speaking to me, and I never heard back. Muterspaw texted Vance’s sister, Lindsay, who still lives in Middletown, to give her my phone number. I didn’t hear from her, either.)


The book came out close to the peak of the local opioid epidemic, which lasted from 2015 to 2017. Muterspaw was chief then: “Three years of nothing but opioid calls, overdoses and deaths.” There were stretches of 2017 when more people died of overdoses — typically heroin, laced with fentanyl — than of natural causes in Butler County, where Middletown is located. The overdose problem started to slow in 2018, Muterspaw explained, after the city began sending three-person teams — police officer, medic, social worker — to house calls. The rates also slowed, he said, because so many addicts had died. (The city’s big problem now, he noted, is meth.)

National conservatism sells itself as a philosophy that could save these places, with its child subsidies and steel tariffs. But just how committed are national conservatives to the parts of their platform that are more traditionally left-wing — the infrastructure investments, the social-service interventions? Vance himself seemed to take a stab at on-the-ground social work around addiction, starting an anti-opioid nonprofit with Jivani called Our Ohio Renewal in 2017. Yet virtually nothing came of it, aside from the sponsorship of a year-long fellowship for Sally Satel — an American Enterprise Institute scholar who has long maintained that prescription pain meds are unlikely to turn the average person into an addict — to work at a drug treatment clinic in southeast Ohio. (When I asked her what came of the fellowship, Satel pointed to two lengthy essays she wrote about addiction, based on her time there.) In 2018, Jivani was diagnosed with cancer (he is now in remission), which seems to have crippled the nonprofit’s efforts. But the whole venture was puzzling from the start.

In the Senate, Josh Hawley crusades against “the tyranny of big tech,” while Marco Rubio pushes for an industrial policy to revive domestic manufacturing. Meanwhile, NatCon junior member Mitt Romney used the emergency of the pandemic to break with party orthodoxy on spending, authoring widely praised legislation offering parents up to $15,000 a year to defray child-rearing costs. (The bill went nowhere.) But they haven’t meaningfully tilted the GOP’s direction. “I mean, Donald Trump was elected, and the only thing the Republican Party accomplished in two years with control of Congress was a big tax cut,” says Oren Cass, who runs a new national-conservative think tank, American Compass. Worth noting: Rubio, Hawley and Romney all supported Trump’s corporate tax cut.

“I think anti-wokeness is probably enough to win elections,” Vance told me. “But I don’t think it can actually bring the country together to solve some of our big problems.”
Iwent to see Vance in the picturesque, troubled river town of Marietta, Ohio, across the border from West Virginia. He had a 9 a.m. event at a little GOP headquarters on the main drag. Not including me and his three-person team, there were 12 very committed political junkies there. I sat down at a table covered with coloring-book images of nuzzling elephants that local elementary students had apparently been conscripted into drawing. The event was a nice window into the indignities of Republican primary campaigning. At one point during the Q&A, a guy called Trump “caring.” Vance concurred: “He was a caring guy. He made us laugh.”

A more compelling exchange happened a little later. A woman commented that Democrats “hate Trump”; here, Vance got excited: Actually, they didn’t all hate Trump, and that gave Republicans an opportunity. “You know, Mamaw and Papaw, the people who raised me, they were classic blue-dog Democrats, union Democrats, right? They loved their country, they were socially conservative.” Now, Vance said, Democrats were turning off these voters. They “talk more about these ridiculous identity politics issues than they do about people’s jobs,” he argued.

Liberals would retort, of course, that they care about social and economic issues. And it’s the Republicans, not the Democrats, who have spent the past year voting against pandemic relief and social-safety-net spending. Yet it’s clear that for many voters, working-class priorities don’t seem like Democratic ones. In 2020, Florida voted for Trump, along with a significant minimum-wage hike. The recent drift of voters of color to the GOP — despite, or possibly thanks to, liberal efforts at cultural progressivism — has been hard to ignore.

The focus of the 2021 NatCon conference was the identitarian “Great Awokening” of recent years. While Vance engaged plenty on that topic in his speech, he is privately more downbeat about the obsession with political correctness. “I think anti-wokeness is probably enough to win elections,” he told me. “But I don’t think it can actually bring the country together to solve some of our big problems.”


Moreover, if Vance and company argue that neoliberal elites use the language of social justice to advance their interests, they also worry that mainstream conservatives will attack social justice to advance their own. “I would lament if the post-liberal movement became just a new skin or new mask for the same old GOP agenda,” Ahmari says. In other words, Mitch McConnell and company would push for goodies for the rich, while memorizing words they learned at a NatCon conference. “Like, ooh we’re against Ibram X. Kendi, how edgy, you know?” Mandel — Vance’s main opponent in Ohio — fits this bill, Ahmari says. “That’s a classic case of someone using the language of American populism, but you look beneath it, and it’s just the same old establishment consensus.”

Another way of framing the dilemma for the NatCons is this: From a certain angle, anti-wokeness just ends up looking like classic liberalism. If your general critique of the social justice left is that it’s doctrinaire, it becomes harder to push for a top-down “common good” conservatism that probably requires some level of indoctrination.

“What social progressives have accomplished over the last couple of decades is to deprive our country of any real shared — any real shared anything, right?” Vance told me. “We don’t have a shared sense of our own history. We don’t have a shared sense of our own great monuments and figures. We do not have a shared religion.” (Maybe that’s a good thing for a Catholic NatCon in a country that’s only about 22 percent Catholic.) Later in our conversation, he returned to the point: “You look into some of the social justice people, [and] you realize what they’re doing is responding to a world without norms and without borders. And they’re trying to reconstruct this stuff from nothing. And I sometimes want to shake them and say, ‘There is a philosophy out there that worked pretty good for Western civilization at erecting norms and erecting social borders. Maybe you should try that out.’ ”

It’s not totally clear which philosophy he meant, or how far back in Western civ he hoped to go. The Federalist Papers? “The City of God”? I asked him how national conservatives might accomplish all this without drifting into their own versions of dogma. “Ah, I mean, honestly,” he replied, “I don’t know.”

Vance talks with David M. Rubenstein at the National Book Festival in Washington in 2017. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
This past summer, Times columnist Ross Douthat, a NatCon fellow traveler, appeared on the podcast of his colleague Ezra Klein. Klein asked him, essentially, What happened to J.D. Vance? Douthat had a few answers, among them a stylistic point: If you need to play to the Trump base — which Vance suddenly, desperately, needs to do — it’s not a bad idea to do so via online trolling: “You can own the libs without going on long paranoid spiels about all your enemies within the Republican Party who have failed to steal the election for you.”

Vance’s media strategy seems to be that by playing Don Jr. on the Internet, he can push for more substantive populism in real life. The success of that tactic may depend on how far removed he truly seems from the Brookings Institution-to-Netflix pipeline he was riding until recently. In November, Vance tweeted an invitation to join him and Peter Thiel for an exclusive dinner — to whoever donated $10,800 by the next day. “This will be a small group, with good food and better company,” Vance wrote. On Twitter, Mandel replied with a picture of himself outside a Denny’s. He wrote: “BERKSHIRE, OH — For $10.80 anyone can join me eating fries off the hood of the car from a gas station Denny’s at midnight.”

In late November, the Ohio Republican Party held a very awkward candidate forum in an evangelical church near Middletown. None of the seven candidates were allowed to rebut one another. The statements from Vance’s opponents were a procession of uninspired to alarming GOP tropes. Party fixture Jane Timken pledged to “fight back against the socialists.” Mandel thundered that the election had been stolen and that America was not a country for “atheism” or “Muslim values.” (Mandel, who is Jewish, is for “Judeo-Christian values.”)

Vance, seated on the edge of the stage, tried to move the conversation onto his turf. Censorship, opioids: not just the fault of Democrats, but of multinational corporations. Fielding a question about “fiscal sanity,” he pivoted away from the national debt and gave an answer about buying American-made, instead of Chinese-made, goods. Blaming big business certainly distinguished him from his opponents, but it did not appear to thrill the die-hards in the pews.

Eventually, however, Vance landed on something that got the audience going: He called for Republicans to shut down the government until President Biden ended his vaccine mandate for federal workers. A vaccine mandate is exactly the sort of idea that a “common good” national conservative like Vance should support. Yet a few days after the forum, I got a text message from his campaign, raising money off the line.

Simon van Zuylen-Wood is a writer in New York.
Title: poll shows Democrats would lead generic ballot
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2022, 06:23:52 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/04/poll-republicans-lose-momentum-in-generic-congressional-ballot/

why now?   :wink:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Filibuster
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2022, 01:14:46 PM
Interesting point made about Dems ending the filibuster:

Republicans could ban public sector unions including all these teachers unions with a single vote.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 06, 2022, 07:22:11 PM
The mind boggles , , ,

but this does cut both ways.
Title: About time the media is starting to pay attention to Pelosi corruption
Post by: ccp on January 10, 2022, 01:31:00 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/10/democrat-sen-jeff-merkley-admits-pelosis-stock-trading-sways-her-legislative-judgment/

they obviously read the forum
for this has been discussed here for many yrs

pelosi and family = crook

like
Biden and family = crook
Title: WT: Mass Dem Retirements in Blue Districts Open Door to Far-Left Next Wave
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 10, 2022, 01:37:19 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jan/10/mass-retirements-house-dems-offer-chance-far-left-/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=r9NNixom91gRLQcfc4vBY8cQwxTzimMuf%2BszL5wvLC1z%2FbWwjLpVrwSJL9uJo7TP&bt_ts=1641839677578
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 10, 2022, 03:03:34 PM
typical Dems
get crushed
and then move further to the LEFT and not the center

which has always been a losing strategy

just ask Clinton

of course that was ages ago
and now
 is the WOKE and free shit revolution.

we need to reply in kind

no Romneys no Cheneys
 ( like them personally just they are too Rino for what we need now)



Title: Congressional races, US Senate Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on January 10, 2022, 09:44:48 PM
Georgia just won the national collegiate football championship.  I thought they win it all the time but it was the first time in 41 years, not since Jimmy Carter (from Georgia) was President and Hershel Walker won it.

Georgia pride favors Hershel Walker for US Senate. He is a very strong candidate who represents conservatism in an excellent way.  He is an asset to the national party.

One seat just flipped.  Who in Georgia is going to vote against Hershel Walker?  There'd have to be something wrong with you!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 11, 2022, 06:20:19 AM
thanks Dough

just did wikipedia on Herschel,

of course he is known for his superhuman athletic feats

but this is interesting:

he was his high school valedictorian!:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschel_Walker
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 11, 2022, 08:33:48 AM
thanks Dough

just did wikipedia on Herschel,

of course he is known for his superhuman athletic feats

but this is interesting:

he was his high school valedictorian!:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschel_Walker

At one point the Vikings traded 5 of the top linebackers in the league to Dallas for Hershel Walker.  On Hershel's first two touches of the ball, he ran the length of the field to the endzone looking like he cold do it every time (and then never did it again).  One of those was called back for a penalty, and then nothing of note came out of his NFL career while the Vikings lacked defense for more than a decade and never went to the SuperBowl again.  It wasn't hershel's fault; it was the people who gutted our team to get him.

His inability to become a true NFL great makes what he did in college in Georgia all the more heroic and larger than life - in Georgia.

I thought he was the best speaker in the 2020 RNC.

We used to mock his use of the third person.  He would say Hershel this and Hershel that, but as mentioned above, the man is smart and aware and ready and he's a conservative and a uniter.  Not many of those around!  On top of all that, I heard he is black!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 11, 2022, 10:51:17 AM
Yes, very much a man for us to keep our eye on.
Title: The US Congress; The FAUCI Act
Post by: DougMacG on January 14, 2022, 08:04:22 AM
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/589699-gop-senator-plans-to-introduce-fauci-act-after-clash-at-hearing

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) plans to introduce a bill named after  Anthony Fauci after he clashed with the nation's top infectious diseases expert at a Senate hearing this week.

Marshall will be introducing the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act after he said Fauci’s records were not readily accessible to the public, a spokesperson for the senator told The Hill.

The FAUCI Act would require the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website to provide the financial records of administration officials like Fauci and a list of those in the government whose financial records are not public.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 14, 2022, 08:20:08 AM
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) plans to introduce a bill named after  Anthony Fauci

Great idea

it is so astonishing to see this guy
give America the middle finger

for his own narcissistic needs:

"how dare you" question me?

at least Greta Thunberg is cute when she says "how dare you"

I wonder if when we win the houses in '22 we can remove this guy from office
perhaps defund his salary ?

do the Houses have the power?
Title: The US Congress; AZ Sen Kyrsten Sinema
Post by: DougMacG on January 14, 2022, 08:35:05 AM
I don't know exactly what to think about her.  In this speech yesterday(?) she clearly lays out her support for the Democrats crazy "voting rights" bill with no reservations, then goes on to say why she won't vote to change the rules of the Senateto make that happen.  I guess, on this one issue, she is a 100% partisan Democrat on policy and at the same time not so short sighted as to believe the ends justify the means, making her a pariah in her own party.  She makes both a practical case and I think a moral case for keeping the 60 vote threshold for legislation.  Her words on listening to people who disagree with you on policy sound genuine and are really quite inspiring.

She goes through a real sequence of how her own party flipped for short term gain on the 60 vote threshold and paid a much bigger price for it in the next election cycle.

What's odd is that this highly touted, widely circulated video persuades no one else in her own party, only supported Joe Manchin who already took the same position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ohvcCgWbM&feature=emb_logo
Kyrsten Sinema: "The 60-Vote Senate Threshold Is A More Vital Tool To Protect Democracy Than These Bills, Which I Support"

For Republicans she we will be difficult to ever defeat.  The only chance for that would come from liberals rising up against her in her own party.

It is the other Senator from AZ who is up for reelection.  He is a fake moderate who would toss the rules of the Senate away in a heartbeat for instant political gain.  He is considered vulnerable this election cycle with the Democrats rule currently so unpopular.
Title: was just wondering what would happen
Post by: ccp on January 14, 2022, 09:55:35 AM
if some pissed off Dem were to bump one of them (manchin sinema) off.

do governors choose replacements or just interim senators till
an election is held ?

both Az and WV governors are republican
Title: Re: was just wondering what would happen
Post by: DougMacG on January 14, 2022, 10:46:37 AM
There aren't 26 or 30 liberal states for liberals to get their 51 or 60 liberal Senators, certainly not West Virginia.  Barely 20 states are truly liberal. Even at 20 you are counting NH with a popular Republican Governor and MN with a Republican state House. Not pure Left.

Manchin said genuinely to Bernie, elect 50 liberals if you want, but not me and not in my state.

The political center of the country is roughly Nebraska.  Good luck getting a Bernie or AOC elected there.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/most-conservative-states
Title: Senate ideologues want to turn cooling saucer into dictatorship rubber stamp
Post by: DougMacG on January 17, 2022, 01:04:25 PM
“The bottom line is very simple: The ideologues in the Senate want to turn what the Founding Fathers called the cooling saucer of democracy into the rubber stamp of dictatorship.”    - US Sen Chuck Schumer, March 16, 2005.

“They believe if you get 51% of the vote, there should be one party rule,” Schumer added. “We will stand in their way! Because an America of checks and balances is the America we love. It’s the America the Founding Fathers created. It’s been the America that’s kept us successful for 200 years and we’re not going to let them change it! … We will fight, and we will preserve the Constitution!”    - US Sen. Chuck Schumer

https://nypost.com/2022/01/09/what-schumer-said-about-the-filibuster-when-the-shoe-was-on-the-other-foot/
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/01/13/senate_filibuster_the_constant_and_the_variable_147023.html#2
------------------------------------------------------------------

And they wonder why the people get cynical about politics.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 17, 2022, 02:14:27 PM
".And they wonder why the people get cynical about politics."

well we read how the lawyer listers

the jurno listers

and political allies in big tech media

were sizzling angry with Trump (and us) they were going to take no prisoners
they were going to crush us

lie cheat steal defraud and block us all the way from NYC to LA.

when reading their exclamations you could "see" their teeth glistening and drooling while being sharpened.

they pulled no stops in corrupting the '20 election
and will shove their agendas up our asses (so they thought)

and then make us eat cake
while they divvy up the spoils of trillions in new spending



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, AZ Kelly
Post by: DougMacG on January 21, 2022, 06:35:22 AM
https://www.nysun.com/national/tale-of-two-senators/91945/
Title: A perfect example of what we are dealing with
Post by: G M on January 21, 2022, 07:04:04 AM
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/pelosis-top-pick-transportation-committee-caught-video-repeatedly-crashing-her-car-while
Title: This is why she is qualified for transportation committee
Post by: ccp on January 21, 2022, 07:46:17 AM
as per Pelosi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Holmes_Norton
Title: Rep. Clawthorn multi-tasks
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 21, 2022, 06:10:26 PM
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/politics/madison-cawthorn-gun-hearing/index.html
Title: Re: Rep. Clawthorn multi-tasks
Post by: G M on January 21, 2022, 06:18:00 PM
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/politics/madison-cawthorn-gun-hearing/index.html

At least he wasn’t doing a Jeff Toobin, eh CNN?
Title: Dem senator has stroke
Post by: ccp on February 02, 2022, 09:16:30 AM
https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/democratic-us-senators-stroke-threatens-biden-agenda/article

Ben Ray Lujan, 49, underwent brain surgery to relieve swelling late last week and remains hospitalized, his office said, with no clear timetable for how long he will be sidelined.

not a minor stroke
but if it is in cerebellum he could well make full recovery

governor of NM is democrat oddly enough with same last name
though no relation it appears:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Lujan_Grisham
Title: second post today
Post by: ccp on February 02, 2022, 10:10:05 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-impeached-trump-outpace-challengers-025938709.html

most likely much funding from rinos and democrats
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, 49-50 Senate?
Post by: DougMacG on February 04, 2022, 05:56:31 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/592593-democrats-hit-limits-with-lujans-absence

When Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) was asked about the impact of Luján’s absence, he said, “We all understand, everybody in the Senate can count.”
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, AZ Senate race
Post by: DougMacG on February 04, 2022, 06:02:33 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/592697-club-for-growth-endorses-blake-masters-in-arizona-senate-race
Title: CNN rates the Senate races
Post by: DougMacG on February 04, 2022, 06:33:59 AM
Their analysis doesn't match their map based on real data.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/03/politics/senate-race-rankings-february/index.html

Interestingly, Vegas betting has Dems losing in AZ, GA, and NV.  Even CNN map has R's leading in WI, FL, NC and PA.

All are good ideas for sending money early for maximum effect.
Title: Mehmet Oz
Post by: ccp on February 12, 2022, 07:05:17 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Oz

"Oz described himself as a "moderate Republican" and cited Arnold Schwarzenegger and Theodore Roosevelt as inspirations"

 "2007 article said Oz had been active in his local Republican Party of New Jersey for several years, and had donated to Republicans John McCain and Bill Frist."

So far I just cannot like this guy.  I never did.

Of course he would run for Senate - congress would not be good enough for someone with his enormous ego.
Title: Congressional races, 30 House Dem incumbents not running
Post by: DougMacG on February 16, 2022, 06:26:33 AM
Source:. John Ellis, News Items
Title: Brittney Spears to [perform] for Congress
Post by: ccp on February 16, 2022, 04:02:05 PM
Congressmen Charlie Crist and Eric Swalwell

want Brittney Spears to testify :


https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/britney-spears-invited-congress-testify-202027072.html

not too creepy if you ask me.
(or for that matter a waste of time.)
Title: Senate at risk?
Post by: ccp on February 18, 2022, 07:14:15 AM
I must have been tired and posted this as a governorship concern

about Greitens running for the open Missouri Senate seat:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sex-scandal-missouri-cost-gop-195024581.html

My nephew only said he is "awful"

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Missouri,_2022
Title: RCP Herschel up by one over Warnock
Post by: ccp on February 19, 2022, 04:16:10 PM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/Georgia.html
Title: Congressional races 2022, latest economic metrics don’t look good for D party
Post by: DougMacG on February 21, 2022, 05:15:01 PM
source:  Vox  [far left analytics]

(https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RsPEcYQeTtgODQtBlRgKjPRCEoo=/0x0:1513x981/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1513x981):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23256779/Midterms_Chart_7_final.png)

https://www.vox.com/2022/2/21/22936218/inflation-biden-midterms-democrats

IF you have negative real wage growth, you have Presidential unpopularity and the President's party loses seats.

The only way they could turn this around before the election is to adopt pro-growth, Republican economic policies - and they won't.

If you tighten the monetary policies, already warned, and fail to enact pro-growth policies simultaneously, which have no chance under Dem rule, you will have economic, stagnation, stagflation and misery.  cf. 1979-1982

"real wage growth turned negative in the second half of 2021 because inflation shot up"

"According to NBC News, the White House is trying to brainstorm a new economic message — but there may be no substitute for improving workers’ real wages."
--------------------
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/jpmorgan-federal-reserve-hiking-interest-rates-inflation
JP Morgan sees 9 interest rate hikes
Title: Re: Congressional races 2022, latest economic metrics don’t look good for D party
Post by: G M on February 21, 2022, 05:29:31 PM
Unfortunately, the "state of emergency" will require mail in only ballots nationwide. Be prepared for the polls to be oh so wrong.


source:  Vox  [far left analytics]

(https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RsPEcYQeTtgODQtBlRgKjPRCEoo=/0x0:1513x981/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1513x981):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23256779/Midterms_Chart_7_final.png)

https://www.vox.com/2022/2/21/22936218/inflation-biden-midterms-democrats

IF you have negative real wage growth, you have Presidential unpopularity and the President's party loses seats.

The only way they could turn this around before the election is to adopt pro-growth, Republican economic policies - and they won't.

If you tighten the monetary policies, already warned, and fail to enact pro-growth policies simultaneously, which have no chance under Dem rule, you will have economic, stagnation, stagflation and misery.  cf. 1979-1982

"real wage growth turned negative in the second half of 2021 because inflation shot up"

"According to NBC News, the White House is trying to brainstorm a new economic message — but there may be no substitute for improving workers’ real wages."
--------------------
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/jpmorgan-federal-reserve-hiking-interest-rates-inflation
JP Morgan sees 9 interest rate hikes
Title: Vote Murkowski Out
Post by: DougMacG on February 28, 2022, 05:39:14 AM
Kelly Tshibaka is the Republican nominee in Alaska.
https://townhall.com/columnists/kellytshibaka/2022/02/28/grayjackson--murkowski-make-two-democrats-in-the-alaska-senate-race-n2603767
OPINION
Gray-Jackson & Murkowski Make Two Democrats in the Alaska Senate Race
Kelly Tshibaka | Feb 28, 2022 12:01 AM

Gray-Jackson & Murkowski Make Two Democrats in the Alaska Senate Race
Source: Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via AP, Pool

With the entrance of State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson into the Alaska U.S. Senate race, there are now effectively two prominent Democrats for voters to consider in the August primary election. Gray-Jackson’s record shows that she is reliably progressive, while incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a dependable vote for President Joe Biden and Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Democrats in the Senate.


On issue after issue, Gray-Jackson and Murkowski are in alignment, and together they are out of step with most Alaskans. 

There should be no question that Gray-Jackson would be a rubber stamp for every radical nominee that Biden sends to the Senate. The extremists who already have been confirmed have enacted numerous policies that directly target Alaska, our economy, and our workers.

Murkowski, meanwhile, has voted to confirm more than 90 percent of Biden’s nominees, including casting the tie-breaking vote to advance the nomination of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is spearheading the Biden plan to gut Alaska’s energy industries. Haaland’s policies line up perfectly with Gray-Jackson, who last year co-sponsored legislation that would increase taxes on Alaska employers and oil producers.

For her part, Murkowski also voted for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who blocked all access to the Tongass National Forest for timber production and tourism.

The two are also disastrous on public safety, siding with radicals who call for defunding police and weakening law enforcement officers in our communities. Gray-Jackson has sponsored a number of bills in the state legislature that can fairly be described as anti-police, and which would make it more difficult for officers to do their jobs to protect our communities.

Murkowski was the only “Republican” to vote for the confirmation of Vanita Gupta as a Biden nominee at the Department of Justice, even though Gupta previously testified in the Senate in support of the “Defund the Police” movement. Gupta now oversees the allocation of federal funds (or lack thereof) to local police departments.

Perhaps the most impactful votes a senator will ever cast are those on nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court. Again, Gray-Jackson would be expected to toe the line for Biden and Schumer, while Murkowski has already shown that she opposes originalist, constitutionalist judges.

Murkowski opposed the nominations of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after being bullied by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein into doing so. Yet,     Murkowski voted to confirm federal Judge Sharon Gleason, a judicial activist and radical environmentalist who went on to kill both the life-saving King Cove Road and the multi-billion-dollar Willow oil and gas project.

On immigration, Gray-Jackson could be counted on to back liberals’ plans to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and excuse Biden’s failure to enforce our southern border. Murkowski actually voted for legislation that allows millions of illegal immigrants to remain in this country, even if they commit multiple crimes against U.S. citizens     .

And on abortion, there is no daylight whatsoever between Gray-Jackson and Murkowski. The former has been endorsed in the past by abortion provider Planned Parenthood, which promotes abortion up to the moment of birth, while Murkowski is famously and undeniably pro-abortion – even boasting on social media, “I have long supported Planned Parenthood.”     

It’s clear that Murkowski believes that she and Gray-Jackson are playing on the same field, as she has begun to accumulate endorsements from national and Alaska Democrats.

This makes sense because incredibly, since Biden has been President, Murkowski has voted with self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders more than half of the time and with Biden’s position nearly three-quarters of the time.

The Alaska Republican Party has censured Murkowski and gone as far as instructing her not to refer to herself as a Republican in Alaska anymore. She no longer has a home in the party in Alaska and clearly is looking to Democrats to rescue her.

Indeed, Murkowski’s own campaign manager issued a statement warmly embracing Gray-Jackson’s entry in the race, when he claimed “there are now two candidates, Sen. Murkowski and Elvi Gray-Jackson, in this race with decades of public service to Alaska.”


This shows that Murkowski believes that she and Gray-Jackson are competing for the same Democratic voters.

Alaskans want a leader who represents our values and will fight for them in Washington, D.C. We want a Senator who understands this is about serving the public, not being a career politician. I have two decades of public service experience in making government work for the people.           And I will always fight for Alaska and our shared principles when I am the next U.S. senator.

Kelly Tshibaka is a born-and-raised Alaskan, and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and the Alaska Republican Party.
Title: Congress takes weekend off, Ukes can fukkoff
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 04, 2022, 05:05:30 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/3/congress-takes-weekend-despite-urgent-calls-emerge/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=morning&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=morning&bt_ee=zdp29neE71Vq6i7HOg0O5GmPLjACc0efCaLX8f7arfNPW%2BbB7xM2sVuZYvY11IWh&bt_ts=1646390732733
Title: Pelosi
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 07, 2022, 12:40:51 PM
https://patriotpost.us/memes/86734-nancy-pelosi-1962-2022-03-07
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on March 07, 2022, 02:42:00 PM
after watching the "affairs of JFK " on Newsmax cable the past wknd
I not sure what is going through the mind of JFK
in this image

did Nancy do JFK?



Title: Dems could hold or take the Senate
Post by: ccp on March 07, 2022, 07:56:35 PM
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-business-seniors-doug-ducey-election-2020-e126709accd4405525db65b2d876584f

 :-o :-o :-o
Title: Re: Dems could hold or take the Senate
Post by: G M on March 07, 2022, 08:07:44 PM
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-business-seniors-doug-ducey-election-2020-e126709accd4405525db65b2d876584f

 :-o :-o :-o

NV is just mail-in-vote-fraud, so dems have already won it.
Title: US Senate races, 7 tossups
Post by: DougMacG on March 10, 2022, 06:35:12 AM
US Senate races, 7 tossups, each side needs to win 4 of them.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/elections-map.html

THESE ELECTIONS MATTER.
Title: happy gleeful NYT reporter
Post by: ccp on March 10, 2022, 09:00:42 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/potential-rarity-american-politics-fair-131147336.html

behind the scenes Dem  shysters
always seem to out wit our legislatures
or lawyers
Title: Re: US Senate races, 7 tossups
Post by: G M on March 10, 2022, 09:16:46 AM
US Senate races, 7 tossups, each side needs to win 4 of them.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/elections-map.html

THESE ELECTIONS MATTER.

How are republicans polling with the voting machines and 4am vote counters?
Title: Re: US Senate races, 7 tossups
Post by: DougMacG on March 10, 2022, 09:31:00 AM
"How are republicans polling with the voting machines and 4am vote counters?"

I'm sorry, did somebody say this would be easy? Elections matter.  Margin of victory matters.  Winning by 0.1% margin isn't going to do it. Dems used to win the popular vote and lose. In Venezuela, winning by 20% margins wasn't good enough.  Better to straighten this out now than when the elections are more like Putin's or Saddam's. Shooting down desire to win over more voters reminds of that expression Spiro Agnew used...
Title: Re: US Senate races, 7 tossups
Post by: G M on March 10, 2022, 09:44:00 AM
Well, all the vote fraudsters getting arrested should make a difference!

Where was that again?

"How are republicans polling with the voting machines and 4am vote counters?"

I'm sorry, did somebody say this would be easy? Elections matter.  Margin of victory matters.  Winning by 0.1% margin isn't going to do it. Dems used to win the popular vote and lose. In Venezuela, winning by 20% margins wasn't good enough.  Better to straighten this out now than when the elections are more like Putin's or Saddam's. Shooting down desire to win over more voters reminds of that expression Spiro Agnew used...
Title: WSJ poll
Post by: ccp on March 11, 2022, 10:06:08 PM
Hispanic voters will vote Republican over Democrat by 9%

(not including the millions of illegals)

"Among Black voters, the group favored Democrats for Congress by 35% in the new survey, down from 56% in November. At the same time, support for a Republican candidate rose to 27% from 12% in November."

!!!!

This despite the MSM 24/7 bulls''t.f

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/joe-biden-approval-ratings-state-of-the-union/2022/03/11/id/1060854/

Title: Kevin McCarthy
Post by: ccp on March 24, 2022, 06:44:37 AM
sounds like he will be great house speaker (fingers crossed)

not a mushy Paul Ryan (bipartisanship -  :roll: :roll:)

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/23/exclusive-kevin-mccarthy-dozens-preservation-notices-sent-across-government-setting-stage-gop-investigative-clash-biden-after-midterms/
Title: oz hiding he has been for gun control
Post by: ccp on March 29, 2022, 01:59:02 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/29/busted-mehmet-ozs-claims-did-not-write-gun-control-columns-disintegrate/

"it’s every doctor’s responsibility to their patients and your responsibility to yourself and your family to reduce gun violence,”

My response ->  no it ain't

(only if I am trying to prevent a suicide)

PS  I just want to vote for serious people not show boats......
Title: repubs could wind up with just short of 300 seats
Post by: ccp on March 30, 2022, 12:57:14 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/30/house-republicans-expand-offensive-map-following-nationwide-redistricting-developments/

that would be a record majority !!!!! 

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Majority-Changes/Majority-Changes/

 :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

voting our way out!!!!
Title: Re: repubs could wind up with just short of 300 seats
Post by: G M on March 30, 2022, 05:33:27 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/30/house-republicans-expand-offensive-map-following-nationwide-redistricting-developments/

that would be a record majority !!!!! 

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Majority-Changes/Majority-Changes/

 :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

voting our way out!!!!



Save the victory lap for after the 4AM vote counts.
Title: repubs now doing good in redistricting
Post by: ccp on April 02, 2022, 08:09:25 AM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/after-setbacks-house-republicans-finishing-strong-on-redistricting

vote harder !   :-D
Title: Sarah Palin running for Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 02, 2022, 11:01:44 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/sarah-palin-announces-run-for-alaska-house-seat/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%20New%202022-04-02&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Title: Republican to challenge Blumenthal D - CT
Post by: ccp on April 03, 2022, 11:44:06 AM
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/richard-blumenthal-connecticut-senate/2022/04/03/id/1064077/

her resume includes
being in CT state House for 20 yrs

a law degree
and most important of all - being a "ring girl" for the WWE!   :-o
Title: WT: Trump endorses Oz and others
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 11, 2022, 02:16:20 AM
Trump endorses ‘brilliant’ Oz for Senate seat in Pennsylvania

BY JOSEPH CLARK THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Trump’s spokesperson Liz Harrington announced the endorsement on Twitter Saturday, just before the former president announced the endorsement to the crowd attending his campaign-style rally in Selma, North Carolina.

“This is all about winning elections in order to stop the Radical Left maniacs from destroying our Country,” the statement on Twitter reads. “The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a tremendous opportunity to Save America by electing the brilliant and wellknown Dr. Mehmet Oz for the United States Senate.”

During his speech in North Carolina, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Oz’s career, adding that his success on television will serve him well with voters.

“He’s a good man,” Mr. Trump said. “Harvard educated. Tremendous, tremendous career, and they liked him for a long time. That’s like a poll. When you’re on television for 18 years, that’s like a poll. That means people like you.”

Mr. Oz, host of the syndicated “The Dr. Oz Show,” carries significant name recognition in the race for the open seat after the retirement of Republican senator Pat Toomey — one of seven Republicans in the Senate who voted to convict Mr. Trump in February 2021 following Mr. Trump’s impeachment after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol the month prior over objections to the November 2020 election results.

Mr. Trump initially endorsed Sean Parnell for the seat before Mr. Parnell dropped out of the race after being accused of abuse by his former wife.

Mr. Oz recently met with Mr. Trump in Mar-a-Lago. Former hedge fund CEO David Mc-Cormick, a fellow Republican contender, has also met with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, who remains popular among Republican voters, could have significant sway over the race with his endorsement.

The former president has remained powerful in U.S. politics since leaving office and is dead set on a Republican takeover in Congress following the 2022 midterms.

“This is the year we’re going to take back the House,” he said at Saturday’s rally. “We’re going to take back the Senate. And We’re going to take back America.”

Mr. Trump also spoke in favor of Rep. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican who is running for retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s seat against former Republican North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. Mr. Budd secured Mr. Trump’s endorsement in June.

Mr. Trump also continued to fuel intrigue on Saturday over his plans to run for office in 2024, as he has done in nearly every public appearance this year but stopped short of officially announcing his bid.

“The truth is, I ran twice, I won twice, and I did much better the second time,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “And now we just may have to do it again.”

“Is there anybody here who would like to see me run again?” he said before the cheering crowd.
Title: Re: WT: Trump endorses Oz and others
Post by: G M on April 11, 2022, 03:58:18 AM
Oz is a scumbag.

Trump endorses ‘brilliant’ Oz for Senate seat in Pennsylvania

BY JOSEPH CLARK THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Trump’s spokesperson Liz Harrington announced the endorsement on Twitter Saturday, just before the former president announced the endorsement to the crowd attending his campaign-style rally in Selma, North Carolina.

“This is all about winning elections in order to stop the Radical Left maniacs from destroying our Country,” the statement on Twitter reads. “The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a tremendous opportunity to Save America by electing the brilliant and wellknown Dr. Mehmet Oz for the United States Senate.”

During his speech in North Carolina, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Oz’s career, adding that his success on television will serve him well with voters.

“He’s a good man,” Mr. Trump said. “Harvard educated. Tremendous, tremendous career, and they liked him for a long time. That’s like a poll. When you’re on television for 18 years, that’s like a poll. That means people like you.”

Mr. Oz, host of the syndicated “The Dr. Oz Show,” carries significant name recognition in the race for the open seat after the retirement of Republican senator Pat Toomey — one of seven Republicans in the Senate who voted to convict Mr. Trump in February 2021 following Mr. Trump’s impeachment after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol the month prior over objections to the November 2020 election results.

Mr. Trump initially endorsed Sean Parnell for the seat before Mr. Parnell dropped out of the race after being accused of abuse by his former wife.

Mr. Oz recently met with Mr. Trump in Mar-a-Lago. Former hedge fund CEO David Mc-Cormick, a fellow Republican contender, has also met with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, who remains popular among Republican voters, could have significant sway over the race with his endorsement.

The former president has remained powerful in U.S. politics since leaving office and is dead set on a Republican takeover in Congress following the 2022 midterms.

“This is the year we’re going to take back the House,” he said at Saturday’s rally. “We’re going to take back the Senate. And We’re going to take back America.”

Mr. Trump also spoke in favor of Rep. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican who is running for retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s seat against former Republican North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. Mr. Budd secured Mr. Trump’s endorsement in June.

Mr. Trump also continued to fuel intrigue on Saturday over his plans to run for office in 2024, as he has done in nearly every public appearance this year but stopped short of officially announcing his bid.

“The truth is, I ran twice, I won twice, and I did much better the second time,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “And now we just may have to do it again.”

“Is there anybody here who would like to see me run again?” he said before the cheering crowd.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 11, 2022, 05:42:09 AM
"Oz is a scumbag."

he is worse then a used car salesman
to me

I agree

I don't trust him farther then I can piss.

only good thing if he were to win repubs could boast "first Muslim man" in Senate.
Immediately MSM would ignore this and make him into the devil.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on April 11, 2022, 05:54:11 AM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Si8zEkyjY

Any MD that advocates child mutilation needs to lose their medical license at the minimum.


"Oz is a scumbag."

he is worse then a used car salesman
to me

I agree

I don't trust him father then a can piss.

only good thing if he were to win repubs could boast "first Muslim man" in Senate.
Immediately MSM would ignore this and make him into the devil.
Title: Trump endorses Oz
Post by: ccp on April 11, 2022, 08:37:57 AM
may help Oz's opponent:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumpworld-figures-go-into-meltdown-after-donald-trump-endorses-dr-oz-in-pennsylvania-senate-race
Title: Re: Trump endorses Oz
Post by: G M on April 11, 2022, 10:54:28 AM
may help Oz's opponent:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumpworld-figures-go-into-meltdown-after-donald-trump-endorses-dr-oz-in-pennsylvania-senate-race

https://ace.mu.nu/archives/398627.php
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 11, 2022, 12:14:37 PM
"But we can't permit Trump to endorse non-conservatives without rebuke just as we can't permit Mitch McConnell to do the same without rebuke."

I agree

it is not blasphemy

Trump is not my God

period

I don't even like him
Title: Republicans looking good for the Senate
Post by: ccp on April 11, 2022, 12:47:21 PM
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/04/11/democrats-are-heading-for-disaster-in-the-senate-n461563

but after 5 million more illegals cross

bringing total in this country to probably 30 million

in addition to the 60 million born somewhere else

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 11, 2022, 12:53:05 PM
To the extent that Trump is for America I am for Trump.

Endorsements based upon who fellates him the best are something different.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on April 11, 2022, 03:08:58 PM
To the extent that Trump is for America I am for Trump.

Endorsements based upon who fellates him the best are something different.

Exactly.
Title: Red wave? Time for Patty Murray to go, D-Washington state
Post by: DougMacG on April 13, 2022, 05:58:41 AM
https://www.king5.com/amp/article/news/politics/state-politics/king-5-news-poll-senator-patty-murray-on-running-for-re-election/281-da1a67f3-623d-453f-b6c8-2af8d410a64a

Home state says she should not run.

Incumbency no longer an advantage for Democrats.  We've seen what their policies bring, antifa, inflation, negative wage growth., disaster.
Title: Trump's endorsement of Dr. Oz
Post by: DougMacG on April 13, 2022, 06:24:25 AM
Two articles, different viewpoints:

(I have no familiarity with Oz or McCormick )

1. Am. Greatness author, Why Trump endorsed him, loyalty, perceived electability and because there isn't a perfect conservative running (and it isn't a perfectly conservative state).
https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/12/trump-had-every-reason-to-endorse-dr-oz/

2. Salena Zito, conservative west Pennsylvania expert, is stunned, questions that, but doesn't fully refute it:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/what-the-hell-was-he-thinking-pennsylvania-conservatives-react-to-trumps-support-of-oz

I don't know about McCormick, but if he made his mark building a giant business in China and is newly married to a globalist, (spouses matter), I can see Trump's point. Take the loyalist.

PA primary voters can sort it out.  If there is a better conservative running who can win, pick that one.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on April 13, 2022, 03:06:38 PM
Doug writes,

"I don't know about McCormick, but if he made his mark building a giant business in China and is newly married to a globalist, (spouses matter), I can see Trump's point. Take the loyalist."

I agree with this ,
but then we must hold Oz' feet to the fire....

I cannot say I trust him .

I would not be surprised if he turns into a Murkowski or Romney.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on April 13, 2022, 03:12:28 PM
Doug writes,

"I don't know about McCormick, but if he made his mark building a giant business in China and is newly married to a globalist, (spouses matter), I can see Trump's point. Take the loyalist."

I agree with this ,
but then we must hold Oz' feet to the fire....

I cannot say I trust him .

I would not be surprised if he turns into a Murkowski or Romney.

We MUST VOTE HARDER until the republicans stop selling us out!
Title: Sen. Feinstein mentally done for
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 15, 2022, 04:49:06 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/15/feinstein-senate-age/?fbclid=IwAR0KPQYikzrv63IkjUSCSUMgeszDuUAdga0ZBvocZCEJ8uRNZJCkn5quYyM
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 19, 2022, 07:04:19 PM
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/19/election-forecast-midterms-00026065?fbclid=IwAR1BxNBxIVtL0UY2IndwnyB9-Fu-bPS9YVdOeDG_R4jpFg_cXRSvgIfMB3M
Title: TE
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 20, 2022, 10:35:28 AM
Tennessee Republican Party Removes Three Candidates From Ballot for US House Seat
By Zachary Stieber April 20, 2022 Updated: April 20, 2022biggersmaller Print
The Tennessee GOP has voted to remove three candidates who were vying for a seat representing the state’s 5th Congressional District.

Republicans voted to boot Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee from the primary ballot, Tennessee Republican Chairman Scott Golden told news outlets.

Golden and the party did not respond to requests for more information.

Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman during the Trump administration who recently moved from Washington, was just endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Starbuck, a filmmaker who used to live in California, has promoted Trump policies such as strong border enforcement.

Lee is a businessman who has described himself as a conservative outsider.

The vote came after state lawmakers passed legislation that requires congressional candidates to have resided in Tennessee for at least three years to appear on primary ballots.

But Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, returned the legislation to lawmakers without his signature.

The legislation will still become law but it will not apply to the 2022 election, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office told news outlets.

“We feel the voters are best able to determine who should represent them in Congress,” a spokesperson for Lee told outlets.

Candidates removed from the ballot offered similar arguments.

“I believe that voters in Middle Tennessee should pick their representative—not establishment party insiders,” Ortagus said in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times. “Our team is evaluating the options before us.”

Starbuck said in March that he’s only been registered with one party before and has only donated to GOP candidates.

“Not allowing me on the ballot would disenfranchise a huge segment of our voters in Tennessee, discourage people from engaging in the process and most of all it would reek of the dirty politics that makes so many distrust our elections,” he said at the time.

On Wednesday, Starbuck said: “Sadly in Tennessee candidates are NOT elected, they’re SELECTED by a tiny group of establishment RINO hacks. We’ll fight this with every ounce of fight we have. They declared war on TN voters yesterday. It’s not about me, it’s about YOU and I’ll fight for your right to vote.”

Lee did not respond to a request for comment.

Ortagus and Starbuck both moved to Tennessee in recent years.

The seat they hope to win is currently held by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.). Cooper is retiring at the end of his current term.

A lawsuit was filed against the legislation that would affect future candidates in federal court after it was passed.

Three residents who say they planned to vote for Ortagus alleged the bill violates the U.S. Constitution, which requires that members of Congress be 25 or older, have been a citizen of the United States for seven years, and must live in the state they’re representing when they’re elected.

“Plaintiffs seek damages and a declaration that the provision is unconstitutional so that all qualified candidates who wish to run for Congress in the August 4, 2022 primary election may do so,” the suit stated.

Correction: A previous version of this article inaccurately described the bill. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
Title: Pop Press Trump to decide McCarthy's fate
Post by: ccp on April 23, 2022, 07:05:58 AM
https://populistpress.com/trump-to-decide-mccarthys-fate/

my opinion is no he doesn't

we do

what would one expect McCarthy to do or say when the House was being invaded and for all he or any of them knew their lives could have been threatened while the great Don is silent for a few hours.

Say thanks  :roll:

Title: Cawthorne wearing womens stuff
Post by: ccp on April 23, 2022, 11:01:45 AM
so what?

I thought this is something we should be celebrating

if it is good enough for getting a job teaching children

who cares what he does in his spare time

the fact he is disabled means nothing I guess

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 23, 2022, 12:05:38 PM
Who is Cawthorne?
Title: spelled his name slightly wrong
Post by: ccp on April 23, 2022, 12:53:38 PM
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286

I don't know anything about him really except the long knives have been unsheathed
and are out to get him with a lot of negative hit pieces

deserved or not
I honestly don't know ( I have not been very interested frankly )

but I am reading a lot of stuff coming from the LEFT trying to pit one Repub against another lately in general



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 23, 2022, 01:19:34 PM
Oy.
Title: USA Today : Manchin favorable rating increases
Post by: ccp on April 26, 2022, 06:51:44 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/sen-joe-manchins-west-virginia-200515120.html

Now we all know the subtext of this is coming from the fem liberal mag is something like

those MAGA heads in the hillbilly state are ruining everything and Joe's playing into them "is a threat to democracy"

write him off as just "playing to his base"
blah blah blah
Title: NY Judge votes down the Dem controlled legislature
Post by: ccp on April 27, 2022, 02:12:42 PM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2022/04/27/ny-court-sides-with-republicans-throws-out-dems-gerrymandered-map-n2606439

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXI6CdTVJ-0
Title: Murksowki primary race
Post by: ccp on April 28, 2022, 10:35:06 AM
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/alaska/

scroll down to March 2022

Title: Re: Murksowki primary race
Post by: DougMacG on April 28, 2022, 02:29:06 PM
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/alaska/
scroll down to March 2022

Lisa Murkowski losing, tight race, momentum is against her.  Alaskans deserves better.
Title: Congressional races, Senate, Latham Saddler, Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on May 05, 2022, 05:57:29 AM
A minute ago I was excited about Herschel Walker running for Senate in Georgia.  Then I heard
LathamSaddler.com
interviewed by Hugh Hewitt and he knocked it out of the park.
Young and HIGHLY qualified.  This guy is the real deal.
8 years as a Navy SEAL Officer, Director of Intelligence Programs on the National Security Council, Worked in Trump White House under Bolton.
[Trump endorsed Herschel.]

Audio, Listen:  https://hughhewitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/05-05hhs-saddler.mp3
13 minutes

We need new leaders like this guy.

Herschel as frontrunner has been skipping the debates.  If Herschel doesn't get 50%, these two will run-off.

Raphael Warnockof the far Left won once in Geoirgia.  Don't underestimate him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Warnock
Title: US Congressional races, New Hampshire Senate
Post by: DougMacG on May 05, 2022, 06:32:20 AM
Don't let these candidates get distance from Biden.  They OWN this mess.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/politics/maggie-hassan-democrat-biden-ad/index.html

Even CNN sees them fleeing.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 05, 2022, 06:43:50 AM
"Herschel as frontrunner has been skipping the debates.  If Herschel doesn't get 50%, these two will run-off."

I will check the other candidate

I have grave reservations for Walker

really ? is he qualified to be a governor?

Trump just loves celebrities
who love him
or suck up to him (Oz)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 05, 2022, 09:13:24 AM
I thought he was running for Senate?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 05, 2022, 09:20:45 AM
ccp:
I have grave reservations for Walker
really ? is he qualified to be a governor?
Trump just loves celebrities
who love him
or suck up to him (Oz)
---------
(Yes, for Senator). No, Herschel likely doesn't have executive experience to be Gov or Pres.  To be 1 of 100 Senators he needs strong core principles and a sharp mind which he has.  He is a long time personal friend of Trump.  For all we've endured on race, it's cool that he is a black conservative. Watch his 2020 convention speech.  Perhaps the best.

First impression on Saddler, he is a level above that. Tremendous upside potential.

1. We need to win that race.
2. We don't need another Collins, Flake, once they get there.
Both of these could be excellent.
Georgians can sort it out.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 05, 2022, 10:55:14 AM
why is Hershel NOT doing debates?

anyone know?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 05, 2022, 02:40:07 PM
why is Hershel NOT doing debates?

anyone know?

Just guessing, because he is a giant name with the huge lead in the (GOP) race in Georgia.  But his polling lead in the general election over Warnock is tiny, his experience in politics is tiny, and his experience debating is tiny, so maybe he should get all the debate experience he can before the general election debates and campaign.

I think his handlers might know that this Saddler is the real deal.  Don't get in the ring with him.

The goal isn't to win the nomination. The goal is to win the senate seat (and save the country).
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 05, 2022, 05:52:25 PM
What would be a good single source to get up to speed on Sadler?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 05, 2022, 09:25:59 PM
What would be a good single source to get up to speed on Sadler?

Saddler
This is where I heard him:
https://hughhewitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/05-05hhs-saddler.mp3
13 minutes

https://lathamsaddler.com/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 06, 2022, 01:14:50 PM
Very interesting on Sadler!  NSC Black Ops division under Trump?  Intriguing!

Seems to have zero interest in anything except geopolitics.

Here Pravda on the Potomac goes after Herschel Walker:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/05/06/herschel-walker-senate-georgia/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F36c550a%2F62754892956121755a6826f9%2F61cdf026ae7e8a4ac205b2b3%2F32%2F70%2F62754892956121755a6826f9
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 06, 2022, 01:43:46 PM
"Here Pravda on the Potomac goes after Herschel Walker"

All ad hominem by the Pravda Post.

"Walker’s sole qualification for Georgia’s electorate, however, is his athletic notoriety."

   - No.  Like MLK he gave an inspirational speech that brought the house down. He gets it in the big picture.  He Is qualified and their insult of black conservatives on the basis of race and philosophy is deplorable.

The only true and valid point in there is that Herschel skipped the debates, as candidates with a giant lead often do.

Warnock is a radical who rejects the Founding principles of our country.  Herschel represents the American dream - for everyone.

Too bad they don't get that.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 06, 2022, 02:04:13 PM
PS:  Another athlete of considerable Congressional achievement was NFL quarterback Jack Kemp.
Title: jocks in politics
Post by: ccp on May 06, 2022, 03:13:07 PM
wikipedia has whole
page :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_sportsperson-politicians

I would add a famous martial arts expert who ran for Congress.  :-D
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on May 06, 2022, 04:23:41 PM
PS:  Another athlete of considerable Congressional achievement was NFL quarterback Jack Kemp.

That's right!  And he changed the world, for the better.

A military guy took to politics pretty well, Gen. Eisenhower.  A peanut farmer rose to the top, Jimmy Carter.  An actor, Ronald Reagan.  A comedian (not very funny), Al Franken became Senator.  How 'bout that, they come from all walks of life.  God Bless America.  BTW, when did WashPost rip Bill Gates for attending a fine university and not getting a degree?  Save that attack for the black conservative, you racists.

No.  They don't think all blacks will vote for him because he's black.  They just can't get over their racist, one track mind.  In fact they fear some blacks might listen to him.

They let Biden, last in his class in his prime and now a blathering idiot, speak nonsense without criticism, but a black guy turning conservative is 'carrying the water for whites' and his only redeeming quality is that he can run fast.  Most racist writing I've seen in a long time.

Conservative Republican is a place for whites only yet Hispanics are coming there in record numbers.  Does the Washington Post even read the news.

Like Larry Elder said, I've been called every name in the book except wrong.  Whoops, not one issue came up here in a lengthy critique.  Umm, where is Herschel wrong?

I still like the other guy, Saddler, better.  But the question is, who connects with voters, and for that - we'll let the voters decide.   )

PS   Community organizer Barack Obama's claim to fame was that he gave a good speech at the convention.  And they endorsed him at least twice.

If not for double standards they'd have none at all.
Title: Pompeo rips Dr. Oz a new anus
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 07, 2022, 10:49:57 AM
As reported by Tucker, Mike Pompeo says that Dr. Oz voted in the Turkish election instead of the American election.

WTF?!? 

Let's track this down!
Title: Re: Pompeo rips Dr. Oz a new anus
Post by: G M on May 07, 2022, 10:55:26 AM
As reported by Tucker, Mike Pompeo says that Dr. Oz voted in the Turkish election instead of the American election.

WTF?!? 

Let's track this down!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/dr-ozs-vote-in-2018-turkish-election-renews-criticism/ar-AAWVjPL
Title: I do not like him and never really did: Oz
Post by: ccp on May 07, 2022, 11:07:57 AM
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/dr-oz-net-worth-talk-show-salary-revealed-1235126719/

my opinion:   beware of doctors pushing snake oils

they are NOT to be trusted





Title: Re: I do not like him and never really did: Oz
Post by: G M on May 07, 2022, 11:09:27 AM
Howabout masks and the ClotShot?


https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/dr-oz-net-worth-talk-show-salary-revealed-1235126719/

my opinion:   beware of doctors pushing snake oils

they are NOT to be trusted
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 07, 2022, 02:27:48 PM
"clotshot"

is actually quite safe and has saved many lives

so how about it?

I don't live in PA

so I won't get to vote against Oz
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on May 07, 2022, 02:36:43 PM
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20220506/fda-limits-use-jj-covid-vaccine-blood-clot-risk

How did the ClotShot save lives since it doesn't actually work? Except by creating Clots and heart problems?



"clotshot"

is actually quite safe and has saved many lives

so how about it?

I don't live in PA

so I won't get to vote against Oz
Title: Re: The US Congress; PA Senate, Oz
Post by: DougMacG on May 07, 2022, 03:41:52 PM
Dr. Oz,  I was invited to appear on Judge Judy once but I don't know anything about Dr. Oz. 

I think Crafty had the story that breaks him.  If he voted in Turkey and not the US that recently, the perception of dual loyalty will sink him.  Best to get that out before he wins the primary, which is about 10 days out. 

The lobbying accusation might be overblown, but I'm guessing Pompeo's point is that the current government of (NATO member) Turkey is not exactly our ally.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/04/dr-oz-accused-of-violating-foreign-agent-law-with-work-for-turkish-airlines/

Like Ben Carson and Rand Paul, Bill Frist, being M.D. doesn't qualify him or disqualify him.  It's an interesting background. 

Media experience can be a plus.  Lack of it is a problem.  Pennsylvania is a serious, multi media market, and politics and getting a message out isn't as easy as it might look.  Learning by making mistakes is not going to work.

It's good that Trump is doing what someone should be doing, finding the best candidates and endorsing and helping them.  Too bad it's Trump.  He's having a good run but he's going to get some wrong.  Where he is wrong the voters need to get it right.

We need to win in PA.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 07, 2022, 04:34:41 PM
all good point about oz/ trump

Frist  who was  a rino and Carson and Paul who are not at least were honest
I am just not convinced OZ is.

the J&J shot was not a good vaccine
I agree   :-D

was not even as that effective  as pfz moderna shots


Title: The terrible Oz booed at MAGA rally
Post by: G M on May 07, 2022, 04:47:20 PM
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/yeah-im-smart-dr-oz-repeatedly-booed-maga-rally-over-abortion-flip-flop
Title: Senate race PA, McCormick
Post by: DougMacG on May 08, 2022, 05:20:27 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/07/exclusive-david-mccormick-says-no-hard-feelings-trump-after-attack/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on May 08, 2022, 09:51:50 AM
I read McCormick criticized Trump for 1/6/21

You can't convince me this did not have something to do with Trump seeking revenge

Title: More on Oz Turkey connections
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 09, 2022, 04:25:40 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mehmet-oz-s-explanation-of-why-he-kept-turkish-citizenship-makes-no-sense/ar-AAX4VX7?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=294c8ee391cf4bea8c11c7538355bb41
Title: Go Kathy!
Post by: ccp on May 10, 2022, 06:15:19 AM
https://www.youtube.com/user/ckbarnette?app=desktop
Title: barnette
Post by: ccp on May 13, 2022, 02:44:05 PM
makes remarks
that as Hannity points out, and I agree  make her not viable in a general election

but the fact she rose quickly
proves that many agree with me -

NOT OZ!

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/kathy-barnette-pennsylvania-senate-primary/2022/05/13/id/1069764/




Title: Texas Latinos going Rep?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 14, 2022, 07:06:16 PM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/bidenflation-border-crisis-drawing-hispanic-voters-to-gop-in-south-texas-midterms-analysts_4463668.html?utm_source=China&utm_campaign=uschina-2022-05-13&utm_medium=email&est=HJn5bHVxXrDjTuonV1rQws4J1d7CGPhKyfVwUNCxTBFLT%2FLqNJ0ceUBnB7AzLE3xdLgq
Title: WSJ: How to make Congress worse-- unionize
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 15, 2022, 03:25:52 AM
How to Make Congress Worse
The House votes to let its staff unionize, and the Members are likely to regret it.
By The Editorial BoardFollow
May 13, 2022 6:38 pm ET


Americans don’t like Congress, for many obvious reasons, and this week the received another one as the House voted to allow its staff to be represented by a union.

The House voted 217-202 on Tuesday on a resolution sponsored by Michigan Rep. Andy Levin to allow collective bargaining. Congress has long rejected this idea, but progressives consider it part of their “equity” agenda.


The union push was fueled this year by an anonymous Instagram account entitled “Dear White Staffers,” featuring complaints about discrimination, pay and working conditions. A group calling itself the Congressional Workers Union stepped up to promote the drive—though its members insist on anonymity.

The Levin resolution authorizes a broad right to organize, while dodging questions of how this will work in practice. The House has 435 offices with 9,100 staffers, or an average of 21 employees per Member. Each office would need to hold its own union vote amid rapid employee turnover. Most Republican offices will take a pass, and even Democratic offices may vote no—leading to a patchwork of work rules across the Capitol.


Will a bargaining unit include all staffers for each Member, or will workers in home state offices get to form their own? Will offices stand up unions from scratch or join one of the 100 other unions currently representing federal employees? Should senior staff be in the same union as junior employees, and who decides who is senior? Federal law prohibits workers in “management” or “supervisory” roles from collectively bargaining.

Staff are supposed to promote the agenda of Members, but unionization could put them in labor-management conflict. With their access to confidential legislative information, staffers working a union agenda could also have leverage over elected representatives. Get ready for unfair-labor complaints that will become political weapons.

Congress has a problem with staff turnover, since pay has failed over the past 20 years to keep pace with inflation. But Congress’s March omnibus included a 21% increase for Member’s office budgets. Most Representatives intended to plow that into better compensation even before Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week announced a minimum pay threshold of $45,000 a year for staff, and a higher cap ($203,700) for maximum annual pay.

Each house of Congress sets its own rules, so the House vote this week doesn’t apply to the Senate, where it likely wouldn’t pass in any case. Republicans will probably repeal the resolution if they retake the House in November. But instead of unionization, how about this: Fire about half the staff but pay the rest better. Congress might attract better people who stay a while rather than leave as soon as they can for K Street riches.
Title: unionizing Congressional staff
Post by: ccp on May 15, 2022, 07:38:17 AM
VERY BAD IDEA

look at teachers unions

how stupid wrong
with all government employee unions

as always we have NO say

 :-(
Title: Oregon
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 16, 2022, 03:58:05 AM
https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/2142397/some-oregon-proud-boys-coming-after-me-and-others-for-kerry-mcquisten-for-oregon-governor-statemen
Title: NRO: No on Cawthorn
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 17, 2022, 02:15:02 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/05/madison-cawthorn-doesnt-belong-in-congress/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202022-05-16&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Title: Re: NRO: No on Cawthorn
Post by: G M on May 18, 2022, 08:43:19 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/05/madison-cawthorn-doesnt-belong-in-congress/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202022-05-16&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart

Was Cawthorn lying about the DC orgies?


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/uniparty-takes-talented-gop-freshman-madison-cawthorn-just-weeks-openly-discusses-dc-orgies-interview/
Title: Senate campaign ad
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 20, 2022, 06:28:06 PM
https://dailycaller.com/2022/05/20/markwayne-mullin-senate-advertisement-daughter-son-slamming-democrats-progress-womens-sports/?utm_medium=email&pnespid=6ud5FT4dZboCgOTRvWvtCZ_IskqrW5p0fbCgm_tvqBhm9kpdUkubWif.0tF.wsepduEHgrFB
Title: Republicans lead among Hispanic voters
Post by: ccp on June 10, 2022, 10:26:30 AM
 :-o :-o :-o

https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-left-of-center-poll-shows-seismic-shift-in-hispanic-political-support

of course if one excludes the illegals and those who are legal but have family who are illegal

I can only imagine the margin is much higher

this is the first time in my 65 yrs I have ever seen this

this did not occur due to W Bush
who tried to win them over

this occurred despite him
and due to real conservative values being the key

not suck egg ass kissing

though I would love to see Republicans capitalize on this
and not screw it up.

Title: Re: Republicans lead among Hispanic voters
Post by: G M on June 10, 2022, 12:25:30 PM
:-o :-o :-o

https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-left-of-center-poll-shows-seismic-shift-in-hispanic-political-support

of course if one excludes the illegals and those who are legal but have family who are illegal

I can only imagine the margin is much higher

this is the first time in my 65 yrs I have ever seen this

this did not occur due to W Bush
who tried to win them over

this occurred despite him
and due to real conservative values being the key

not suck egg ass kissing

though I would love to see Republicans capitalize on this
and not screw it up.

The stupid party never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on June 13, 2022, 07:24:48 AM
If the election were held today, and if each voter could only vote once in their own name, verified, it looks to me like R's would sweep the House and pick up just 3 in the Senate, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, making the Senate 53-47 R.  The 4th seat Dems lose is Kamala's tiebreaking vote in the Senate.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/06/09/a_senate_paradox_in_three_acts_147718.html#2

Since 98% of federal laws don't go through Congress anyway, this result would only be a small step toward laying the ground work for righting the ship in a long shot, multi- decade effort.

Nothing to celebrate if it happens, but better than most alternatives.
Title: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: G M on June 13, 2022, 07:40:18 AM
Pedro L. Gonzalez:
This is what Republicans are telling their voters going into midterms: we will take your votes and your money and stab you with that in the back to help Biden and the Democratic Party.

Quote Tweet
Chris Murphy, Rat, CT:
NEWS: We have a deal. Today a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence - the first in 30 years - that will save lives.

I think you’ll be surprised at the scope of our framework.
Title: Re: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: DougMacG on June 13, 2022, 07:48:00 AM
To be fair, there should be a plural on stupid party, IMHO.

Yes, Dems may have played R's to get what they wanted, but what they want is rarely in their own best interest.
Title: Re: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: G M on June 13, 2022, 07:50:12 AM
To be fair, there should be a plural on stupid party, IMHO.

Yes, Dems may have played R's to get what they wanted, but what they want is rarely in their own best interest.

R=Stupid party

D=Evil party

They have yet to feel any pain for their actions.
Title: Re: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: G M on June 13, 2022, 07:55:31 AM
Buck Sexton:
Never underestimate the willingness of Republicans to betray their base and bend the knee for a pathetic pat on the head from Democrats who despise them.

> Quote Tweet
Fox News:
BREAKING: Senate announces bipartisan framework for gun control package

Pedro L. Gonzalez:
This is what Republicans are telling their voters going into midterms: we will take your votes and your money and stab you with that in the back to help Biden and the Democratic Party.

Quote Tweet
Chris Murphy, Rat, CT:
NEWS: We have a deal. Today a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence - the first in 30 years - that will save lives.

I think you’ll be surprised at the scope of our framework.
Title: Pa.
Post by: ccp on June 13, 2022, 09:58:49 AM
Can Oz win?

just checked real clear politics

no polls yet

the cheating is already being planned
Title: Re: Pa.
Post by: DougMacG on June 13, 2022, 09:29:19 PM
Can Oz win?
just checked real clear politics
no polls yet
the cheating is already being planned

Yes Oz can win.
Title: Re: Pa.
Post by: G M on June 13, 2022, 09:33:30 PM
Oh good! We need another republican who supports gun control and the sexual mutilation of children!


Can Oz win?
just checked real clear politics
no polls yet
the cheating is already being planned

Yes Oz can win.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 14, 2022, 08:24:40 AM
"Oh good! We need another Republican who supports gun control and the sexual mutilation of children!"

I agree but now he is the Repub nominee I would still have to support him over any Democrat
Title: Re: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: DougMacG on June 14, 2022, 01:37:01 PM
quote author: G M

R=Stupid party

D=Evil party
------------------------

If this war or contest of ideas is serious, then really knowing your opponent (enemy?) is essential.  Dig deeper.

The top of the far Left movement includes some very evil people.  But calling or implying all Democrats are evil is mostly wrong.

Within the whole makeup of the activists and the people voting Left or Dem, there is a wide range.  Most, I would argue, are well intentioned citizens that are following what they learned since birth, from their families, from K12, college, mainstream media, peers, culture, Google, Facebook, Twitter and so on.  Some of them want something different than what we want.  Not big on limited government for example. Some are misguided on policies but want similar outcomes to what we want, the American Creed, peace, prosperity, constitutional principles, rule of law.  Some are a minute or a year away from switching over.  Some on our side were Leftists and Democrats a minute ago, or a little longer ago in Ronald Reagan or Thomas Sowell's case. 

Calling all Dems evil (or everything Republicans do stupid) does not shed light on important details, IMHO.  Doesn't help with salesmanship and persuasion either.

Some of these people are our future allies.
------------------------------------------------
Also within the so-called deep state are good people in the FBI, CIA and more who want to do good work.  That fish stinks from the head.  We need to distinguish between the evil and the rest.
Title: Re: Thank god for the stupid party!
Post by: G M on June 14, 2022, 08:32:26 PM
quote author: G M

R=Stupid party

D=Evil party
------------------------

If this war or contest of ideas is serious, then really knowing your opponent (enemy?) is essential.  Dig deeper.

The top of the far Left movement includes some very evil people.  But calling or implying all Democrats are evil is mostly wrong.

My line about stupid/evil is about the leadership of the parties. Most line level dems are stupid. They might mean well, but they obviously lack the cognitive ability to connect their voting habits and the dystopian shitholes they live in. Even worms react to pain stimulus by trying to avoid it.

Within the whole makeup of the activists and the people voting Left or Dem, there is a wide range.  Most, I would argue, are well intentioned citizens that are following what they learned since birth, from their families, from K12, college, mainstream media, peers, culture, Google, Facebook, Twitter and so on.  Some of them want something different than what we want.  Not big on limited government for example. Some are misguided on policies but want similar outcomes to what we want, the American Creed, peace, prosperity, constitutional principles, rule of law.  Some are a minute or a year away from switching over.  Some on our side were Leftists and Democrats a minute ago, or a little longer ago in Ronald Reagan or Thomas Sowell's case. 

Calling all Dems evil (or everything Republicans do stupid) does not shed light on important details, IMHO.  Doesn't help with salesmanship and persuasion either.

Some of these people are our future allies.
------------------------------------------------
Also within the so-called deep state are good people in the FBI, CIA and more who want to do good work.  That fish stinks from the head.  We need to distinguish between the evil and the rest.

At a certain point, the agencies become so corrupt, anyone with even a tiny amount of honor has to leave. Those that remain, no matter how they might try to justify it to themselves or others know at some level that by remaining within the agencies, they are facilitating the evil that is being done.
Title: Democrat takes 4th place in Alaska (Palin) House race
Post by: DougMacG on June 16, 2022, 06:15:44 AM
Democrat gets less than 10% in oil producing district open primary.  4th place, top 3 advance to General election.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-sarah-palin-alaska-government-and-politics-35d4e10f112fa2551aa63d3680dd0dbd
Title: NRO
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 17, 2022, 01:24:14 PM
I may come to regret my support of Walker , , ,

==========================

Celebrity Candidate Roulette

For heaven’s sake.

There really was no reason to nominate either Herschel Walker or Mehmet Oz to be the Republican candidates for Senate (in Georgia and Pennsylvania, respectively).

Oz is a pseudoscientific medical pin-up who’s used his platform to promote both abortion and irreversible “gender transition” treatment for minors. Walker was a really great football player who’s well known and whose athletic career is fondly remembered by Georgians. On the other hand, he claims to have been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder by a witch doctor and his ex-wife alleges that he held a gun to her head, telling her, “I’m going to blow your f***ing brains out.”

So who could have possibly predicted that Walker might not be the slam-dunk candidate that the notoriously good judge of character Donald Trump (“He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. He is also a GREAT person. Run, Herschel, Run!”) said he would be.

Now, Walker has been revealed to be the father of three children he had never mentioned publicly. For at least one of them, a ten-year-old son with whom he has no relationship, he was ordered to pay child support.

His campaign manager reassures us that “he has honored all obligations” to his children. I suppose the issue is resolved, then.

With any replacement-level candidate on the ballot in Georgia, Republicans could be confident that they’d knock off incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. With Walker on the ballot, Warnock has a shot at pulling off a second upset in three years.

And as for Oz, what do we get for his progressive past? According to a poll from Suffolk University and USA Today, a favorable view of Oz from only 28 percent of voters and a nine-point deficit as compared to Democrat John Fetterman. Just 17 percent of independents view Oz favorably, while 57 percent view him unfavorably.

Maybe national headwinds will be enough to save Walker and/or Oz, but if Republicans lose either or both races, it’ll be because they took low-reward, high-risk propositions on the advice of a low-reward, high-risk 2024 contender.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on June 17, 2022, 02:01:44 PM
"So who could have possibly predicted that Walker might not be the slam-dunk candidate that the notoriously good judge of character Donald Trump"

ME!

as for OZ I also am not a fan
but must support him now as he is our only hope to keep the seat in PA.

but this (OMFG!):

 And as for Oz, what do we get for his progressive past? According to a poll from Suffolk University and USA Today, a favorable view of Oz from only 28 percent of voters and a nine-point deficit as compared to Democrat John Fetterman. Just 17 percent of independents view Oz favorably, while 57 percent view him unfavorably.

He beat McCormick by what ? a few hundred votes
Was HIS (mccormick) numbers this dreadful?

We kept  hearing how articulate Oz  is and he is a genius (hannity)
but who cares if no one likes the guy.

Trump is happy to endorse celebrities who endorse him.

Nothing new with that.

yes Trump is damaged goods too

If we can't take these races in this economy etc...

woe is us

the dumb ass party




 
Title: WT: Utah Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 27, 2022, 01:21:05 AM
Democrats set up unusually tight race for Senate in Utah

Join Trump opponents in effort to unseat Lee

BY SUSAN FERRECHI THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Sen. Mike Lee is poised to win Utah’s Republican primary for the Senate on Tuesday, which would normally put him on a glide path to reelection in November.

Yet it might be the state’s most competitive Senate race in decades thanks to Evan McMullin. Mr. McMullin ran as an independent against Donald Trump in 2016 and picked up more than 20% of Utah’s votes. He is now running against Mr. Lee as an independent and has the support of Utah Democrats. His campaign is spotlighting Mr. Lee’s alliance with Mr. Trump in a state where some voters have grown weary of the former president.

“This is a very unique race in Utah,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. “This is not a traditional Utah race where you have a Democrat versus a Republican.”

Some election analysts have moved the usually

safe Republican seat into the “likely Republican” category. Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics noted Democrats’ decision to back Mr. McMullin and a recent poll showing Mr. Lee with just a 4-point lead.

“The Lee-McMullin contest seems to have a little more intrigue than your average Safe Republican Senate race,” Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman wrote in the Crystal Ball’s June 15 edition.

Mr. Lee’s campaign is downplaying the poll conducted by the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics. It showed Mr. Lee with 41% of the vote and Mr. Mc-Mullin with 37% in a November matchup.

A top Lee aide said the campaign’s survey of likely voters shows Mr. Lee with a nearly 20-point lead over Mr. McMullin.

“Our campaign is focused on talking about issues, not divisive rhetoric,” Lee campaign spokesman Matt Lusty told The Washington Times. “We’re trying to help Utah families as they struggle with record inflation and soaring gas prices. Our internal numbers show there is very strong support for Sen. Lee’s reelection not only in the Republican primary but also in the general election.”

The battle between Mr. Lee and Mr. McMullin will begin in earnest after Tuesday, when Mr. Lee faces off in a primary against former state Rep. Becky Edwards and technology executive Ally Isom. Polls show Mr. Lee with a comfortable lead over both Republican opponents.

Democrats canceled their primary and instead threw their support behind Mr. McMullin. They hope he can oust Mr. Lee with a coalition of Democrats, independents and anti-Trump Republicans.

The move means the November ballot will exclude a Democratic candidate and pit Mr. Lee, 51, against Mr. McMullin, 46.

Mr. McMullin, who served in the CIA for 10 years, is a former Republican. He launched his political career in 2016 by running as an independent against Mr. Trump and became the favored candidate for “Never Trump” Republicans.

Mr. Lee once counted himself among the Never Trump coalition and voted for Mr. McMullin in 2016.

He came to support Mr. Trump and even advocated for challenging the presidential election results in 2020.

Mr. Lee ultimately changed his mind and was among the Republicans who voted to certify the election of Joseph R. Biden.

Mr. McMullin is eager to tie Mr. Lee to Mr. Trump’s bid to stop Congress’ certification of Mr. Biden’s 2020 victory. He seized on text messages leaked to media in April that showed Mr. Lee on Nov. 7, 2020, offering “unequivocal support” to Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, “to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal to restore America’s faith in our elections.”

Though Mr. Lee’s support of the Trump campaign’s election challenge was short-lived, Mr. McMullin accuses Mr. Lee of treason. “Mike Lee conspired directly with the Trump administration to overturn the 2020 election and override the will of the American people,” Mr. McMullin recently tweeted.

Mr. McMullin’s effort to win in Utah faces steep challenges, particularly as he tries to court Democratic and independent voters while trying to appeal to disaffected Republicans.

Mr. McMullin voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, but he said it was not a commitment to support every presidential decision. “It’s a vote to defend the republic, take back our government from Vladimir Putin and Trump family corruption, restore decency, and the chance to advance unifying solutions for the country,” he said at the time.

Democrats have not won a statewide race in Utah since 1996. Mr. McMullin has had to shift his positions leftward since winning the party’s nod.

After the Supreme Court announced its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, Mr. Mc-Mullin pledged his opposition to states that impose “extreme laws,” such as total bans on abortion, limits on birth control and “criminalization of women in desperate situations.”

Mr. Lee, a former Supreme Court clerk who is staunchly opposed to abortion, was unequivocal in his praise of the decision, which ends the federal legalization of abortion and gives states the authority to govern the legality of the procedure.

“The national nightmare of Roe has ended,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. McMullin told The Times that he is running against Mr. Lee “because the extremes in our political parties, along with the powerful interests in Washington, have gained far too much influence in our politics.”

If elected, he said, he won’t caucus with either party, which could shut him out of committee membership. Mr. McMullin said Utah “needs independent leadership in the Senate.”

Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters in the state by a margin of nearly 4-to-1, but nearly 30% of all voters are unaffi liated with either party.

Mr. Trump remains popular among voters in Utah, but less so than in other red states.

A poll in May pitted Mr. Trump against Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who has been one of the party’s most outspoken critics of the former president and who voted to convict him on impeachment charges in January 2021 after the riot at the Capitol.

The Deseret News and Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that 51% of Utah voters believed Mr. Romney best represented their political and policy preferences, compared with 37% who picked Mr. Trump. Another 12% picked neither politician.

Mr. Romney did not endorse Mr. Lee in the primary, but Mr. Trump did.

Mr. Lee has remained mostly quiet about the stamp of approval from the former president, although he referenced him in a fundraising email this year.

“I am being attacked by my Never Trumper opponent and he is raising millions of dollars to STOP our Conservative campaign,” Mr. Lee pitched to donors.
Title: Congressional races, 2022
Post by: DougMacG on June 30, 2022, 04:57:15 AM
They lost Hispanics, now their losing young voters. Even if you are only 18 to 29 years old, you probably know that gas was $2.19.9 on January 6th 2020.
---------------
Time magazine:
Biden’s approval rating with voters under 30 has dropped 23 points since the first months of his presidency, according to Gallup polling. It’s fallen 17 points with voters between 30 and 50. Only 34% of Millennials and Gen Z voters say they approve of Biden’s presidency so far, according to a Marist poll sponsored by NPR and PBS, and only 2% say they strongly approve. (Source: time.com)
Title: demographics
Post by: ccp on June 30, 2022, 06:07:00 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/key-demographics-for-the-2022-midterm-elections/ar-AAXjHgO?li=BBnb7Kz

what is it with black voters they are so wed to their beloved democrat party.

perhaps I could see in the mid 60's but now?

Title: Re: demographics, Blexit
Post by: DougMacG on June 30, 2022, 06:44:53 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/key-demographics-for-the-2022-midterm-elections/ar-AAXjHgO?li=BBnb7Kz

what is it with black voters they are so wed to their beloved democrat party.

perhaps I could see in the mid 60's but now?

Agree!  It's been a frustratingly slow process to ween blacks off the liberal plantation.  Seeing the forest through the trees, black voters have been convinced Republicans are evil because thy would spend less than Democrats on welfare, but the welfare state more than anything else is what destroyed their communities.

Break the black vote into smaller demographics.  Generalizing, black women, even successful ones, see the government as their husband, as their guarantor of financial security, a lousy one at that.  A tiny percentage of black men are criminals and thugs and see Republicans as tougher on crime, their livelihood.  Yet it was President Trump who actually started letting out non-violent offenders and giving them a second chance.

But most importantly, I think it is mainly black men who are trending Republican.  It takes guts to go against the flow of your peers and what has been defined to them as against their race, but the majority of them are hard working, tax paying, gas buying Americans like every other race.

In political demographics, it only takes small movements in core groups to make a large difference.
Title: Congressional races 2022, Nate Silver
Post by: DougMacG on July 01, 2022, 05:24:09 AM
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-republicans-are-favored-to-win-the-house-but-not-the-senate/

Spoiler:
House = R (240)
Senate = tossup 50-50
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on July 01, 2022, 05:36:50 AM
And the GOP has nominated — or is poised to nominate — candidates who might significantly underperform a “generic” Republican based on some combination of inexperience, personal scandals or having articulated unpopular conservative positions. This is not a new problem for Republicans: underqualified or fringy candidates have cost them seats in the Senate in other recent cycles.

not helpful

OTOH this site is suspect to me ; look at the 2024 general Presidential election

 it has Harris Biden and Newsome ALL beating Trump beating DeSantis

I find that hard to believe ......
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on July 01, 2022, 11:13:58 AM
I should have put in the post Nate Silver is left wing writing for the left wing. And he still has R's taking up to 259 seats in the House.

It's going to be 2 years of divided government no matter what happens in the Senate
Title: of course as always The Dems
Post by: ccp on July 02, 2022, 09:12:37 AM
whipping up their favored identity groups into a total frenzy with get out the vote drives....
fear mongering, and  put "you all back in chains" rants:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/same-sex-couples-updating-legal-053948630.html

This and their strategy to offer "free stuff"
Title: Zero equals the probability Dems will hold the House
Post by: DougMacG on July 05, 2022, 05:43:11 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/07/05/the_2022_house_midterm_by_the_numbers_147840.html

After I clear my debt with ccp over the 2016 election, Hillary won't run, won't win the nomination if she runs and won't win the election if nominated, I will offer G M even odds on which party controls the US House after all the illegal votes are harvested.
Title: Herschel Walker - politically damaged?
Post by: ccp on July 08, 2022, 05:20:54 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/herschel-walker-lied-own-campaign-174000367.html

it would be amazing if we lose Ga Senate seat

again .

Title: Re: Herschel Walker - politically damaged?
Post by: DougMacG on July 08, 2022, 09:03:05 PM
Yes, we need to win Georgia.

This looks bad.  Strangely, Joe Biden has a granddaughter he won't acknowledge, and nobody cares
Title: Re: Zero equals the probability Dems will hold the House
Post by: G M on July 08, 2022, 10:21:07 PM
https://i.imgflip.com/4x7aqb.jpg

(https://i.imgflip.com/4x7aqb.jpg)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/07/05/the_2022_house_midterm_by_the_numbers_147840.html

After I clear my debt with ccp over the 2016 election, Hillary won't run, won't win the nomination if she runs and won't win the election if nominated, I will offer G M even odds on which party controls the US House after all the illegal votes are harvested.
Title: new poll Herschel slightly in lead
Post by: ccp on July 09, 2022, 06:12:50 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/07/08/georgia-poll-herschel-walker-narrowly-leads-democrat-raphael-warnock-senate-race/

funny it was the MSLSD jurnolists who just claimed Warnock in lead by huge margin, I think a few nights ago......

Title: Re: Zero equals the probability Dems will hold the House
Post by: G M on July 09, 2022, 06:47:33 AM
https://i.imgflip.com/4x7aqb.jpg

(https://i.imgflip.com/4x7aqb.jpg)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/07/05/the_2022_house_midterm_by_the_numbers_147840.html

After I clear my debt with ccp over the 2016 election, Hillary won't run, won't win the nomination if she runs and won't win the election if nominated, I will offer G M even odds on which party controls the US House after all the illegal votes are harvested.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/07/07/poll-majority-of-americans-believe-midterm-elections-will-be-tainted-by-fraud/
Title: The republicans want to lose
Post by: G M on July 09, 2022, 07:55:29 AM
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/republicans-pushing-tax-hike-midterm-elections-at-ris
Title: repubs to have 225 to 255
Post by: ccp on July 11, 2022, 09:29:40 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-power-rankings-gop-expected-take-control-house

well 225 is terrible since we already have 210!:

https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown

even 45 more seats does not seem that great
when one thinks how bad things are

I thought we were talking as high as 270 + at one time

what about the Senate ?
Title: Re: repubs to have 225 to 255
Post by: G M on July 11, 2022, 01:17:03 PM
Setting expectations for the next stolen election.


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-power-rankings-gop-expected-take-control-house

well 225 is terrible since we already have 210!:

https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown

even 45 more seats does not seem that great
when one thinks how bad things are

I thought we were talking as high as 270 + at one time

what about the Senate ?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 11, 2022, 05:19:40 PM
Convos on FOX are saying the Senate is dicey.
Title: Manchin comes through again for now
Post by: ccp on July 15, 2022, 05:52:50 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/manchin-wont-support-climate-tax-increase-provisions-sweeping-democratic-bill

pulling a shyster move (giving medal of freedom to republicans who are "bipartisan")

the next Repub President (if there ever is one). should give Manchin the Medal of Freedom for "bipartisanship"!

 :-D
Title: Re: Manchin comes through again for now
Post by: DougMacG on July 15, 2022, 06:12:26 AM
Yes, but he is holding a seat that should be conservative Republican.
Title: PA democrat senate candidate had stroke (from atrial fibrillation most likely)
Post by: ccp on July 15, 2022, 04:18:32 PM
https://apnews.com/article/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-senate-race-7ee6a7ef1e4a37fc8c6ebeaff79c9450

and no one sees him since
as he hauls in the money

what? how nuts is this?

our country just continues to be more crazy by the day.......
Title: Congressional races, Liz Cheney
Post by: DougMacG on July 25, 2022, 02:26:20 AM
Rep. Liz Cheney drops pro life support for Dem support and Trump vitriol.

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2022/07/20/hageman-bouchard-blast-cheney-for-not-voting-on-abortion-legislation/

Great coverage by Leo Wolfson at Cowboy State Daily.

Give to Harriet Hageman
https://www.hagemanforwyoming.com/
Title: LIz
Post by: ccp on July 25, 2022, 06:20:17 AM
"We should also give to Liz Cheney's primary opponent and the opponent of every member of the committee."

Did you see Bret Baier's interview of same yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcKrCMcvyFk

Liz: the biggest threat to DEMOCRACY (and republicans) is Donald Trump .
nothing else matters
Title: Congressional races, Liz Cheney
Post by: DougMacG on July 25, 2022, 09:38:55 AM
"She does not address the absence of cross examination, witnesses in secret without them allowed lawyers or copies of the testimony, the failure to mention that Trump offered 20,000 National Guard, the denial of Jim Jacobs and the other one, etc etc"

I thought Bret did good job of confronting her on these facts
and even pointed out how she did not answer them
all she would say " we need to save Democracy over and over again"
despite ignoring the problems the people who voted her into office are concerned about which is not her 24/7 divine mission (like a woman spurned - obsession for revenge)

I liked when Bret asked her if this is about '24.

She smiled and did not give a straight answer one way or another
I would never vote for her under almost any circumstances
every again .

I don't want to watch another minute of her but I'm glad to hear he brought these points out. 

The way that you would de-energize the vote integrity skepticism on the right would be to investigate the 2020 vote fraud exhaustively.  A deplorable lack of curiosity, strange (pathetic) that she asked for and received NOTHING from the Democrats for her help on their apparently existential fight.

The Wyoming vote is 30% Democrat, 70% Republican.  On the R side, latest polling is:

Hageman 52, Cheney 30, Bouchard 5   Hageman +22

In theory, Democrats could swing this election to Cheney - if they all came over and all showed up.  But why would they.  Trump will be gone and they will have an emboldened conservative on their hands.

Funny part is, if Liz Cheney (from McLean VA who grew up in Washington DC) loses, move back to Wyoming?  Is there one person in Wyoming who ever saw her as a friend and neighbor?  I don't think so.

Will she run for President?  Just as far as Mittens ran in 2020.  She will have zero Dem support, zero moderate Republican support, only support from 'conservatives' who hate Trump enough to tank the election to Democrats.  And we don't even know Trump will run or would otherwise win the nomination.

She would actually help Trump by taking the oxygen in the room away from his real challengers.
Title: Don Samuels versus ilhan Omar, Minnesota 5th District
Post by: DougMacG on July 25, 2022, 02:36:04 PM
https://donsamuels.com/
Title: Re: Congressional races, Liz Cheney
Post by: G M on July 25, 2022, 09:46:16 PM
I may have spent more time in Wyoming than Liz, and I never lived there.

I just drove through multiple times.


"She does not address the absence of cross examination, witnesses in secret without them allowed lawyers or copies of the testimony, the failure to mention that Trump offered 20,000 National Guard, the denial of Jim Jacobs and the other one, etc etc"

I thought Bret did good job of confronting her on these facts
and even pointed out how she did not answer them
all she would say " we need to save Democracy over and over again"
despite ignoring the problems the people who voted her into office are concerned about which is not her 24/7 divine mission (like a woman spurned - obsession for revenge)

I liked when Bret asked her if this is about '24.

She smiled and did not give a straight answer one way or another
I would never vote for her under almost any circumstances
every again .

I don't want to watch another minute of her but I'm glad to hear he brought these points out. 

The way that you would de-energize the vote integrity skepticism on the right would be to investigate the 2020 vote fraud exhaustively.  A deplorable lack of curiosity, strange (pathetic) that she asked for and received NOTHING from the Democrats for her help on their apparently existential fight.

The Wyoming vote is 30% Democrat, 70% Republican.  On the R side, latest polling is:

Hageman 52, Cheney 30, Bouchard 5   Hageman +22

In theory, Democrats could swing this election to Cheney - if they all came over and all showed up.  But why would they.  Trump will be gone and they will have an emboldened conservative on their hands.

Funny part is, if Liz Cheney (from McLean VA who grew up in Washington DC) loses, move back to Wyoming?  Is there one person in Wyoming who ever saw her as a friend and neighbor?  I don't think so.

Will she run for President?  Just as far as Mittens ran in 2020.  She will have zero Dem support, zero moderate Republican support, only support from 'conservatives' who hate Trump enough to tank the election to Democrats.  And we don't even know Trump will run or would otherwise win the nomination.

She would actually help Trump by taking the oxygen in the room away from his real challengers.
Title: Senate Democrats are ALL complicit in the extremism and failure
Post by: DougMacG on July 26, 2022, 06:57:24 AM
https://amac.us/the-extremist-votes-senate-democrats-cant-run-from-if-gop-nationalizes-fall-races/
Title: Missouri US Senate race
Post by: DougMacG on July 26, 2022, 07:05:28 AM
Latest poll:  Missouri GOP Senate: Schmitt Leads, Greitens Drops to Third Place
-----
ccp, who do your insiders like in this race?
Title: Biden poised for big wins in congress!
Post by: G M on July 26, 2022, 09:39:05 AM
https://politicalwire.com/2022/07/25/biden-poised-for-big-wins-in-congress/

Title: Schiff for house *minority* leader
Post by: ccp on July 28, 2022, 02:00:56 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/07/28/adam-schiff-eyes-house-leadership-position-pushing-russia-hoax/

 :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

then again any dem is no good
but this guy?

Just another Dem BINO

bipartisan in name only
Title: Oz behind
Post by: ccp on July 30, 2022, 07:05:15 AM
https://www.fltimes.com/news/nation/fetterman-and-shapiro-lead-oz-and-mastriano-in-key-pa-races-despite-headwinds-against-democrats/article_f9fae747-4534-55de-897d-a58f63fdbaa8.html

 :oops: :cry:
Title: RCP maps for '22 election
Post by: ccp on August 04, 2022, 02:07:51 PM
Senate:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/elections-map.html

Congress:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/house/elections-map.html

Title: POTP: Culture Wars could help Dems
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 06, 2022, 01:14:25 PM
Culture wars could be a winning issue — for Democrats
Recent polling shows that gun control and abortion rights are bolstering voter motivations
Image without a caption
Analysis by Paul Kane
Congressional bureau chief
August 6, 2022 at 9:40 a.m. EDT

The top lines for Democrats continue to be brutal heading into the November midterm elections: Voters are furious about inflation, they overwhelmingly believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, and President Biden is not at all a popular figure.

But based on recent polling, the issue matrix has shifted enough to provide Democrats some hope that they can limit some of their potential losses and outperform expectations, especially in statewide races for the U.S. Senate and governorships.

In an ironic twist, those issues giving them a fighting chance are what traditionally would be considered elements of the “culture wars” that Republicans previously considered their winning talking points. But a wave of mass shootings and the Supreme Court’s watershed ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade have vaulted gun violence and abortion rights way up the charts in terms of voter importance. Those two matters now rank just below the most important issue concerning voters: inflation and stabilizing the economy.


“Election 2022 will hinge on which party is able to show they are taking meaningful action to stabilize the economy, lower inflation costs (housing, gas, and food), reduce gun violence and protect a woman’s right to choose,” Joel Benenson and Neil Newhouse write in a summary of their new, bipartisan research.

Benenson ran polling for Barack Obama’s winning 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Newhouse went up against him in 2012 as Mitt Romney’s lead pollster. Over the past year, they have paired up to do regular research for Center Forward, a centrist think tank.

In late July, they studied voters in 14 battleground states, compiling both a traditional data set on all voters and then a 37-page examination of “non-prime voters” in those states — that is, people who do not vote in every election.


To be sure, Democrats have a huge hurdle to overcome on the economy. As most other polling has shown, voters are furious about runaway inflation. That’s easily the most animating issue in the nation, with 46 percent of voters saying “stabilizing” the economy is one of the two most important issues right now.

The pollsters found that 44 percent of voters “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s job performance, while only 19 percent “strongly approve,” and, furthermore, just 44 percent of Democrats “strongly approve” of Biden’s achievements.

That’s an upside-down position heading into midterms when Biden and Democrats will depend on motivating hardcore partisans to get to the polls.

“The softer they approve of the president,” Newhouse, a co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, said, “the harder it is to turn them out.”


But their work also shows a surging interest among Democratic voters and many independents toward gun control and protecting abortion rights. It’s the type of polling and research that backs up what happened Tuesday in Kansas, when voters in the otherwise very conservative state overwhelmingly approved retaining abortion rights in their state constitution.

How Kansas became a bellwether for abortion rights

Benenson and Newhouse found that on that same voter-priority question, 26 percent chose “protecting a woman’s right” to abortion access as a top issue — essentially tying border security as the No. 2 issue, behind the economy. Just 9 percent of voters chose the antiabortion position as a top-tier issue, giving Democrats a big edge on this front.

Democratic voters in these battleground states now rank abortion rights as, far and away, their most important policy topic, selected by 45 percent as one of their two most important national issues. Perhaps more important for Democratic candidates, independent voters chose protecting abortion rights as their second-most important issue (trailing inflation/the economy), giving their candidates an opening to appeal to those voters.


Benenson, the CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, thinks Democrats can successfully paint certain GOP candidates as particularly extreme on the touchpoint cultural issue of abortion, particularly those who oppose exemptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

“When it comes to extremism, Republicans have the bigger problem as a party, not the Democrats,” Benenson said in a joint interview with Newhouse on Tuesday afternoon, before the Kansas results came in.

Earlier, in their October surveys, Newhouse and Benenson essentially foreshadowed the disastrous off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey by noting how out of line the Democratic agenda and Democratic voter interests were with independent voters.

Independent voters in the fall chose the inflationary economy and border security as their top two issues, with pandemic recovery as their third issue; Democratic voters chose climate change, taxing the rich and pandemic recovery as their top concerns.

The agenda then — a more than $2 trillion package trying to reshape health care, battle climate change, improve child care, and other domestic issues — felt too big, too vast for middle-of-the-road voters who were worried about inflation.

“The conversation in Washington doesn’t match the conversation that’s happening around the country,” Newhouse said at the time.

Now, Democrats appear better aligned with independent voters on their issues.

Beyond just what should be the top priorities, the polling duo also measured issues on the basis of what will most motivate voters to choose candidates. Independents top motivators are, of course, addressing inflation and the economy, but their fourth and sixth most animating subject matters are stricter gun laws and protecting abortion rights.

Those latter two issues have now vaulted to the very top of the most motivating issues for Democrats, followed by inflation, while the perennial key issue for liberals, climate change, fell into the bottom tier.


(The pandemic, for what it’s worth, no longer concerns any voting bloc. Democrats, independents and Republicans are not ranking it among their 10 most motivating issues.)

Smart Democrats, however, are careful not to overstate these findings, because inflation and concerns about potential job losses in this shaky economy hugely dominate the mind-set of battleground voters.

If Biden and congressional Democrats cannot blunt some of the inflation anger, voters are likely to tune out their appeals on guns and abortion.

That’s why they have tried to rebrand the slimmed-down version of their agenda “the Inflation Reduction Act,” a compromise hashed out with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and centrist Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Its key components include providing hundreds of billions in funding to battle climate change, allowing Medicare to negotiate for cheaper prescription drugs and shoring up health-care markets — while raising taxes on corporations to help reduce the deficit.


None of these measures will help slow inflation by the November elections, however, leaving Democrats vulnerable to the whims of global energy markets and clogged supply chains.

And independent voters do not rate the details of the Inflation Reduction Act as particularly important: lowering prescription drug prices came in ninth among motivating issues, according to Benenson and Newhouse, while climate change does not rank in the top 10.

How the Schumer-Manchin climate bill might affect you and change the U.S.

Democrats hope that this spate of recent legislative productivity — including bipartisan majorities passing laws to help the semiconductor industry and to help veterans of overseas wars who experience health problems — will appeal to their liberal base.

Those voters might not be able to save the House majority, which is being fought over in outer suburban and exurban districts. But if liberals in cities and inner suburbs turn out in bigger numbers than their current malaise suggests, Democratic candidates for Senate and governor could receive key boosts from what used to be the GOP’s secret weapon: cultural issues.


When it comes to non-prime voters, the pollsters discovered a particularly demoralized bloc. They love their country, but they view the political system as filled with candidates who do not represent their interests and see elections as often not worth the trouble.

These voters do lean toward Republicans, but they just are so cynical toward the system they probably won’t vote.

“The emotional barriers will be especially key to overcome,” Benenson and Newhouse write.
Title: Re: POTP: Culture Wars could help Dems
Post by: G M on August 06, 2022, 02:54:15 PM
Translation: They are going to steal the midterms and claim it was abortion and gun control.



Culture wars could be a winning issue — for Democrats
Recent polling shows that gun control and abortion rights are bolstering voter motivations
Image without a caption
Analysis by Paul Kane
Congressional bureau chief
August 6, 2022 at 9:40 a.m. EDT

The top lines for Democrats continue to be brutal heading into the November midterm elections: Voters are furious about inflation, they overwhelmingly believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, and President Biden is not at all a popular figure.

But based on recent polling, the issue matrix has shifted enough to provide Democrats some hope that they can limit some of their potential losses and outperform expectations, especially in statewide races for the U.S. Senate and governorships.

In an ironic twist, those issues giving them a fighting chance are what traditionally would be considered elements of the “culture wars” that Republicans previously considered their winning talking points. But a wave of mass shootings and the Supreme Court’s watershed ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade have vaulted gun violence and abortion rights way up the charts in terms of voter importance. Those two matters now rank just below the most important issue concerning voters: inflation and stabilizing the economy.


“Election 2022 will hinge on which party is able to show they are taking meaningful action to stabilize the economy, lower inflation costs (housing, gas, and food), reduce gun violence and protect a woman’s right to choose,” Joel Benenson and Neil Newhouse write in a summary of their new, bipartisan research.

Benenson ran polling for Barack Obama’s winning 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Newhouse went up against him in 2012 as Mitt Romney’s lead pollster. Over the past year, they have paired up to do regular research for Center Forward, a centrist think tank.

In late July, they studied voters in 14 battleground states, compiling both a traditional data set on all voters and then a 37-page examination of “non-prime voters” in those states — that is, people who do not vote in every election.


To be sure, Democrats have a huge hurdle to overcome on the economy. As most other polling has shown, voters are furious about runaway inflation. That’s easily the most animating issue in the nation, with 46 percent of voters saying “stabilizing” the economy is one of the two most important issues right now.

The pollsters found that 44 percent of voters “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s job performance, while only 19 percent “strongly approve,” and, furthermore, just 44 percent of Democrats “strongly approve” of Biden’s achievements.

That’s an upside-down position heading into midterms when Biden and Democrats will depend on motivating hardcore partisans to get to the polls.

“The softer they approve of the president,” Newhouse, a co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, said, “the harder it is to turn them out.”


But their work also shows a surging interest among Democratic voters and many independents toward gun control and protecting abortion rights. It’s the type of polling and research that backs up what happened Tuesday in Kansas, when voters in the otherwise very conservative state overwhelmingly approved retaining abortion rights in their state constitution.

How Kansas became a bellwether for abortion rights

Benenson and Newhouse found that on that same voter-priority question, 26 percent chose “protecting a woman’s right” to abortion access as a top issue — essentially tying border security as the No. 2 issue, behind the economy. Just 9 percent of voters chose the antiabortion position as a top-tier issue, giving Democrats a big edge on this front.

Democratic voters in these battleground states now rank abortion rights as, far and away, their most important policy topic, selected by 45 percent as one of their two most important national issues. Perhaps more important for Democratic candidates, independent voters chose protecting abortion rights as their second-most important issue (trailing inflation/the economy), giving their candidates an opening to appeal to those voters.


Benenson, the CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, thinks Democrats can successfully paint certain GOP candidates as particularly extreme on the touchpoint cultural issue of abortion, particularly those who oppose exemptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

“When it comes to extremism, Republicans have the bigger problem as a party, not the Democrats,” Benenson said in a joint interview with Newhouse on Tuesday afternoon, before the Kansas results came in.

Earlier, in their October surveys, Newhouse and Benenson essentially foreshadowed the disastrous off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey by noting how out of line the Democratic agenda and Democratic voter interests were with independent voters.

Independent voters in the fall chose the inflationary economy and border security as their top two issues, with pandemic recovery as their third issue; Democratic voters chose climate change, taxing the rich and pandemic recovery as their top concerns.

The agenda then — a more than $2 trillion package trying to reshape health care, battle climate change, improve child care, and other domestic issues — felt too big, too vast for middle-of-the-road voters who were worried about inflation.

“The conversation in Washington doesn’t match the conversation that’s happening around the country,” Newhouse said at the time.

Now, Democrats appear better aligned with independent voters on their issues.

Beyond just what should be the top priorities, the polling duo also measured issues on the basis of what will most motivate voters to choose candidates. Independents top motivators are, of course, addressing inflation and the economy, but their fourth and sixth most animating subject matters are stricter gun laws and protecting abortion rights.

Those latter two issues have now vaulted to the very top of the most motivating issues for Democrats, followed by inflation, while the perennial key issue for liberals, climate change, fell into the bottom tier.


(The pandemic, for what it’s worth, no longer concerns any voting bloc. Democrats, independents and Republicans are not ranking it among their 10 most motivating issues.)

Smart Democrats, however, are careful not to overstate these findings, because inflation and concerns about potential job losses in this shaky economy hugely dominate the mind-set of battleground voters.

If Biden and congressional Democrats cannot blunt some of the inflation anger, voters are likely to tune out their appeals on guns and abortion.

That’s why they have tried to rebrand the slimmed-down version of their agenda “the Inflation Reduction Act,” a compromise hashed out with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and centrist Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Its key components include providing hundreds of billions in funding to battle climate change, allowing Medicare to negotiate for cheaper prescription drugs and shoring up health-care markets — while raising taxes on corporations to help reduce the deficit.


None of these measures will help slow inflation by the November elections, however, leaving Democrats vulnerable to the whims of global energy markets and clogged supply chains.

And independent voters do not rate the details of the Inflation Reduction Act as particularly important: lowering prescription drug prices came in ninth among motivating issues, according to Benenson and Newhouse, while climate change does not rank in the top 10.

How the Schumer-Manchin climate bill might affect you and change the U.S.

Democrats hope that this spate of recent legislative productivity — including bipartisan majorities passing laws to help the semiconductor industry and to help veterans of overseas wars who experience health problems — will appeal to their liberal base.

Those voters might not be able to save the House majority, which is being fought over in outer suburban and exurban districts. But if liberals in cities and inner suburbs turn out in bigger numbers than their current malaise suggests, Democratic candidates for Senate and governor could receive key boosts from what used to be the GOP’s secret weapon: cultural issues.


When it comes to non-prime voters, the pollsters discovered a particularly demoralized bloc. They love their country, but they view the political system as filled with candidates who do not represent their interests and see elections as often not worth the trouble.

These voters do lean toward Republicans, but they just are so cynical toward the system they probably won’t vote.

“The emotional barriers will be especially key to overcome,” Benenson and Newhouse write.
Title: Yes , a Jewish Republican!
Post by: ccp on August 07, 2022, 05:29:49 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leora_Levy

though I do not like the Left wing Wikipedia which of course disparages another Republican :

who mostly sees fit point out she voted to censor cheney and kinzinger
and once called Trump : "criticized Donald Trump, saying at the time that he was "vulgar, ill-mannered and disparages those whom he cannot intimidate".[7] She later applauded Trump's leadership.[7]"

Trump now endorses her BTW

Of course they say nothing about her political beliefs

Title: US Senate races
Post by: DougMacG on August 08, 2022, 07:18:44 AM
RCP today:
46 R, 46D, 8 tossup:
Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire.

Seems like all 8 of these are winnable for Republicans depending on the performance of the candidates.

I didn't know NC was in doubt.  What is the quality of the candidate?  PA is always tough.

The greatest significance of winning or losing is in the out years of the 6 year term.

Title: Re: US Senate races
Post by: G M on August 08, 2022, 07:19:50 AM
I was told there was going to be a red wave. No?

RCP today:
46 R, 46D, 8 tossup:
Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire.

Seems like all 8 of these are winnable for Republicans depending on the performance of the candidates.

I didn't know NC was in doubt.  What is the quality of the candidate?  PA is always tough.

The greatest significance of winning or losing is in the out years of the 6 year term.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on August 10, 2022, 05:07:21 AM
Omar secured 50.5% of the vote, while Samuels won 48% of the vote, as of 9:21 p.m. on Tuesday, with 96.8% of votes counted. The race was separated by a few thousand votes.
   - fox 9 news mpls
Title: Ilhan Omar
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 10, 2022, 06:01:01 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/don-samuels-concedes-to-squad-member-ilhan-omar-in-minnesota-house-primary/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=28678043
Title: WT: Restore regular order!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 11, 2022, 02:55:59 AM
Congress is broken. It can be fixed. Avoidance of regular order and process is its cancer By Michael McKenna

A few days ago, in an unintentionally hilarious self-parody, a senior executive at the electric truck maker Rivian complained that the tax credits in Sen. Joe Manchin III’s reconciliation legislation weren’t going to work for the company because none of the pickup trucks the company makes sell for less than $80,000 — which means they don’t qualify for the tax credit in the law.

While the income and price limits in the Manchin-led spending legislation are pretty generous, they apparently are not generous enough for some. It’s bad enough that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, suggested that the entire section may need to be rewritten.

The Rivian official and Mr. Whitehouse have a point. Because reconciliation was negotiated by two people — Mr. Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York — and did not go through regular order, its defects are being discovered essentially on the fly.

The routine avoidance of regular order and process is a cancer on the Congress. Regular order — when legislation works its way through subcommittees and committees before reaching the floor, where the entire House or Senate can consider amendments and ultimately vote — is essential for a number of reasons.

First, regular order makes legislation more durable. The CHIPS legislation, which gave $75 billion to the already very profitable semiconductor industry, may not be this generation’s Missouri Compromise, but its provisions will survive because it went through regular order, was improved by the amendment process, and, as a result, was supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

In comparison, many of the reconciliation provisions will not survive past the next moment when the Republicans control Congress and the presidency. That could come as soon as 29 months from now.

It is understandable that interest groups want to grab as much cash as they can as fast as they can. But the lack of regular order means, in the long run, that tax credits for wind, solar and other types of alternative generation, as well as electric vehicles, will become entirely subject to political vagaries. Good luck with that.

Second, regular order makes legislation better. If Rivian and Mr. Whitehouse had the opportunity to make their case and vote during the process, they would not be reduced to scrambling to fix legislative text that they saw for the first time just before the Senate started voting. The proposal is a substantive dumpster fire (who raises taxes in a recession?) in large part because it did not go through regular order. No one — on either side — had any chance to improve it because there was no process.

Third, regular order helps individual senators and House members better represent their constituencies and retain power and autonomy. When legislative substance and details are worked out by leadership and the vast majority of senators or House members are presented at the last minute with completed — if poorly drafted — legislation, there is no meaningful opportunity for lawmakers to participate and represent their constituents’ interests.

Finally, because regular order allows opponents of a bill the opportunity to be heard and to have their legitimate concerns addressed, it reduces the natural friction between factions.

Sunday’s reconciliation theater in the Senate was merely the latest in a long series of arrogations of power by congressional leadership. This lastminute, everything-in-one bill, deus ex machina approach to legislating is, not surprisingly, most prevalent when the legislative provisions are most controversial. It reduces the quality of legislation, disenfranchises voters, diminishes lawmakers, creates friction and produces ephemeral and transitory policy. If lawmakers want to retain their ability to represent their constituents, preserve their power, revivify the legislative process and ensure that Congress continues as a functional, co-equal branch of the federal government, they should commit to not voting for any legislation — from any party — that has not gone through regular order. Legislative outcomes would improve dramatically, and the ability of U.S. lawmakers to meaningfully represent their constituents would be enhanced.

It is the only way to arrest Congress’s long, slow slide toward institutional obsolescence.

Michael McKenna, a columnist for The Washington Times, co-hosts “The Unregulated podcast.” He was most recently a deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House.
Title: Liz Cheney will be out of a job
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 12, 2022, 03:40:35 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/11/liz-cheney-trails-trump-backed-republican-challeng/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=z2%2Fj%2FzMwXyCv6thlKjjNO8RT3H9MYszEEJvzxHuBugT%2BZtqKQqDb28UPI3TS2mhP&bt_ts=1660299002615
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 12, 2022, 08:05:23 AM
Liz Cheney will be out of her *present job*

she will be taken care of in other ways

maybe work with Christie Todd Whitman on the rino party
being formed with Andrew Wang
Title: Is inflation *reduction" bill attempt at humor?
Post by: ccp on August 13, 2022, 08:59:38 AM
This :

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/congress-spending-bill-democrats/2022/08/13/id/1082949/

or this:

https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/party-clown.html

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/44c9a6d5-5ebc-4f5c-9af7-6ebc9d158fcd
Title: Goodbye Liz Cheney
Post by: DougMacG on August 16, 2022, 05:12:38 AM
Soon to be former Congresswoman (not)  from Wyoming,  the people who praise her are those who would never vote for her.   Democrats latest tact is to choose who represents Republicans.   Robert Reich is as liberal as they come.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/16/liz-cheney-politicians-stand-by-principles

One "principle"  she forgot while working as a representative in Washington in representative government was to to represent the will of her constituents.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 16, 2022, 05:27:52 AM
robert reich is a shrimp masquerading as a nut

"In praise of Liz Cheney. May we have more politicians like her
Robert Reich"

of course, like all Dems, they only praise Republicans who bash their own party and agree with them on important issues.

Title: WT: Alaska and Wyoming
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 16, 2022, 06:03:38 AM
CAMPAIGN 2022

Murkowski likely to avoid Cheney’s fate in elections

Trump wrath purges GOP opponents

BY SETH MCLAUGHLIN THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are set Tuesday to test their mettle against the Trump-fueled primary buzz saw that has ripped through the Republican Party this election cycle, separating Trump opponents from their political careers.

Ms. Cheney and Ms. Murkowski have been vocal critics of former President Donald Trump, but they appear to be on very different electoral paths against their Trump-backed rivals. Ms. Cheney is staring at near certain defeat in the winner-take-all primary in deep-red Wyoming. Ms. Murkowski is well-positioned to fight another day in Alaska’s ranked-choice primary.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, meanwhile, is looking to ride the pro-Trump wave back into electoral politics in a special election to replace the late Rep. Don Young.

The primary races, in other words, are shaping up as the latest barometer of Mr. Trump’s political clout.

Mr. Trump’s grip on the Republican Party has been undeniable since his tumultuous exit from office. Most party leaders, possible 2024 presidential

contenders and rank-and-file lawmakers have stuck with him.

Mr. Trump also has had tremendous success purging elected Republicans he deemed disloyal, scaring some away from seeking reelection and helping to oust others in party primaries.

As it stands, seven of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump on charges of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will not be returning to Congress.

“Overall, in terms of Trump’s endorsement, he has done pretty well this year,” said J. Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “He has had some setbacks in places like Georgia, but it has been largely positive for him.”

Mr. Trump is looking to notch more wins in Alaska, where Ms. Palin is locked in a competitive race for the House with Nick Begich III. Democrat Mary Peltola is also running and is hoping to shake up the race.

Ms. Palin endorsed Mr. Trump early in the 2016 Republican presidential race, and Mr. Trump returned the favor this year. He said Ms. Palin has been a warrior against corruption in state government and the “Fake News Media.”

Ms. Palin resigned as governor in 2009 after she electrified the base of the Republican Party — and horrified Democrats — as Sen. John McCain’s feisty and folksy running mate a year earlier.

Republicans are expected to defend the House seat in November when Ms. Palin, Mr. Begich and Ms. Peltola are likely to face off again — along with a fourth candidate — for the chance to serve a full two-year term.

Ms. Murkowski also is under the spotlight in Alaska.

Of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Mr. Trump after his House impeachment trial on charges of inciting insurrection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, she is the only one to face voters this year.

Mr. Trump is backing Republican Kelly Tshibaka in the 19-candidate primary battle.

Ms. Murkowski, who lost her primary in 2010 before winning as a write-in candidate, stands to benefit from the state’s new ranked-choice primary system, in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

The two pro-impeachment House Republicans — Reps. David G. Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington — who survived their primaries come from states with somewhat similar open primary systems.

Ms. Cheney doesn’t have that luxury in her winner-take-all primary in Wyoming. Her critics say her anti-Trump actions have rendered her ineffective.

Her future has been in limbo since she joined nine House Republican colleagues in voting to impeach Mr. Trump on charges of inciting the Capitol riot in an effort to block Congress’ certification of Joseph R. Biden’s presidential election victory.

Combined with her refusal to back off her criticism of Mr. Trump and his claims of a stolen election, her impeachment vote has not aged well.

Ms. Cheney, a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was ousted from House Republican leadership and censured by the Wyoming Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.

Ms. Cheney’s decision to serve as vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot further alienated her from the Republican base.

Nonetheless, Ms. Cheney welcomed the fight against Mr. Trump and his hand-picked candidate, Harriet Hageman, saying, “Bring it on.” She said it is time to “elect serious leaders” and Mr. Trump’s “poisonous lies” threaten to destroy the nation.

Ms. Cheney is heading into big trouble on Tuesday.

“I think Wyoming is going to be a pretty open-and-shut case,” Mr. Coleman said. “It is admirable that she is willing to stand on principle, but electorally that is just not the message a Republican electorate is going to want to hear — being anti-Trump.”

Things have looked so dire for Ms. Cheney that speculation has been running rampant for weeks, even months, over whether she might run for president in 2024, lead some sort of anti-Trump group or join the ranks of the television talking heads.

The Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center released a poll of likely Republican primary voters last week showing Ms. Hageman, a former Cheney supporter and member of the Republican National Committee, was leading by 30 percentage points.

“Wyoming is fed up with Liz Cheney because she’s made the election about her and her own personal war with President Trump,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Hageman adviser. “Wyoming wants someone who will fight against the awful Biden administration, not do the Democrats’ dirty work, and that’s why Harriet Hageman will be the next congresswoman from Wyoming.”

Ms. Cheney closed out her campaign with a warning about what she called Mr. Trump’s war against the truth and his influence over the party.

“Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen,” she said in her closing campaign ad. “No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution would say that. It is a cancer that threatens our great republic.

“If we do not condemn these lies, if we do not hold those responsible to account, we will be excusing this conduct and it will become a feature of all elections,” she said. “America will never be the same.”

Title: Republican celebrity candidates
Post by: ccp on August 16, 2022, 08:13:23 AM
from Pravda on the Thames:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/16/mehmet-oz-herschel-walker-jd-vance-republican-senate
Title: Liz
Post by: DougMacG on August 16, 2022, 08:50:16 AM
Could easily give 1000 to 1 odds she will live in Virginia and work for liberal media and not live in Wyoming and work in the free enterprise private sector.
Title: Re: Liz
Post by: G M on August 16, 2022, 09:01:56 AM
Could easily give 1000 to 1 odds she will live in Virginia and work for liberal media and not live in Wyoming and work in the free enterprise private sector.

Exactly.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 16, 2022, 12:17:47 PM
That Republican Celebrity Candidates piece is devastating.

Trump's hands are all over those choices.
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: DougMacG on August 17, 2022, 08:29:11 AM
The result I saw was 66 - 29%.  She conceded with 23% of the vote counted.   Even Democrats couldn't hold their nose for her.   Least surprised person was Liz Cheney.   She raised record $15 million and didn't spend it. Biggest loser is Dick Cheney's legacy.   Liz would need a map to drive the state.   One (of50) states she won't win if she runs for President is Wyoming,  especially after she sells her alleged property in liberal Teton County,  where the rich from out of state bought the most scenic properties.

Coincidentally,  she is now worth $15 million.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-liz-cheney-worth-113011842.html


Could easily give 1000 to 1 odds she will live in Virginia and work for liberal media and not live in Wyoming and work in the free enterprise private sector.
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: G M on August 17, 2022, 09:13:04 AM
https://ace.mu.nu/archives/misspiggy.png

(https://ace.mu.nu/archives/misspiggy.png)

https://ace.mu.nu/archives/400519.php

The result I saw was 66 - 29%.  She conceded with 23% of the vote counted.   Even Democrats couldn't hold their nose for her.   Least surprised person was Liz Cheney.   She raised record $15 million and didn't spend it. Biggest loser is Dick Cheney's legacy.   Liz would need a map to drive the state.   One (of50) states she won't win if she runs for President is Wyoming,  especially after she sells her alleged property in liberal Teton County,  where the rich from out of state bought the most scenic properties.

Coincidentally,  she is now worth $15 million.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-liz-cheney-worth-113011842.html


Could easily give 1000 to 1 odds she will live in Virginia and work for liberal media and not live in Wyoming and work in the free enterprise private sector.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 17, 2022, 09:24:12 AM
what a goof

Trump is not the one who is destroying out country our republic and our way of life

it is the people she now crows with who are doing that and trying to dictate to us and
convert this nation into a socialist state beholden to the PARTY and its ap·pa·rat·chik

what a dope.....

wait till she finds out dems will drop her like stone from tower of Pisa
as soon as her usefulness to them is over ....

Trump and MAGA are threat to the Union like slavery was in 1863.  :roll:

this is the real problem here :

‘Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned’

all logic sense of reality lost in rage anger and denial
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 17, 2022, 11:47:47 AM
Tucker said last night that Liz went from net worth of $7m to approx $40m IIRC.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on August 17, 2022, 12:00:23 PM
Tucker said last night that Liz went from net worth of $7m to approx $40m IIRC.

Funny how that works.

Selfless servants of the people!
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: G M on August 17, 2022, 12:13:44 PM
https://ace.mu.nu/archives/cheneysrip.jpg

(https://ace.mu.nu/archives/cheneysrip.jpg)

https://ace.mu.nu/archives/misspiggy.png

(https://ace.mu.nu/archives/misspiggy.png)

https://ace.mu.nu/archives/400519.php

The result I saw was 66 - 29%.  She conceded with 23% of the vote counted.   Even Democrats couldn't hold their nose for her.   Least surprised person was Liz Cheney.   She raised record $15 million and didn't spend it. Biggest loser is Dick Cheney's legacy.   Liz would need a map to drive the state.   One (of50) states she won't win if she runs for President is Wyoming,  especially after she sells her alleged property in liberal Teton County,  where the rich from out of state bought the most scenic properties.

Coincidentally,  she is now worth $15 million.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-liz-cheney-worth-113011842.html


Could easily give 1000 to 1 odds she will live in Virginia and work for liberal media and not live in Wyoming and work in the free enterprise private sector.
Title: FL: Demings vs. Rubio-- Demings ahead.
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 17, 2022, 12:41:11 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/17/val-demings-leads-marco-rubio-among-registered-fla/?cx_testId=18&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0&cx_experienceId=EX8EVP8I1R8R&utm_source=piano&utm_medium=end-of-article&utm_campaign=12_item_Pos_0#cxrecs_s
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: DougMacG on August 17, 2022, 01:54:58 PM
A leader with no followers is not a leader.

While the Presidential transition happened as promised,  she clearly debased the House and the sham committee process.

Cherry picking and omitting facts is not how you get at the truth.

What amount of cheating is acceptable?  They never say.  Answer is,  depends on who is doing it.

None of the 40,000 Democrats in Wyoming took the bait.   Sad that 29% of WY Republicans did.

Trump haters do exactly what they say they hate about Trump, lie, mislead, distort, divide, hate, and burn the earth behind them.
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: G M on August 17, 2022, 06:38:31 PM
https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-wyoming-dems-switching-gop-primary-data-1731628

A leader with no followers is not a leader.

While the Presidential transition happened as promised,  she clearly debased the House and the sham committee process.

Cherry picking and omitting facts is not how you get at the truth.

What amount of cheating is acceptable?  They never say.  Answer is,  depends on who is doing it.

None of the 40,000 Democrats in Wyoming took the bait.   Sad that 29% of WY Republicans did.

Trump haters do exactly what they say they hate about Trump, lie, mislead, distort, divide, hate, and burn the earth behind them.
Title: Re: Liz Cheney out
Post by: G M on August 17, 2022, 06:49:33 PM
https://ace.mu.nu/archives/image0.jpg

(https://ace.mu.nu/archives/image0.jpg)

https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-wyoming-dems-switching-gop-primary-data-1731628

A leader with no followers is not a leader.

While the Presidential transition happened as promised,  she clearly debased the House and the sham committee process.

Cherry picking and omitting facts is not how you get at the truth.

What amount of cheating is acceptable?  They never say.  Answer is,  depends on who is doing it.

None of the 40,000 Democrats in Wyoming took the bait.   Sad that 29% of WY Republicans did.

Trump haters do exactly what they say they hate about Trump, lie, mislead, distort, divide, hate, and burn the earth behind them.
Title: NRO
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 18, 2022, 02:25:08 PM
Are Republicans Blowing Their Chances of Winning Control of the Senate?

On the menu today: A deep dive into the current state of GOP efforts to win back control of the Senate this November, and the best way to reinvigorate a beloved adventure franchise.

The GOP Might Be Missing Its Chance

It’s reasonable to worry that Republicans are blowing their chances of winning control of the Senate this November. A couple of key races appear to be close to lost already; if the latest survey from Public Opinion Strategies is to be believed, the sputtering, momentum-free Ford Pinto that is Mehmet Oz’s Senate campaign in Pennsylvania is now trailing Democrat John Fetterman by a jaw-dropping 18 percentage points, after another poll earlier this month put Oz down by 14 points. (Although, as Nick Gillespie observes, my metaphor doesn’t completely work because Ford Pintos sometimes catch fire.) Oz may be working himself into the Republican Self-Inflicted Defeat Hall of Fame, alongside Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, and Todd Akin.

But it is still mid August, and there are some signs of life for Senate Republican candidates. This morning, I wrote in the Corner about the new Emerson College poll in Ohio showing J. D. Vance ahead of Tim Ryan by three points. That’s not a massive lead, but it’s better than the long stretch of Ryan leads in polls over the past few months. Even a modest Vance lead is closer to what you would expect to see in a state that has shifted from purple to red, in what is supposed to be a good year for the GOP.

(By the way, that same survey showed that in a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in 2024, Trump would win Ohio, 53 percent to 39 percent. Trump won the state by eight points in 2020. At the presidential level, some of those red states are looking deep crimson these days.)

The collapse of Oz in Pennsylvania makes Georgia look relatively good, as Herschel Walker is still hanging around, even if he’s trailing. There’s no getting around it: Walker is a disappointing candidate who is struggling to improve his communication skills on the trail. But for all those problems, against an incumbent who’s a gifted orator and who gets adoring coverage, Walker is only trailing by around the margin of error in most polls. Georgia is a pretty darn right-leaning state, Biden’s job approval there is at 31 percent, incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp is probably going to win the governor’s race against Stacy Abrams by a healthy margin, and it’s supposed to be a GOP wave year. Add it all up, and Walker still has a decent shot.

It’s been a while since we’ve had any polls in New Hampshire, but as of early July, likely GOP nominee Don Bolduc was within the margin of error against incumbent Democrat Maggie Hassan. While Hassan’s approval rating is still okay, Biden’s approval rating in the state is abysmal, and so a GOP campaign that relentlessly ties Hassan to Biden and his agenda could put the GOP nominee over the top.

This morning, Politico reports that, “In an eyebrow-raising new survey, the respected Marquette University Law School poll finds incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) trailing his Democratic opponent Mandela Barnes by seven points.” I’m raising my eyebrows at Politico‘s raised eyebrows. Ron Johnson polled terribly six years ago. Exactly one poll out of dozens had Johnson ahead of Russ Feingold in 2016, and quite a few had Johnson trailing by double digits. Yet somehow Johnson managed to surge near the end and win by three and a half percentage points. Six years earlier, the first time Johnson and Feingold squared off, Johnson took a lead in July and won by about five percentage points. This doesn’t mean Johnson is guaranteed to win in 2022; it just means you shouldn’t put too much stock in reports that Johnson is trailing in the polls.

In a final bit of good news for Republicans, the Missouri Senate race, which would have instantly become a toss-up if Eric Greitens had won the GOP nomination, now looks like an easy lay-up for Eric Schmitt.

But overall . . . yeah, the narrative that Republicans are blowing their chances in what should be winnable races because they nominate deeply flawed, relatively unknown, far-too-Trumpy or extreme candidates has a lot of evidence to support those contentions. Blake Masters has yet to look all that strong against incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly in Arizona’s Senate race, which was expected to be one of the most competitive races of the cycle. The hopes that Joe O’Dea would give incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet a serious run for his money in Colorado have yet to bear fruit. In a year like this, you would think a North Carolina Senate race would be a relatively easy win for Republicans, but that doesn’t appear to be the case yet, and it’s a similar story in Nevada, where incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto is hanging in there against GOP nominee Adam Laxalt.

None of these races look sewn up by the Democrats yet; it’s late summer, and people may not be paying much attention to the Senate races. Many campaigns contend that people don’t really tune in to the midterm elections until after Labor Day. Like Vance’s campaign, you’ll see more GOP ads, and the Democrats won’t have the airwaves to themselves in certain key markets.

It is also worth noting that some incumbent Republicans whom Democrats hoped to beat are looking strong. In Florida, Marco Rubio is on pace to win by a solid margin, maybe even by a double-digit percentage point. In Iowa, Chuck Grassley continues to be the genial juggernaut; every six years, Democrats talk themselves into believing they have a good chance of knocking him off, and every six years, he metaphorically runs them over with a corn harvester. Two years after Democrats convinced themselves that Lindsey Graham was beatable in South Carolina (he wasn’t), it appears that national Democrats aren’t even bothering to put up a serious fight against Tim Scott. (I notice that a lot of voters seem quite pleased with those allegedly boring “establishment” Republican senators.)

Running for office is hard. It looks easy from the outside; most aspiring political candidates walk around in a self-deluding fog of optimism and narcissism, believing that most people just naturally like them, and if they just go out and say the right things, they will coast to victory. A lot of people figure that their biggest obstacle is name ID, and that once the electorate gets to know them, voters will embrace the candidate in droves.

It very rarely works out that way.

Lots of Pennsylvanians know who Dr. Oz is, and if you put aside the controversies, he has an indisputably impressive life story. Back in 2013, The New Yorker called him “the most trusted doctor in America”:

Oz was a rare find: so eloquent and telegenic that people are often surprised to learn that he is a highly credentialled member of the medical establishment. Oz graduated from Harvard University in 1982. Four years later, he received joint medical and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He then moved to Columbia and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where, as a surgeon specializing in heart transplants, he has served as vice-chairman and professor in the department of surgery for more than twenty years. (He still performs operations there each Thursday.) Oz also directs Columbia’s Cardiovascular Institute and Integrative Medicine Program, which he established in 1994, and has published scores of articles on technical issues, such as how to preserve muscle tissue during mitral-valve replacements. He holds a patent on a solution that can preserve organs and one on an aortic valve that can be implanted without highly invasive open-heart surgery.

By 2009, after dozens of appearances on “Oprah,” Oz had become so popular that Winfrey offered him his own show, produced by her company, Harpo. “The Dr. Oz Show” has since won two Emmys and averages nearly four million daily viewers. Certainly, no American physician has greater influence over a larger number of people. Oz has been named one of Esquire’s 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, as “the most important and most accomplished celebrity doctor in history.” He ranks consistently in the top ten on the Forbes list of most influential celebrities, and has been included on a similar list of Harvard University alumni. In 2008, Oz received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Title: Oz
Post by: ccp on August 18, 2022, 02:42:16 PM
another thing about oz
is he is running against a guy who had a stroke in the middle of his campaign and is running from his basement

 :x

Oz is still doing surgeries once per week?  what ?

he needs to keep his day job and simply go away from politics .
baring a miracle there is no chance he will win at this point
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 18, 2022, 02:53:22 PM
Very unsound call by Trump
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 19, 2022, 05:50:39 AM
Saw hannity last night and he had Oz on.

so fetterman since his stroke has only had one crowd presentation
and sounds like someone brain damaged from the stroke

Oz has been out over 100 times works long hrs ( for God's sakes give up the one day a week doing surgery if not already!)

makes a few verbal missteps which of course the MSM blares all over the PA news outlets
.
and fetterman is full communist aoc and "squad" like bernie  kook

and yet is apparently trouncing Oz in the polls :-o

The Dems have controlled the messaging the news and hidden fetterman's brain damage
it seems

PA voters can't all hate Oz THAT much to want a brain damaged commie - ? can they ?

Title: Fetterman attacking Oz wealth, lives off parents til 49
Post by: DougMacG on August 19, 2022, 06:31:54 AM
https://nypost.com/2022/08/18/fetterman-sponged-off-parents-till-he-was-49-but-attacks-dr-ozs-wealth-in-pa-senate-race/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on August 19, 2022, 07:04:58 AM
If you can vote for Biden's obvious mental impairment, Fetterman is just riding on those coattails.



Saw hannity last night and he had Oz on.

so fetterman since his stroke has only had one crowd presentation
and sounds like someone brain damaged from the stroke

Oz has been out over 100 times works long hrs ( for God's sakes give up the one day a week doing surgery if not already!)

makes a few verbal missteps which of course the MSM blares all over the PA news outlets
.
and fetterman is full communist aoc and "squad" like bernie  kook

and yet is apparently trouncing Oz in the polls :-o

The Dems have controlled the messaging the news and hidden fetterman's brain damage
it seems

PA voters can't all hate Oz THAT much to want a brain damaged commie - ? can they ?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 19, 2022, 07:33:39 AM
I must say as a physician Oz's medical and academic accomplishes are outstanding
no doubt about that !!! 

he must be a genius .

he didn't get his wealth handed to him

 he sweat tears and blood (though someone else's blood :-D) and likely workaholic persona
he earned it!!!

Why is being rich something to mock? whether earning it or inherited

the free shit crowd ......   :x jealous envious  losers .....

so someone who inherited wealth or earned it is something to hate
but getting free shit paid for from others is something that is justice and fair
and admirable

what horse shit.
damn dems






Title: Home Dems prepare to double cross Manchin
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 19, 2022, 01:50:11 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/19/house-democrats-plan-double-cross-joe-manchin-ener/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=62ntzWgNk4SZVXO58%2FsIPV2MiwA9J%2BnfjcwCknZzQp8O9hDwYlr0ruo9Ft7oYAAS&bt_ts=1660925388035
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on August 19, 2022, 01:54:17 PM
bottom line
***********NEVER*********** >>>>> trust a democrat!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 19, 2022, 02:36:22 PM
As the saying goes "There are two things not to like about them-- their face."

Not a whole lot of Reps I would trust either.  Ask President Trump.
Title: panic over the Senate
Post by: ccp on August 20, 2022, 09:25:38 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-reportedly-now-fuming-endorsed-040650486.html

with president at ~ 40% approval we can't gain one more Senate seat ?  :x

however this is MSM total bullshit:

*****In the latest of Oz’s widely mocked blunders, he moaned in a video, originally made in April, about the high cost of “crudité” in a city that prefers Philly cheesesteaks. He also referred to the well-known Pennsylvania grocery store Redner’s, where he was shopping for raw vegetables, as “Wegner’s.”*****

so the brain damaged commie sits in basement and his hit men blast the above all over the media as though it is such a big deal
and now the the state is going to vote in the an uglier male version of AOC ?

No, it is not this.
Oz is just not wanted in PA plain and simple ......
Title: Good news if true
Post by: ccp on August 22, 2022, 05:31:19 AM
if true this an incredible comeback

every right news outlet should be promoting Oz!

and exposing stroked out Fetterman as not the voice of the common man but the voice of a Communist/ centralize politburo that will control every Pennsylvanian from dawn to dawn :

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/21/two-polls-suggest-oz-narrowing-gap-in-pennsylvania-senate-race/
Title: exactly as i feared
Post by: ccp on August 23, 2022, 09:15:33 PM
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-women-voter-registration-dobbs-20220822.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 25, 2022, 01:50:50 AM
New York race saps ‘red wave’ confidence

Pro-choicers turn out for Democrat

BY KERRY PICKET THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Democrats hope Pat Ryan’s unexpected win in a special election to fill a vacant House seat in New York’s 19th Congressional District is a sign that the Republican Party’s “red wave” will be reduced to a puddle come November.

Top analysts Wednesday downgraded the Republicans’ outlook in the midterm elections and said Democrats may even hang on to their slim majority after Mr. Ryan’s surprise win over Republican Marcus Molinaro.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which provides analysis of elections and campaigns, took notice of Mr. Ryan’s win and lowered its forecast for Republican gains in the House.

Based on “recent developments, we’ve revised our outlook to a 10-20 seat GOP gain, w/Dems maintaining control not out of the question,” said Dave Wasserman, a senior editor at the report.

The revision marked a drastic change from May, when Mr. Wasserman said House Republicans were on track to gain 20 to 35 seats.

Mr. Ryan, Ulster County executive, defeated Mr. Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, in the race to fill the rest of the term of Democrat Antonio Delgado, who was appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to serve as the state’s lieutenant governor.

The district leaned Republican, and Democrats said Mr. Ryan’s

unexpected win showed their voting base was energized by the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

“Voters are fighting back against Republicans’ extreme attacks on abortion rights,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney said after Mr. Ryan’s win.

Republicans, Mr. Maloney said, “can say goodbye to their ‘red wave’ because voters are clearly coming out in force to elect a pro-choice majority to Congress this November.”

Democrats have suddenly become less pessimistic about a November wipeout that had been forecast partly because of President Biden’s poor approval numbers and high prices at the gas pump and grocery store.

The party has been on the rebound this summer, starting with the abortion ruling that Democrats have seized on to energize their voting base.

On Aug. 2, voters in traditionally conservative Kansas rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the state Legislature to limit or ban abortion. Polls show voters may have more to say on abortion in November.

On Tuesday, the Pew Research Center Poll found that abortion has become a much more important issue for the majority of voters, Democrats in particular.

Among registered voters, 71% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters said the abortion issue will be “very important” in their midterm votes, up from 46% in March.

Abortion access has been a top campaign issue in key swing-state elections in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin, where Democratic candidates are leading or tying their Republican opponents, leaving Republicans in doubt about reclaiming the Senate majority.

Mr. Biden, meanwhile, has celebrated a string of victories, including the passage of a tax and spending bill that will cut prescription drug prices, fund green energy projects and extend Obamacare subsidies.

Gasoline prices have dropped for 70 days in a row.

On Wednesday, Mr. Biden announced a student loan forgiveness program that fulfills his key campaign promise of helping alleviate student debt and is aimed at winning over younger voters in November.

Democratic strategists said the abortion issue loomed as the biggest contributor to Mr. Ryan’s surprise win in New York.

“Two non-extremists in their respective parties face-off in a largely suburban, sometimes exurban area, and the battle over a woman’s right to choose against government regulation. Welcome to Kansas,” veteran New York Democratic campaign consultant Hank Sheinkopf said.

New York Republicans rejected Mr. Molinaro’s loss as an indicator for November. They said several unique factors affected the special election.

Former Rep. John Faso, who represented New York’s 19th Congressional District before Mr. Delgado, called it “wishful thinking” and said the primaries were structured to boost Democratic turnout.

One New York Republican political operative who asked to remain anonymous said the Molinaro campaign’s ground game and political messaging against Mr. Ryan’s attacks related to abortion were weak.

The source said the Molinaro campaign was knocking on only about 50 doors a day until a few weeks ago.

“That wouldn’t be good for a city council race or congressional race,” the source said. “There were no get-out-thevote operations.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

Title: WSJ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 25, 2022, 02:06:35 AM
second

Republicans in Congress pondering who will paint their committee Chair portraits might want to hold off. The long-predicted GOP “wave” election may be crashing on an offshore reef, as abortion and Donald Trump energize Democrats.


That’s the message Tuesday from New York state, where the GOP lost a special election for Congress in a district where they were favored, continuing a trend of recent underperformance. Republicans may still retake the House in November, but another term for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker can’t be ruled out.

Republican Marc Molinaro was a strong candidate in New York’s 19th Congressional district. He’s the executive of Dutchess County, a large part of the district in the Hudson Valley north of New York City. But Democrat Pat Ryan won the special election with about 51% of the vote by making abortion rights his main issue. Democratic turnout exceeded expectations for a mid-August election.

Democrats also came closer than expected hitting abortion in a special election in New York’s 23rd district, coming within about 6.5 percentage points of Republican Joseph Sempolinski. This is a solidly GOP seat that should have been an easy GOP win.


These results are the fourth warning signal in recent weeks for the GOP. The Kansas abortion referendum lost in a rout, and while the GOP won special elections in districts in Minnesota and Nebraska, they did six percentage points worse than the party did in the 2020 presidential race in the districts.

This isn’t the same political climate as last November, when a voter swing of 12 points from 2020 helped the GOP take the governorship in Virginia and come close in New Jersey. Democrats are clearly more eager to vote than a year ago.

One reason is the reaction to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. That’s about all Mr. Ryan ran on in the Hudson Valley. Mr. Molinaro isn’t extreme on abortion, as he made clear he’s personally pro-life but opposes a national ban on abortion. He wants states to decide the issue. But Democrats will fan fears of a national ban from here to November.

Republicans are on the backfoot because they’re talking about abortion as if Roe were still the law, when it was easy to favor a total ban because it didn’t matter. Now the policy stakes are real, and Republicans will have to make clear what specific abortion limits they favor and why. The chance of abortion law changing in New York state is nil, but the GOP is still losing on the issue.

If Republicans shrink from engaging on abortion, then Democrats will define the debate. Republicans can also go on offense by pointing out that many Democrats are extreme in supporting no limits at all on abortion.

Voter turnout will be higher in November than in August, and the natural rhythm of a midterm election may assert itself, which tends to favor the party out of power. But after Dobbs, and with Mr. Trump back at the center of public debate, Democrats have a chance to overcome President Biden’s low popularity. GOP candidates have been warned.
Title: if above true
Post by: ccp on August 25, 2022, 07:03:54 AM
above 2 posts

 :x

we know the reasons for this......





Title: 71% in CA for abortion until birth
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 25, 2022, 07:38:41 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/25/poll-71-in-california-back-proposition-1-abortion-until-birth/
Title: Re: 71% in CA for abortion until birth
Post by: G M on August 25, 2022, 08:02:52 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/25/poll-71-in-california-back-proposition-1-abortion-until-birth/

Evil.
Title: Beto in Texas
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 25, 2022, 04:29:09 PM


https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1556651031571865600
Title: PA
Post by: Crafty_Dog on August 26, 2022, 05:57:33 AM
Poll finds Democrats leading Republicans in Pennsylvania races

BY TOM HOWELL JR. AND SUSAN FERRECHIO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Pennsylvania Democrats are crushing Republican candidates in two critical statewide races, a new poll found.

A Franklin and Marshall poll released Thursday found Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leading Republican Mehmet Oz by 13 points in the race for an open Senate seat. The same poll showed Democrat Josh Shapiro, the current state attorney general, ahead of Republican Doug Mastriano by 11 points in the race for governor.

The bad news for Republicans follows an Emerson College poll that found Mr. Fetterman with a 4-point lead and Mr. Shapiro with a 3-point lead over their respective GOP opponents. Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Mastriano are vying to replace Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who is barred from running for a third term.

The Oz-Fetterman battle is among a handful of contests that will determine which party will control the Senate in 2023.

Mr. Oz, a celebrity doctor and former talk show host, has struggled to gain traction with Pennsylvania voters despite former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. He’s suffered from social media missteps and constant hammering from Mr. Fetterman, who has worked to portray Mr. Oz as a rich carpetbagger.

Last week, Mr. Fetterman attacked Mr. Oz on social media for owning 10 houses, including a $48 million mansion in Palm Beach.

Mr. Oz has attacked Mr. Fetterman for poor eating habits and for living with his parents until he was 50.

The Oz campaign said if Mr. Fetterman had eaten more vegetables, he wouldn’t have had a stroke in May.

The Franklin and Marshall poll found the race closer when they included those who are leaning toward a candidate. Mr. Fetterman’s lead shrunk to 9 points (45% to 36%) over Mr. Oz.

The poll found Mr. Fetterman won a larger share of Democrats (76%) than Mr. Oz garnered from Republicans (62%), and Mr. Fetterman was found leading among independents by a margin of 34% to 17%.

Mr. Fetterman also led Mr. Oz 52% to 28% among voters looking for a candidate who best understands the concerns of Pennsylvanians.

The Emerson poll found the suburbs to be a battleground for the two candidates.

“Suburban voters are the battleground for this election, they are split, 47% support Fetterman and 47% support Oz,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling
Title: missouri senate
Post by: ccp on August 26, 2022, 12:05:10 PM
Doug wrote:
Latest poll:  Missouri GOP Senate: Schmitt Leads, Greitens Drops to Third Place
-----
ccp, who do your insiders like in this race?

My insider say  Schmitt was not best pick in their HO but "generally fine "

and "he will win"

 :wink:

we need PA GA and the rest:

ME :

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1001US1001&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=praying.+image&fir=7CtG5TWxhOEanM%252C_qN_5EnfXV-UxM%252C_%253BBF83lQo4gL-4TM%252Cmk6oDKmHvQEnxM%252C_%253BhCc35WYIFNHAGM%252CZcU7_bONOF7U6M%252C_%253BYm03fiuLT-owcM%252CgR1wuP8yuUy22M%252C_%253BypUaJSanPy_IOM%252CE7UWMQolICsuiM%252C_%253BtW8vaTfZRBroxM%252CrNiEtqQdTzPCQM%252C_%253B-Dx71cbv3tea0M%252C0S1VTynIpEYI7M%252C_%253B4T51wQJr5XNy5M%252CZcU7_bONOF7U6M%252C_%253Bj5TU0lPNz9bGXM%252Cmk6oDKmHvQEnxM%252C_%253B5AfL8xLSauVWwM%252C81XhJsFvJl_0QM%252C_%253BAB9MnwQ-SqUDGM%252CS44RYWcHvCyAxM%252C_%253BpJxkMC4s9cgaSM%252CL4v_1OG0b4NfaM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRthmBJZ8262ES_kYLHltdyI6eA5Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNwNCzmeX5AhW-M1kFHam2AJ4QjJkEegQIAhAC&biw=1440&bih=788&dpr=2


ps I don't know why this has a line through it !  ignore the line

Title: Dick Morris on McConnell
Post by: ccp on August 28, 2022, 10:04:32 AM
Dick's take on McConnell makes sense

I learned to take his election predictions with a giant grain of salt however and think he is overly optimistic about Repubs chances in Senate however.  I also notice how he ignored Oz in PA:

https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/mitch-mcconnell-senate-midterms/2022/08/27/id/1084883/

Sometimes I do think Morris has a tendency to say things he knows his audience wants to here in order to sell himself (and his book)
Title: Re: Dick Morris on McConnell
Post by: DougMacG on August 28, 2022, 11:14:00 AM
Good article.  Pushes me over the top on McConnell.  He did some good things but now he is doing badly.

Calling McConnell out on trying to lose my be how you get him back in line.

I don't know about Oz but he is down only 4 or 5 points in the polls before Labor Day in a very difficult state.  That doesn't mean he will lose.  He has an open seat and a vulnerable opponent.

Pray - and give money.  Dems are out-raising Republicans across the country.  Of course they have an advantage.  They can reach people through email, Facebook and Twitter while conservative messages get blocked.

I think it's time to open the checkbook.
Title: A look at Fetterman - Oz
Post by: DougMacG on August 28, 2022, 11:57:22 AM
https://spectatorworld.com/topic/pennsylvania-senate-race-bottom-john-fetterman-dr-oz/

Every election cycle has one. That absurd farce of a race that hardly seems like it can be real. This year the honors go to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its clown car of a Senate campaign. There are 13 million people in the Keystone State and somehow it has come down to Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman to serve in the upper house of the Congress. Where is DJ Jazzy Jeff when you need him?

By dint of a coin toss backstage, I’ll start with Dr. Oz. But where to begin? Oz is the Trump backed candidate, but he’s running like Mitt Romney, with all of the electric Utah energy that entails. There is a kind of Mid-Atlantic Republican who sort of apologizes for it — Oz oozes that. Because of this, there may be no other major GOP candidate in the entire midterm more out of step with the zeitgeist of the party than the mild-mannered, perfectly coiffed Republican.

Oz also has a demographic problem: as a daytime TV star and wellness guru, the group he should naturally appeal to is suburban women. The problem is that suburban women are the only group among whom Republicans have lost support in the past year. That’s not his fault, but it’s like being a fastball hitter who only sees breaking balls: you have to adjust — and Oz hasn’t. Even his viral crudités faux pas seemed directed at Martha Stewart-watchers, not NASCAR dads.

Now on to Fetterman. Let’s set aside the medical stuff for a moment and start from a baseline. He has the vibe of a Trump-endorsed Republican. He embodies the populist energy that Oz just can’t muster. ...
-----------------------------

[Doug]  Fetterman IS Left extremism.  Run against it.
Title: Alaska
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 01, 2022, 01:57:52 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/democrat-defeats-sarah-palin-flips-congressional-seat-to-blue/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=28911578
Title: US Senat, One more tossup, Colorado
Post by: DougMacG on September 03, 2022, 09:23:47 PM
Incumbent Dem 'up by one point in a state Joe Biden won handily'.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/colorados-sleeper-senate-race-just-got-real

Article by Salena Zito.
Title: Re: US Senat, One more tossup, Colorado
Post by: G M on September 04, 2022, 08:22:16 AM
The dem machine will "fortify" the election.


Incumbent Dem 'up by one point in a state Joe Biden won handily'.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/colorados-sleeper-senate-race-just-got-real

Article by Salena Zito.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 04, 2022, 04:03:03 PM
Dems and media hounds along with the help of Trump and his tweets etc are able to turn the elections discussion all about him

that is all we read about now

we need independents....

who are not in love with Trump but like the policies

I don't know he we can re focus on failures of Biden with the DNC MSM onslaught
for 24/7 Trump and abortion

they seem to be able to create their own narrative and run with it every election cycle......

 :x


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on September 04, 2022, 04:14:37 PM
Dems and media hounds along with the help of Trump and his tweets etc are able to turn the elections discussion all about him

that is all we read about now

we need independents....

who are not in love with Trump but like the policies

I don't know he we can re focus on failures of Biden with the DNC MSM onslaught
for 24/7 Trump and abortion

they seem to be able to create their own narrative and run with it every election cycle......

 :x

Fill in the blank. Everyone the left hates is Hitler.

DeSantis? Deathsantis!

Mittens Romney was going to put blacks back into chains.
Title: Fetterman
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 05, 2022, 08:21:28 AM
Media treat Fetterman’s health with gentle touch

BY DAVE BOYER THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The health of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has received relatively little media scrutiny since he suffered a stroke more than three months ago, an episode that he says nearly killed him.

Mr. Fetterman and Republican rival Mehmet Oz were supposed to square off in their first debate Tuesday night, but Mr. Fetterman bowed out. Instead of saying he wasn’t physically ready to debate, Mr. Fetterman claimed the Oz campaign was mocking his recovery.

Rather than raising questions about debate-dodging and Mr. Fetterman’s fitness, most media coverage was devoted to criticizing Mr. Oz for complaining that his opponent was ducking transparency.

“The media is absolutely giving [Mr. Fetterman] a pass for his health,” said Republican strategist

Ray Zaborney, a veteran of campaigns in Pennsylvania. “If a Republican couldn’t debate because of his health, that is all we would hear about.”

Mr. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, also is avoiding questions about whether he will ever debate Mr. Oz, a former TV celebrity doctor. He is leading Mr. Oz by 7.4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls.

In the absence of a debate, Mr. Oz has scheduled a press conference Tuesday with retiring Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, a Republican whose seat he hopes to win. The contest in the battleground state is one of the most closely watched this year as Democrats seek to defend their majority hold on the 50-50 split Senate.

In one of Mr. Fetterman’s few media appearances, he recently conducted a recorded interview with MSNBC and complained that the Oz campaign was ridiculing him as a stroke survivor.

“When they want to get into a serious conversation and really talk about having a debate, I’d be happy to engage in that,” Mr. Fetterman told host Stephanie Ruhle, who didn’t press him on the subject.

Mr. Fetterman did say that he feels “amazing” and is walking 5 miles per day. He also said he is having difficulty hearing sometimes.

“The only lingering issue is every now and then I will have auditory processing [difficulty],” he said. “And I might miss a word every now and then. Or I might mush two words together.”

Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick said Mr. Fetterman is ducking debates and lying about whether he will ever square off against Mr. Oz on a debate stage.

“He won’t debate Dr. Oz at all, and we all know it,” Ms. Yanick said. “We thought John Fetterman was a big, tough guy, so what is he so afraid of? Is he afraid of defending his radical record of releasing murderers back on the streets? Let us know, John.”

Mr. Zaborney said, “He should debate, and if he can’t, just say so and let voters make their determination. He’s trying to have it both ways. Either your health is bad and you can’t debate or your health is fine and he won’t debate — can’t be both.”

During the Democratic primary, Mr. Fetterman took part in two debates and was panned by fellow Democrats for poor performances. Other Democrats characterized his debating style as “unlistenable,” “painfully bad” and “not ready for prime time.”

The Fetterman campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Mr. Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke on May 13, four days before the Democratic primary. He had a pacemaker implanted on May 17.

He credits his wife, Gisele, for recognizing the stroke symptoms and taking him to a medical facility within 20 minutes.

“I’m just so grateful that I not only that I survived because I was close to this top stroke facility,” he said. “And I was able to get there quickly, and that has allowed me to survive and to be now running a very successful campaign.”

The Democrat made two brief campaign appearances in August, raising questions about his stamina and whether he has fully recovered his communication skills. Mr. Fetterman said he is working to “improve my auditory processing and speech.”

He attended a mid-August fundraiser in the ultra-wealthy Hamptons in New York. A campaign spokesman told ABC News that Mr. Fetterman, who campaigns on his “regular guy” image, appeared in the posh summer playground “because his campaign needs to raise money to fight back against the unprecedented onslaught of attacks and negative ads from Dr. Oz and his rich friends.”

Fetterman campaign strategist Rebecca Katz said Mr. Fetterman’s “occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator.”

“We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind,” she told Politico. “John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work.”

Research on stroke survivors shows that “immediate medical attention, such as the treatment that Mr. Fetterman received, leads to better long-term outcomes,” said Suzanne Coyle, executive director of the Stroke Comeback Center in suburban Washington.

“Without working with Mr. Fetterman, it would be impossible to make a prediction about his ability or time frame to successfully return to a full work schedule,” she said. “This should be left to his team of physicians, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists.”

After the stroke, Mr. Fetterman’s cardiologist issued a statement that essentially said his patient ignored warning signs over several years. Dr. Ramesh Chandra said Mr. Fetterman had undisclosed heart conditions and had not seen any doctor or taken his required medications since his first diagnosis in 2017.

“I first saw John in 2017,” wrote Dr. Chandra. “He was experiencing swelling in his feet and came to get it checked out. That is when I diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump.”

He said he prescribed medications and improved diet and exercise and asked Mr. Fetterman to see him again in the following months.

“Instead, I did not see him again until [after the stroke],” Dr. Chandra said. “John did not go to any doctor for five years, and did not continue taking his medications.”

The doctor said he plans to see Mr. Fetterman again in mid-November “to monitor his progress.”

“The prognosis I can give for John’s heart is this: If he takes his medications, eats healthy and exercises, he’ll be fine,” Dr. Chandra wrote. “If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem.”

Said Mrs. Fetterman, “The doctors all said that he will make a full recovery and that he’s more than fit and in shape to do this, to take this on. I did save his life, and I will never let him forget that.”
Title: Re: Fetterman
Post by: G M on September 05, 2022, 08:29:13 AM
If a mentally impaired puppet can be in the white house, one can be in the senate as well.


Media treat Fetterman’s health with gentle touch

BY DAVE BOYER THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The health of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has received relatively little media scrutiny since he suffered a stroke more than three months ago, an episode that he says nearly killed him.

Mr. Fetterman and Republican rival Mehmet Oz were supposed to square off in their first debate Tuesday night, but Mr. Fetterman bowed out. Instead of saying he wasn’t physically ready to debate, Mr. Fetterman claimed the Oz campaign was mocking his recovery.

Rather than raising questions about debate-dodging and Mr. Fetterman’s fitness, most media coverage was devoted to criticizing Mr. Oz for complaining that his opponent was ducking transparency.

“The media is absolutely giving [Mr. Fetterman] a pass for his health,” said Republican strategist

Ray Zaborney, a veteran of campaigns in Pennsylvania. “If a Republican couldn’t debate because of his health, that is all we would hear about.”

Mr. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, also is avoiding questions about whether he will ever debate Mr. Oz, a former TV celebrity doctor. He is leading Mr. Oz by 7.4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls.

In the absence of a debate, Mr. Oz has scheduled a press conference Tuesday with retiring Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, a Republican whose seat he hopes to win. The contest in the battleground state is one of the most closely watched this year as Democrats seek to defend their majority hold on the 50-50 split Senate.

In one of Mr. Fetterman’s few media appearances, he recently conducted a recorded interview with MSNBC and complained that the Oz campaign was ridiculing him as a stroke survivor.

“When they want to get into a serious conversation and really talk about having a debate, I’d be happy to engage in that,” Mr. Fetterman told host Stephanie Ruhle, who didn’t press him on the subject.

Mr. Fetterman did say that he feels “amazing” and is walking 5 miles per day. He also said he is having difficulty hearing sometimes.

“The only lingering issue is every now and then I will have auditory processing [difficulty],” he said. “And I might miss a word every now and then. Or I might mush two words together.”

Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick said Mr. Fetterman is ducking debates and lying about whether he will ever square off against Mr. Oz on a debate stage.

“He won’t debate Dr. Oz at all, and we all know it,” Ms. Yanick said. “We thought John Fetterman was a big, tough guy, so what is he so afraid of? Is he afraid of defending his radical record of releasing murderers back on the streets? Let us know, John.”

Mr. Zaborney said, “He should debate, and if he can’t, just say so and let voters make their determination. He’s trying to have it both ways. Either your health is bad and you can’t debate or your health is fine and he won’t debate — can’t be both.”

During the Democratic primary, Mr. Fetterman took part in two debates and was panned by fellow Democrats for poor performances. Other Democrats characterized his debating style as “unlistenable,” “painfully bad” and “not ready for prime time.”

The Fetterman campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Mr. Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke on May 13, four days before the Democratic primary. He had a pacemaker implanted on May 17.

He credits his wife, Gisele, for recognizing the stroke symptoms and taking him to a medical facility within 20 minutes.

“I’m just so grateful that I not only that I survived because I was close to this top stroke facility,” he said. “And I was able to get there quickly, and that has allowed me to survive and to be now running a very successful campaign.”

The Democrat made two brief campaign appearances in August, raising questions about his stamina and whether he has fully recovered his communication skills. Mr. Fetterman said he is working to “improve my auditory processing and speech.”

He attended a mid-August fundraiser in the ultra-wealthy Hamptons in New York. A campaign spokesman told ABC News that Mr. Fetterman, who campaigns on his “regular guy” image, appeared in the posh summer playground “because his campaign needs to raise money to fight back against the unprecedented onslaught of attacks and negative ads from Dr. Oz and his rich friends.”

Fetterman campaign strategist Rebecca Katz said Mr. Fetterman’s “occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator.”

“We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind,” she told Politico. “John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work.”

Research on stroke survivors shows that “immediate medical attention, such as the treatment that Mr. Fetterman received, leads to better long-term outcomes,” said Suzanne Coyle, executive director of the Stroke Comeback Center in suburban Washington.

“Without working with Mr. Fetterman, it would be impossible to make a prediction about his ability or time frame to successfully return to a full work schedule,” she said. “This should be left to his team of physicians, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists.”

After the stroke, Mr. Fetterman’s cardiologist issued a statement that essentially said his patient ignored warning signs over several years. Dr. Ramesh Chandra said Mr. Fetterman had undisclosed heart conditions and had not seen any doctor or taken his required medications since his first diagnosis in 2017.

“I first saw John in 2017,” wrote Dr. Chandra. “He was experiencing swelling in his feet and came to get it checked out. That is when I diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump.”

He said he prescribed medications and improved diet and exercise and asked Mr. Fetterman to see him again in the following months.

“Instead, I did not see him again until [after the stroke],” Dr. Chandra said. “John did not go to any doctor for five years, and did not continue taking his medications.”

The doctor said he plans to see Mr. Fetterman again in mid-November “to monitor his progress.”

“The prognosis I can give for John’s heart is this: If he takes his medications, eats healthy and exercises, he’ll be fine,” Dr. Chandra wrote. “If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem.”

Said Mrs. Fetterman, “The doctors all said that he will make a full recovery and that he’s more than fit and in shape to do this, to take this on. I did save his life, and I will never let him forget that.”
Title: The toxic President and the 2022 Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on September 07, 2022, 08:39:20 AM
Imagine you're trying to get your name and message out there, fundraising is hard and messaging is really expensive, then the President of the United States, Leader of the Free World coms in to help you, literally millions of dollars of free attention - and you skip the event.

Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate skips Biden speech for other ‘events across the state’
"...had other engagements and was unable to attend Mr. Biden‘s Milwaukee Labor Day campaign speech."

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/6/wisconsins-mandela-barnes-senate-candidate-skips-b/
--------------------------------------------

In Colorado they skipped Biden and Pelosi:

"Michael Bennet Avoids Biden, Pelosi on the Campaign Trail"

"Colorado Dems want national leadership to stay away from the state"

"DENVER, Colo. — Sen. Michael Bennet (D.) wants the president nowhere near Colorado, highlighting how toxic Joe Biden is..."
"Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Wednesday arrived in Boulder, Colo., to champion the Inflation Reduction Act. No Colorado Democrat aside from Rep. Joe Neguse was in attendance."

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/michael-bennet-avoids-biden-pelosi-on-the-campaign-trail/

Biden carried both of these stats by "wide margins" (10,000 votes in WI) less than two years ago, and he's 'governing great', why would anyone consider him toxic?

Actions tell you what their words don't, Democrat's internal polling is way different than Dem-media polls released to the public.

In other words, they are lying to you.
-----
Update, free beacon, NC too:
https://freebeacon.com/?p=1634787
Title: Re: Fetterman AKA Braindamage McManboobs
Post by: G M on September 07, 2022, 04:44:34 PM
https://www.revolver.news/2022/09/fetterman-is-not-doing-well-campaign-releases-yikes-statement/

If a mentally impaired puppet can be in the white house, one can be in the senate as well.


Media treat Fetterman’s health with gentle touch

BY DAVE BOYER THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The health of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has received relatively little media scrutiny since he suffered a stroke more than three months ago, an episode that he says nearly killed him.

Mr. Fetterman and Republican rival Mehmet Oz were supposed to square off in their first debate Tuesday night, but Mr. Fetterman bowed out. Instead of saying he wasn’t physically ready to debate, Mr. Fetterman claimed the Oz campaign was mocking his recovery.

Rather than raising questions about debate-dodging and Mr. Fetterman’s fitness, most media coverage was devoted to criticizing Mr. Oz for complaining that his opponent was ducking transparency.

“The media is absolutely giving [Mr. Fetterman] a pass for his health,” said Republican strategist

Ray Zaborney, a veteran of campaigns in Pennsylvania. “If a Republican couldn’t debate because of his health, that is all we would hear about.”

Mr. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, also is avoiding questions about whether he will ever debate Mr. Oz, a former TV celebrity doctor. He is leading Mr. Oz by 7.4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls.

In the absence of a debate, Mr. Oz has scheduled a press conference Tuesday with retiring Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, a Republican whose seat he hopes to win. The contest in the battleground state is one of the most closely watched this year as Democrats seek to defend their majority hold on the 50-50 split Senate.

In one of Mr. Fetterman’s few media appearances, he recently conducted a recorded interview with MSNBC and complained that the Oz campaign was ridiculing him as a stroke survivor.

“When they want to get into a serious conversation and really talk about having a debate, I’d be happy to engage in that,” Mr. Fetterman told host Stephanie Ruhle, who didn’t press him on the subject.

Mr. Fetterman did say that he feels “amazing” and is walking 5 miles per day. He also said he is having difficulty hearing sometimes.

“The only lingering issue is every now and then I will have auditory processing [difficulty],” he said. “And I might miss a word every now and then. Or I might mush two words together.”

Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick said Mr. Fetterman is ducking debates and lying about whether he will ever square off against Mr. Oz on a debate stage.

“He won’t debate Dr. Oz at all, and we all know it,” Ms. Yanick said. “We thought John Fetterman was a big, tough guy, so what is he so afraid of? Is he afraid of defending his radical record of releasing murderers back on the streets? Let us know, John.”

Mr. Zaborney said, “He should debate, and if he can’t, just say so and let voters make their determination. He’s trying to have it both ways. Either your health is bad and you can’t debate or your health is fine and he won’t debate — can’t be both.”

During the Democratic primary, Mr. Fetterman took part in two debates and was panned by fellow Democrats for poor performances. Other Democrats characterized his debating style as “unlistenable,” “painfully bad” and “not ready for prime time.”

The Fetterman campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Mr. Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke on May 13, four days before the Democratic primary. He had a pacemaker implanted on May 17.

He credits his wife, Gisele, for recognizing the stroke symptoms and taking him to a medical facility within 20 minutes.

“I’m just so grateful that I not only that I survived because I was close to this top stroke facility,” he said. “And I was able to get there quickly, and that has allowed me to survive and to be now running a very successful campaign.”

The Democrat made two brief campaign appearances in August, raising questions about his stamina and whether he has fully recovered his communication skills. Mr. Fetterman said he is working to “improve my auditory processing and speech.”

He attended a mid-August fundraiser in the ultra-wealthy Hamptons in New York. A campaign spokesman told ABC News that Mr. Fetterman, who campaigns on his “regular guy” image, appeared in the posh summer playground “because his campaign needs to raise money to fight back against the unprecedented onslaught of attacks and negative ads from Dr. Oz and his rich friends.”

Fetterman campaign strategist Rebecca Katz said Mr. Fetterman’s “occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator.”

“We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind,” she told Politico. “John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work.”

Research on stroke survivors shows that “immediate medical attention, such as the treatment that Mr. Fetterman received, leads to better long-term outcomes,” said Suzanne Coyle, executive director of the Stroke Comeback Center in suburban Washington.

“Without working with Mr. Fetterman, it would be impossible to make a prediction about his ability or time frame to successfully return to a full work schedule,” she said. “This should be left to his team of physicians, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists.”

After the stroke, Mr. Fetterman’s cardiologist issued a statement that essentially said his patient ignored warning signs over several years. Dr. Ramesh Chandra said Mr. Fetterman had undisclosed heart conditions and had not seen any doctor or taken his required medications since his first diagnosis in 2017.

“I first saw John in 2017,” wrote Dr. Chandra. “He was experiencing swelling in his feet and came to get it checked out. That is when I diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump.”

He said he prescribed medications and improved diet and exercise and asked Mr. Fetterman to see him again in the following months.

“Instead, I did not see him again until [after the stroke],” Dr. Chandra said. “John did not go to any doctor for five years, and did not continue taking his medications.”

The doctor said he plans to see Mr. Fetterman again in mid-November “to monitor his progress.”

“The prognosis I can give for John’s heart is this: If he takes his medications, eats healthy and exercises, he’ll be fine,” Dr. Chandra wrote. “If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem.”

Said Mrs. Fetterman, “The doctors all said that he will make a full recovery and that he’s more than fit and in shape to do this, to take this on. I did save his life, and I will never let him forget that.”
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 08, 2022, 03:14:17 AM
Oz has just said that he would have voted to certify Biden's election.
Title: Manchin out in '24?
Post by: ccp on September 11, 2022, 10:58:30 AM
https://www.westernjournal.com/joe-manchin-gets-bad-news-back-home-looks-like-career/
Title: Re: Manchin out in '24?
Post by: DougMacG on September 11, 2022, 12:38:05 PM
https://www.westernjournal.com/joe-manchin-gets-bad-news-back-home-looks-like-career/

Good.  Joe M stayed Dem too long. 

Besides being wrong, I think he was backstabbed on the bill.  Does not know who his friends are.

He is 75, will be 77 in 24.  Maybe he's okay leaving.

If not leaving, he is a political survivor.  He could call out the backstabbing and anomosity from the Left, switch parties and shift the balance of the Senate right now.  That's what I would recommend.  )
Title: Bolduc wins primary in NH
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 14, 2022, 11:05:57 AM
By CAROLINE DOWNEY
September 14, 2022 8:29 AM
MAGA champion and retired brigadier general Don Bolduc appears to have won the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary Tuesday, after moderate Republican candidate and president of the state senate Chuck Morse conceded early Wednesday.

As of 8 a.m., Bolduc held a 1,200 vote lead over Morse, though the Associated Press had yet to call the race. Despite the narrow margin, Morse wrote on Twitter that he had called Bolduc to concede the race.

It’s been a long night & we’ve come up short. I want to thank my supporters for all the blood, sweat & tears they poured into this team effort. I just called and wished all the best to @GenDonBolduc. The focus this fall needs to be on defeating Maggie Hassan.

— Senator Chuck Morse (@Morse4Senate) September 14, 2022

A supporter of former president Donald Trump, Bolduc doubled down on his 2020 election denial at a recent debate, insisting that the outcome was fraudulent. Outraged by the FBI’s surprise raid of Trump’s Florida residence on the grounds that he mishandled government records, Bolduc said he was open to abolishing the agency.

Bolduc served in the U.S. Army for 33 years and deployed to Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks. He first sought the Republican nomination for Senate in 2020, which he failed to secure, and then ran again this year. He decried the Biden administration’s haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan last year as a disaster and a military embarrassment.

Bolduc has targeted Republican New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu on the campaign trail, last year calling him a “Communist Chinese sympathizer.” Sununu has been unconvinced that Bolduc is a competitive candidate to beat incumbent Democratic senator Maggie Hassan in the fall.

“He’s not a serious candidate, he’s really not, and if he were the GOP nominee I have no doubt we would have a much harder time,” Sununu said of Bolduc on WGIR radio last month. “He’s kind of a conspiracy theorist–type candidate.”
Title: crats to double cross Manchin?
Post by: ccp on September 14, 2022, 04:00:51 PM
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1120561788/historians-advise-the-president-the-problem-the-scholars-were-all-white
Title: WSJ: Alaska
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 15, 2022, 08:03:53 AM
How Republicans Might Lose Alaska Again
New ranked-choice data say Begich beats Peltola, but Palin won’t quit.
By The Editorial Board
Sept. 14, 2022 6:31 pm ET


Mary Peltola was sworn in Tuesday as Alaska’s Democratic Congresswoman, and given her state’s Republican tilt, that phrase still hits the ear like the Cat representative from Dogtown. When Ms. Peltola won last month’s special election, many in the GOP blamed Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system. The case for ditching it is now being bolstered by fresh data.

Recall how Ms. Peltola’s improbable victory went down: She was the only Democrat on the ballot, with 40.2% of first-choice votes. Two Republicans split the rest, Sarah Palin with 31.3% and Nick Begich with 28.5%. Under the ranked-choice system, Mr. Begich was eliminated and his voters were shuffled to their second choices. Half migrated to Ms. Palin. A quarter went to Ms. Peltola, giving her a 51.5% majority.

A quirk of ranked-choice voting is that the final winner might flip depending on the rankings further down the ballot. What if instead Ms. Palin had been eliminated? That’s the question we asked when the result was announced, but it was impossible to know, because the state hadn’t released data on the second choices of her voters. Here’s the answer: Mr. Begich would have won the seat with about 52.5% of the vote, a point higher than Ms. Peltola’s victory.

That’s according to an analysis of Alaska election data byFairVote, a group that favors ranked choice. If Ms. Palin had been eliminated, 59% of her voters would have gone to Mr. Begich and only 6% to Ms. Peltola. Interestingly, among voters who ranked the Democrat first, the effective second pick (skipping some write-ins) for 63% was also Mr. Begich. Only 5% chose Ms. Palin. Advocates say ranked choice is better at producing consensus winners, but in Alaska that would have been Mr. Begich.

The state’s new voting system isn’t responsible for the GOP split or Ms. Palin’s controversial history. In a traditional Republican primary, she might have beat Mr. Begich anyway and then lost to Ms. Peltola. But at least that would have given Mr. Begich a chance to make a direct case to Republicans that Ms. Palin is too polarizing to win. Ranked-choice voting discourages people from dwelling on the vital question of electability. The theory is that voters can simply number their favorites, and it will all come out in the wash.


Alaska will more or less re-run this election in November, and the strategies could get exotic. Ms. Palin has refused to drop out, arguing that she beat Mr. Begich. But why would Mr. Begich quit, since the data say he’s the only Republican who can win? His unenviable job now is to convince Palin superfans to think tactically and pick him first in a general election, while the ranked-choice crowd urges them to follow their hearts and trust the reallocation.

Democrats have an obvious incentive to ensure Mr. Begich is eliminated. What if the final pre-election polls show him edging out Ms. Palin among the GOP? Some Democrats might decide that the best use of their ballots is to vote for Ms. Palin, so she can survive to lose to Ms. Peltola in the last round. Ranked choice encourages this kind of thinking to game the system.

A final word about transparency: We’re relying on the FairVote analysis because Alaska still hasn’t released this data set in an easily readable format. Instead the state posted “a JSON file, used by the ranked-choice software.” The Division of Elections adds that it “cannot help voters access or analyze the data.”

Sorry, but this is moose baloney. Ranked-choice tabulation gets complicated, but a democratic government is supposed to let citizens see with their own eyes how the votes break down. That’s part of maintaining trust in elections.

The question for November is whether Republicans can coordinate better to prevent Ms. Peltola from getting a full two-year term. The longer debate is whether Alaskans want to stick with an opaque ranked-choice system that produces perverse results.
Title: Newt: Masters will beat Kelly in AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 15, 2022, 09:11:36 AM
Why Masters will beat Kelly in Arizona

The issues all cut against incumbent — and most all other Democrats

By Newt Gingrich

Despite all the talk in Washington about Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, I predict Blake Masters will defeat incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly by a surprising margin.

No one in the left-wing establishment or the propaganda media wants to look at the facts on the ground in Arizona.

First, Arizona is a much more Republican state than Washington’s so-called experts think it is.

The most recent Emerson poll has former President Donald Trump three points ahead of President Biden. The same poll has the governor’s race tied at 46% for each candidate — despite the Republican having come out of a deeply divisive primary. Finally, Emerson has Mr. Kelly barely ahead at 47% to 45%.

When an incumbent senator is only two points ahead of a challenger who just came out of a tough primary, it is clear the incumbent is vulnerable. Furthermore, an incumbent who cannot get above 50% is even more vulnerable. James Carville once said a wellknown incumbent gets whatever their final poll number is, they don’t get any of the undecideds. If that is true, Mr. Kelly will likely lose 53% to 47%.

However, I think the margin of defeat will be bigger.

The issues all cut against Mr. Kelly — and most all Democrat incumbents. While the Democrats are desperately hoping fervor over the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling will save them, the fact is a substantial majority of Americans favor some level of limits to abortion (usually 15 weeks). They also oppose partial-birth abortion, tax-funded abortion, and abortion for sex selection purposes (which tends to be anti-female). It is the Democrats who are the extremists on abortion, and every Republican who makes that clear is going to do fine in that fight.

Mr. Kelly has three big anchors weighing down his reelection bid: Inflation; crime and drugs; and the illegal immigration wave that’s threatening Arizonans.

The announcement this week that the inflation rate remained devastatingly high at 8.3% hurts every American family. Most people simply can’t maintain their standard of living with what is essentially an 8.3% pay cut. Furthermore, high infl ation rates hit senior citizens living on fixed incomes and the poor especially hard.

When the U.S. Army is announcing it is advising its lower-paid soldiers to go on food stamps, you know the system is breaking down. This has not happened since the Jimmy Carter administration’s inflation.

Mr. Kelly is further hurt by inflation because most voters think the spending bills he has been voting for increase the inflation rate. The socalled Inflation Reduction Act is seen as a bad joke by most Americans because they think it actually increases the inflation rate with its massive increase in spending.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s commitment to push America into a painful recession as an anti-inflationary measure was reflected by the immediate drop in the stock market (which further hurts 401ks and retirement savings that people have worked so hard to set aside).

So, just like the Carter years, Democrats such as Mr. Kelly own a painful economy their party created that they can neither defend nor solve. Their desperate answer will be to launch hateful, divisive attacks on Republicans. They can’t solve anything, so they have to attack.

The flood of illegal drugs and crime crossing the border from Mexico — and the growing cartel violence which dominates northern Mexico — create a sense of insecurity and fear that the Washington elites simply can’t understand. They just don’t feel the pressure 2,300 miles from Phoenix.

For example, when Vice President Kamala Harris said on NBC’s Meet the Press that “the border is secure,” it was so clearly false the New York Post editorialized that she was telling “bald-faced lies.” The border may seem secure to Ms. Harris in an NBC studio in Washington, but it sure doesn’t seem secure to anyone living in Arizona.

Remember that Mr. Kelly voted 94% of the time with the Biden-Harris administration — despite the administration’s complete dishonesty about the border, crime, inflation, and so many other things.

This leads to Mr. Kelly’s greatest vulnerability.

Since January 2020, there have been an estimated 847,000 people illegally crossing the Arizona border from Mexico. (This only includes those encountered by U.S. Border Patrol and does not count the several hundred thousand who avoid all contact with authorities). In fiscal year 2021, there were 312,000 encounters. In July alone, there were 42,000 encounters (plus those who avoided authorities).

This steady flood of people illegally entering the United States is clearly more than the current members of the Border Patrol can handle. They need help.

When given the chance to help the Border Patrol, Mr. Kelly refused.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed an amendment to the so-called Inflation Reduction Act which called for hiring 18,000 more Border Patrol agents before a single new IRS agent could be hired. At 3:27 a.m. on Aug. 7, 2022, Mr. Kelly voted “no.” Nearly 12 hours later, at 3:04 p.m. Mr. Kelly voted “yes” to hire 87,000 more IRS agents.

When the people of Arizona learn that Mr. Kelly was against Border Patrol to protect Arizonans but for IRS agents to audit Arizonans, I suspect they will determine that he represents Washington and the Biden administration — not Arizona and the people of Arizona.

I am confident Mr. Masters will be the next senator from Arizona.

For more commentary from Newt
Title: Re: Newt: Masters will beat Kelly in AZ
Post by: DougMacG on September 15, 2022, 11:34:11 AM
The facts are on our side.  Now how do you get the facts out to the voters - other than the preaching to the choir crowd?
Title: WSJ: Blake Master for Senate from AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 17, 2022, 06:16:36 AM
Peter Thiel, Losing Arizona
He and Donald Trump helped Blake Masters get the nomination. Where are they now?
Kimberley A. Strassel hedcutBy Kimberley A. StrasselFollow
Sept. 15, 2022 6:46 pm ET



If Republicans lose a tantalizingly close Arizona Senate race, don’t place the blame entirely at the feet of nominee Blake Masters. Look to his AWOL booster club.

In the Republican push to retake the Senate, the Grand Canyon State ought to be a prime pickup. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly only narrowly won his 2020 special election. Republican and unaffiliated voters make up the vast majority of the electorate, and most are angry over inflation, border chaos and rising crime. Polls are tightening and suggest Mr. Masters has cut the Kelly lead in half over the past month. He trails by about 4 points in the RealClearPolitics average.

The problem is money, or rather Mr. Masters’ lack of it. Only six weeks ago the nominee emerged from a brutal, expensive five-way primary. Spending even more heavily to ensure a Masters victory was billionaire donor Peter Thiel, who backed his former employee to the tune of $12 million. The Thiel support influenced Donald Trump to endorse Mr. Masters and to hold a rally for him in the run-up to the primary. The New York Times in February described Mr. Thiel as the new “would-be kingmaker” of the GOP.

Only where’s the would-be kingmaker now? Sitting in his counting house, the doors firmly locked. Mr. Thiel has abandoned the Arizona race, as well as the Ohio Senate candidate he spent $15 million to nominate, J.D. Vance. Mr. Trump is meanwhile using this cycle to hoover up grassroots donations that might otherwise go to competitive midterm candidates and so far refuses to commit any of the estimated $99 million in a leadership PAC to his endorsees. The Lucys have pulled the football, leaving the GOP’s Arizona project to fall on its back.

Criticism is landing on Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund, which recently announced it was canceling $8 million in Arizona ad reservations. But spare a thought for the outfit that has been left holding the Thiel-Trump bag. Resources aren’t infinite, and Mr. McConnell’s super PAC suddenly finds itself having to shovel unexpected millions into defending an Ohio seat that ought to be a breeze but in which (Thiel-less) Mr. Vance is struggling. It’s also defending seats in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. One Nation (affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund) spent some $13 million in Arizona through Labor Day, and the fund will be playing on television again in October.

But it may prove too late. Mr. Kelly continues to coast on a bio that depicts him as a tough-guy former astronaut as well as a bold moderate who puts Arizona first. “I’m pushing for solutions today, even if it means taking on my own party,” brags a recent ad, in which he says he’s “bringing down gas prices by allowing more domestic oil production.” Another has him declaring his party’s defund-the-police movement “wrong,” and palling around with cops.

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Yet it’s notable how much money it has already required for Mr. Kelly to maintain this political facade and defend his narrow lead. His campaign and wealthy outside groups have spent an estimated $60 million to $80 million on his behalf this year alone (as Mr. Masters burned the vast majority of his cash in his primary). Arizona TV is currently wall-to-wall with pro-Kelly and anti-Masters ads, but the Democrat is still below 50% in voter polls.

This suggests real skepticism about Mr. Kelly’s “moderate” shtick, which Arizona Republican operatives are itching to exploit. Tallies show Mr. Kelly has voted 94% with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s progressive agenda, including his support for Joe Biden’s 2021 “Covid relief” blowout that fueled inflation. He’s voted numerous times to shut down the Keystone pipeline and to allow a ban on fracking. During debate for the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, Mr. Kelly voted against hiring 18,000 additional Border Patrol agents and for an additional 87,000 Internal Revenue Service auditors.

The Masters campaign has suffered from a lack of focus and discipline. It needs the dollars to redefine a candidate who emerged from a primary with marks. Yet as with many GOP campaigns, it’s struggling with Trump donor fatigue, as well as soaring inflation that has crimped household budgets and dried up small-dollar donations. Only big-donor money will match the flood of blue groups backing Mr. Kelly.

Some groups see the obvious potential for a win and are investing. A super PAC aligned with Heritage Action announced $5 million for the race, while Saving Arizona PAC staked a $1.5 million ad buy. The Club for Growth is spending and plans to spend more, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee continues to play a role.

But the big question among Arizona Republicans is: Where are the power players when you need them? Playing in the GOP primary sandbox is easy. Yet those “wins” now notched, the kingmakers are abandoning the only vote-counting that really matters, even as the stakes could not be higher? Republican voters shouldn’t forget this moment if a few months from now an expanded Democratic Senate is dismantling the filibuster.
Title: WE SHOULD BALLOT HARVEST LIKE THEY DO TO EXPOSE THEIR LIES
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2022, 07:31:17 AM
these "close" races really worry me

especially those that include  mail in ballots
and worse ballots that are accepted AFTER election day.

no doubt the libs will be hard at work pulling there ballot fraud tricks.

Like we proved what we already knew about the hypocrisy of the elites with Martha/migrants vineyard

WE SHOULD PROVE THE HYPOCRISY OF THE DEMS ON BALLOT HARVESTING

WE DO THE SAME THING TILL THE LAST DAY POSSIBLE - THEN WE COUNTER THEIR CHEATING

AND WATCH THEM HOWL ABOUT ELECTION FRAUD!!!

 :-o
Title: Re: WE SHOULD BALLOT HARVEST LIKE THEY DO TO EXPOSE THEIR LIES
Post by: G M on September 17, 2022, 07:38:07 AM
The FBI and other agencies will spring into action and make arrests of anyone on the right that does this.


these "close" races really worry me

especially those that include  mail in ballots
and worse ballots that are accepted AFTER election day.

no doubt the libs will be hard at work pulling there ballot fraud tricks.

Like we proved what we already knew about the hypocrisy of the elites with Martha/migrants vineyard

WE SHOULD PROVE THE HYPOCRISY OF THE DEMS ON BALLOT HARVESTING

WE DO THE SAME THING TILL THE LAST DAY POSSIBLE - THEN WE COUNTER THEIR CHEATING

AND WATCH THEM HOWL ABOUT ELECTION FRAUD!!!

 :-o
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2022, 07:51:07 AM
"The FBI and other agencies will spring into action and make arrests of anyone on the right that does this."

yes but the leftist outrage will put front and center the nature of their lies and hypocrisy and two sets of justice
in this nation
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on September 17, 2022, 07:58:53 AM
"The FBI and other agencies will spring into action and make arrests of anyone on the right that does this."

yes but the leftist outrage will put front and center the nature of their lies and hypocrisy and two sets of justice
in this nation

That's more than obvious now to anyone even halfway paying attention.
Title: Fetterman supposedly scored 28 out of 30 on cognitive test
Post by: ccp on September 17, 2022, 10:16:03 AM
which is considered normal

most likely the Folstein & Folstein mini mental status test (1975) was used

as I normally have used as a **screening** cognitive test ( it is not perfect):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5547414/

The test
there are variations of it:

http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Mini-mental-state-examination.php
Title: alaska senate murkowskitshibaka tied
Post by: DougMacG on September 17, 2022, 05:06:59 PM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/ak/alaska_senate_murkowski_vs_tshibaka_final_round-7917.html
Title: Grass Roots North Carolina: Budd for Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 21, 2022, 12:26:34 AM
     I don’t think I need to tell you about the importance to gun rights of the 2022 elections. For example, leftist and former NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, if elected to the U.S. Senate, has admitted she would “be the 51st vote to end the filibuster…”

          And if Beasley is allowed to cast a vote ending the filibuster, the ban on semi-automatic firearms Democrats have been trying to pass, as well as universal gun registration (aka “universal background checks”) will become law shortly thereafter.

   That is one of many reasons we need to elect Ted Budd (GRNC ****) to the U.S. Senate. In addition to being a gun shop owner and GRNC Life member long before being elected to Congress, Budd has a perfect 100% pro-gun voting record and the best pro-gun bill sponsorship record in the entire NC delegation to Congress.

          The problem is that the current RealClear Politics polling average puts Budd only 1.3 ahead of Beasley (RCP Average 44.8/43.5).
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on September 28, 2022, 08:53:34 PM
"It's almost like they aren't afraid of losing the midterms for some reason.."
  - from another thread
-----------

They are going to lose the midterm, and that is remarkable in the context that they control virtually all media and messaging.

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/09/26/democrats-are-in-far-far-more-trouble-than-you-think-n498952

We shall see, once the votes are counted.

Who is counting the votes, again?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on September 29, 2022, 05:42:21 AM
"They are going to lose the midterm, and that is remarkable in the context that they control virtually all media and messaging."

true

if it was not for their propaganda machine it would be national landslide

but I agree with Bill O'Reilly who says many voters who still will vote Dem are just plain "dumb".

fascists nazis white supremacy climate destroyers anti gay black jew  muslim tan women free shit and soak the rich who soak us!!!  [and the rest]
Title: spending spree post November
Post by: ccp on October 02, 2022, 03:17:02 PM
Dems to burn the house down

after the are forced to retreat:

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/miketurner-midterms-democrats/2022/10/02/id/1090096/

although they have been doing so for the past 2 yrs anyway
Title: Looks like Sasse is leaving Senate four years early
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 06, 2022, 02:27:28 PM
Is Gov of NE R or D?
Title: Governor John Peter Ricketts (R)
Post by: ccp on October 06, 2022, 02:38:04 PM
to save you a few finger taps I looked it up for you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Ricketts

 :-D
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 06, 2022, 03:27:17 PM
This old boomer says Thank You.

So, no big deal that Sasse is leaving-- indeed may we dream of someone less RINO?
Title: Re: Looks like Sasse is leaving Senate four years early
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2022, 03:54:40 PM
Is Gov of NE R or D?

"(timing) up in the air but likely to happen this year."

If it goes to next year, Governor's race is for an open seat, rated solid R by Cook political report.
Title: to learn for next time
Post by: ccp on October 08, 2022, 10:52:28 AM
I of course am backing Herschel 100%

but for NEXT time:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/opinions/herschel-walker-scandal-georgia-senate-gop-duncan/index.html

do not let Trump dupe us into nominating marginally qualified candidates just because they are celebrities who suck up to him.  It is about US.

Same for OZ
my God how could a republican NOT trounce fetterman?

Title: woops
Post by: ccp on October 08, 2022, 11:06:58 AM
https://nypost.com/2022/10/08/dr-oz-delivers-speech-in-front-of-adolf-hitlers-car/

 :-o
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 08, 2022, 11:20:23 AM
Oy vey!!!
Title: Congressional races, Murkowski losing?
Post by: DougMacG on October 10, 2022, 12:15:25 PM
Who saw this coming?

https://dcenquirer.com/new-projection-rino-murkowski-out/
Title: Re: woops
Post by: G M on October 10, 2022, 10:28:29 PM
https://nypost.com/2022/10/08/dr-oz-delivers-speech-in-front-of-adolf-hitlers-car/

 :-o

"It's anodder shoah!"

 :roll:
Title: Gabbard to stump for Bolduc in NH
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 12, 2022, 02:01:50 PM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/tulsi-gabbard-to-stump-for-gop-candidate-a-day-after-leaving-democratic-party_4791147.html?utm_source=News&src_src=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-10-12-2&src_cmp=breaking-2022-10-12-2&utm_medium=email&est=6Ag6LChhq5B2URpw0bfFM76xr%2BsQXBRBJTLI0S%2FzaFbggS3n5kZhKVyXQ4q5o%2BEA8uyI
Title: Re: Play the game like we're down by a field goal in the final stretch
Post by: G M on October 13, 2022, 10:59:36 PM
https://amgreatness.com/2022/10/12/things-are-much-worse-than-they-seem-for-democrats/

But it's going to be a shellacking.

Margin of victory matters.

I really want you to be right about this.

I will happily accept you busting my chops about being wrong.

I think it will be blatantly stolen.
Title: Re: Play the game like we're down by a field goal in the final stretch
Post by: DougMacG on October 14, 2022, 06:38:59 AM
https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/majorities-independent-asian-and-hispanic-voters-say-rising-gas-prices-would
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 14, 2022, 06:41:33 AM
our friends the Saudis?  :-o

the Israeli right would also like to be rid of Biden and the Obama Clinton crew too
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 14, 2022, 07:12:19 AM
"I really want you to be right about this.  I will happily accept you busting my chops about being wrong.  I think it will be blatantly stolen."

In the fullness of time all will be revealed-- the Adventure continues!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on October 14, 2022, 07:44:16 AM
The psy ops of these polling companies is true.  The bias in them is true.  They don't try to get them close to right until the final.

In Dem winning years polls are accurate.  In R years they are way off.  How could this not be a red wave year?  But if it is, polls are still showing Dems leading in races they will lose and possibly lose big.  Fetterman +1?  Ohio close?

As stated, only time will tell.

A real win would be to stop and catch the  cheat in process.  But for now, margin of victory is the only protection.

If these guys are so clever, why do they fall at everything else?

In the real world, they fail because the Talibs/Putin/the Saudis want to win. In domestic politics, the majority of republicans don't want to win.
Title: Congressional races, likely voters, Rasmussen
Post by: DougMacG on October 14, 2022, 02:56:56 PM
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2022/battleground_2022_republicans_lead_in_six_key_states

Battleground 2022: Republicans Lead in Six Key States
Friday, October 14, 2022

With less than a month remaining until the midterm elections, President Joe Biden’s approval rating is sagging in six key states where Republicans lead in the battle for control of Congress.

Results compiled by Rasmussen Reports from more than six weeks of telephone and online surveys of Likely Voters find Republicans ahead on the generic congressional ballot in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In three of those states – Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania – Biden’s total approval is at 41%. His approval is 46% Michigan, and 43% in both Ohio and Wisconsin.
Title: my prediction 50-50 senate once again
Post by: ccp on October 17, 2022, 05:29:32 AM
hope I am wrong

but my money is another 50-50 Senate

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/15/democrats-even-senate-midterms-00061961

I tend to be more on the pessimistic side.......
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 17, 2022, 01:34:53 PM
RCP Average: Fetterman +3.4

I cannot imagine how Repubs could lose this

but it looks bleak

independents would rather have a socialist with a stroke causing even more brain damage he already had

then the alternative ?

if Repubs cannot pull this out in
THIS  economic environment then I don't know if the ever can......

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 17, 2022, 05:51:32 PM
Yes.  If we can't win in this environment, then when?  Never. 

The conversation will need to change.

More likely:  We will win but not win enough to fix anything.

In 2010 we (also) said, must win the next 2 election cycles to save the country.  We did not.  Won the House and not the Senate, then lost to the reelection of Pres. Obama. R's finally won the Senate in 2014 and won the Presidency in 2016.  Governed under the Russia-Mueller cloud for two years and then lost the House, had moments of prosperity, then covid and Joe Biden.  Uggh.

We're in the same (2010) situation now - with a few differences.  18 trillion deeper in debt, worst inflation in 40 years, US military turned into a social justice experiment and schools are now indoctrination camps.  This isn't going to be easy.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 17, 2022, 08:08:30 PM
Indeed!  Exactly so!
Title: Vance kicks ass in debate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 18, 2022, 08:05:02 AM
https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/jd-vance-tim-ryan-children?utm_source=lwc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LWC-Newsletter%202022-10-18
Title: WT: UT: Sen. Lee could lose three way race
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 19, 2022, 01:47:06 AM
Lee faces hurdles related to Trump ties in reelection effort

Independent McMullin presents strong challenge

BY RAMSEY TOUCHBERRY THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Sen. Mike Lee wants voters to know that when it comes to the former president, his work in Washington is not as in line with Donald Trump as many of his Republican colleagues.

“Only two senators — Susan Collins and Rand Paul — voted less with President Trump than I did. I’ve stood against my party time and time again to oppose reckless spending,” Mr. Lee, a Utah Republican running for reelection, said during a debate this week. “I called [Mr. Trump] out in public, and in private, on a train, in the rain, with a fox in a box, every time I got the chance.”

Mr. Lee distanced himself from the de-facto leader of the party amid a stronger-thanexpected challenge from anti-Trump independent Evan Mc-Mullin, a former Republican and failed presidential candidate who touts middle-of-the-road solutions for America’s problems.

The contest in Utah has been largely fixated on Mr. Trump.

“Lee is not very popular, and the Republican Party in the state of Utah is quite deeply divided, in large part because of Mitt Romney’s rather staunch opposition to Donald Trump,” said Michael Lyons, a Utah State University political science professor. “Lee did a very effective job of driving home the point that a victory for McMullin might conceivably enable the Democratic Party control of the Senate. At times, I got the feeling Lee was debating Joe Biden himself rather than Evan McMullin.”

They spent nearly one-third of their hour-long debate discussing the 2020 election or the U.S. Capitol attack. Mr. McMullin tried to capitalize on anti-Trump sentiment while Mr. Lee warned a vote for his opponent could mean more power for Democrats. Observers never would have guessed that Mr. Lee cast his vote for Mr. McMullin’s independent presidential run in 2016 to spite Mr. Trump.

The debate’s most contentious moments came while discussing the former president. Mr. Lee acknowledged that Mr. Biden won the election fairly but Mr. Mc-Mullin accused him of the “most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution” for challenging the election results before ultimately voting to certify them. He called Mr. Lee a partisan bootlicker.

Mr. Lee demanded an apology, shooting back that Mr. McMullin had a “cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth” and was forced to “adopt” the Democratic Party to make it as far as he has.

While Mr. McMullin is running as an independent, the Utah Democratic Party endorsed him over Mr. Lee. He has vowed to be a one-man caucus and not join either party. Both of the chamber’s independent senators, Angus King of Maine and Bernard Sanders of Vermont caucus with Democrats.

Major polling for the race has been limited, but most surveys show Mr. Lee with a several point lead — sometimes double digits — that is usually outside the margin of error. An outlier came last week from Hill Research Consultants, which showed Mr. McMullin with a 6-point lead.

While it is one of the most competitive races in decades in Utah, neither of the national parties believes it’s close enough to warrant major spending.

Notably, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has refused to endorse either Mr. Lee or Mr. Mc-Mullin, citing his friendship with both. This is despite a recent plea from Mr. Lee for him to “get on board” with his reelection, which has been endorsed by every other Senate Republican.

“I don’t think the endorsement matters one way or the other. I think they’re both tired of being asked about the endorsement,” said Boyd Matheson, a Utah radio host and former chief of staff to Mr. Lee. “Lee isn’t a big endorser, either.”

Federal fundraising records show that at the end of September, both candidates had roughly the same amount of cash in the bank: $1.4 million for Mr. Lee compared to Mr. McMullin’s $1.3 million. But the incumbent has eclipsed his opponent in total money raised with $9.7 million as opposed to Mr. McMullin’s $5.8 million.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 19, 2022, 07:26:57 AM
" Lee faces hurdles related to Trump ties in reelection effort"

"Notably, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has refused to endorse either Mr. Lee or Mr. Mc-Mullin, citing his friendship with both."

 :roll:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2022, 08:29:18 AM
Is it GOP momentum or just more accurate polling as we approach the finish line?  Key Senate races just tightened to zero Dem lead:

Arizona (Trafalgar): Senate: Kelly (D) +1 (vs. Blake Masters)
Georgia: Warnock vs. Herschel Walker:  Tied.
PA Dem lead down to 2, Fetterman vs. Dr. Oz, as Fetterman stalls on the debate.

Blumenthal, CT, Dem +5%.  Connecticut Senator seeking third term is becoming a tossup??

[Dem Gov of NY:  lead down to 4%, Quinnipiac]

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/
Title: Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) puts on a debate clinic
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2022, 09:17:46 AM
Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), who I supported for President in 2016,  puts on a debate clinic:

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2022/10/19/marco-rubio-debate-with-val-demings-n2614680

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/10/19/full_replay_marco_rubio_and_val_demings_debate_for_florida_senate_race.html

Of course it's not fair that all the facts line up on his side.
Title: RCP moves Senate to 53R 47D sweep
Post by: DougMacG on October 20, 2022, 06:14:42 PM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/elections-map-rcp-projection.html
Title: Re: RCP moves Senate to 53R 47D sweep
Post by: G M on October 20, 2022, 10:12:48 PM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/elections-map-rcp-projection.html

I sure hope this is correct.
Title: PA Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 25, 2022, 12:21:27 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/why-some-trump-country-pennsylvanians-still-arent-sold-on-dr-oz/?bypass_key=Vnlvdk5PRXN4UFd6bTVCMEprZ1lHQT09OjpOV2hNZDFKalV6RTVVSEJOY1dKdGIwbDFUV3RaUVQwOQ%3D%3D?utm_source%3Demail&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=29490536&utm_source=Sailthru
Title: Re: PA Senate
Post by: DougMacG on October 25, 2022, 01:46:57 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/why-some-trump-country-pennsylvanians-still-arent-sold-on-dr-oz/?bypass_key=Vnlvdk5PRXN4UFd6bTVCMEprZ1lHQT09OjpOV2hNZDFKalV6RTVVSEJOY1dKdGIwbDFUV3RaUVQwOQ%3D%3D?utm_source%3Demail&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=29490536&utm_source=Sailthru

From the article: A RealClearPolitics polling average has Fetterman leading Oz by 2.2 percentage points. A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that 45 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters would vote for Fetterman, 43 percent would vote for Oz, 6 percent said they’d vote for another candidate, while another 6 percent are undecided.

Trailing by 2.2% probably means tied already, and they have a debate tonight with the issues favoring the Republican.  45-43 means a good part of 12% are still in play.  Fetterman, in office and part of the President's party, is like the incumbent.  His vote probably peaks out at his poll number, well under 50%.  For Oz the challenger, none of the current wrong direction indicators are attributable to him.  RCP already projects it Oz.   

88% are concerned about inflation, majority of those trust Republicans more to address it.  Like having terminal cancer, you don't need media or advertising to make the inflation case for you over the next two weeks.  Everywhere you go and everything you do does that.     Seems to me the late breaking vote has to break for Oz.  [Unless he's a complete jerk in the debate or something.]
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 25, 2022, 06:35:40 PM
Fetterman's brain damage on full display

Randy Jackson is more honest or a better doctor then Fetterman's who states he is qualified to be a US Senator

Oz did great..

hopefully the polls will show it soon



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 25, 2022, 07:53:49 PM
The clips I saw on Laura tonight were very strong for us.  Zeldon in NY debate too.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 25, 2022, 08:08:26 PM
Yes, I saw it too.  Strange display.  Double weird happening in the age of Biden who doesn't know who is President or how to come in from the garden.  A few soundbites should come out of it.  More important than presentation, the issues were confronted.  Oz is an articulate, reasonable moderate, the challenger, and Fetterman is radical Left who will vote with his wrong direction party on limitlessness spending, open borders, fentanyl, crime and inflation.
-------------
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/john-fetterman-mehmet-oz-pennsylvania-debate-senate-race/

Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon, ignored his opponent's health throughout the debate,
...
When pressed to explain his shifting position on fracking, his answer was particularly awkward.

"I do support fracking. And I don't, I don't. I support fracking, and I stand and I do support fracking," he said.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 26, 2022, 06:09:18 AM
I thought the moderators did a good job as well

even handed for a change  :wink:

NYPOST : Fetterman's performance "stunned " them.

really ?
why?

I suppose they would be stunned at Joe Biden's brain damage if he had mental status exam
I suppose they would be stunned about the fraud in the '20 election if we had better proof
I suppose they would be stunned by deep state reveals
I could go on

So the obvious when on best display stuns them

I was hoping Fetterman when asked who is US biggest threat would not say China but would say "proud boys". but that did not happen  :wink:
Title: Senate races, Fetterman
Post by: DougMacG on October 26, 2022, 09:57:42 AM
Important point: 
"The issue isn’t the stroke; the issue is the dishonesty."
https://instapundit.com/550325/#respond
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-fetterman-charade-ends/
---------------------------------------
I was worried about conservatives getting caught mocking him.  But this isn't about treatment of the disabled.  They are presenting him as able, able to do the job which includes debating the issues of our time on the floor of the US Senate. Pointing out his mis-steps is part of refuting that.

He said showing up here was his medical report, in other words, 'judge my performance here for fitness to do the job'.  We will.

"Goodnight everyone."

   - That was his opening.  I think he meant 'good evening'.

The fracking moment.  He said in 2018 he has always opposed it.  Confronted in a debate question, he fumbled miserably, but his answer to the voters in this key moment was that he had always supported it.  Bullshit.  That's not a stroke or a language issue.  That's a lie - on a key point of a key issue.  We have inflation that was triggered by their war on energy and their reckless spending that he fully supports.

I have long believed you have to be amazingly smart and clever to be an elected Leftist in America.  To support prosperity for all in words and oppose it in all your policies takes a high level of skill, cf. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama. On fracking, Fetterman tried to lie his way out of it and fell flat on his face.

He is an elected Democrat politician who fully supported the policies that got us into this mess.  Admit it or lie.  They almost always choose lie, but pulling it off is no easy task.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 26, 2022, 10:50:58 AM
"I have long believed you have to be amazingly smart and clever to be an elected Leftist in America.  To support prosperity for all in words and oppose it in all your policies takes a high level of skill, cf. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama "

yes , agreed
but I would also add they and all Dems have a media totally complicit
in propagating the deceit.

They would not have gotten away with it if the MSM was not in the tank for Dems

Title: Congressional races, George Logan, Conncticut-5
Post by: DougMacG on October 26, 2022, 01:10:23 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZOoUFo1cS0&t=190s
Title: Marc Victor
Post by: ccp on October 26, 2022, 03:45:35 PM
https://reason.com/2022/10/14/in-arizona-libertarian-party-senate-candidate-polls-at-15-percent/

 :x

usually libertarians draw from Republicans

who was that poster couple yrs ago
who would told us to vote libertarian
because he was not either Dem or Repub

and literally was throwing his vote to the Dems on "principle"

Ross Perot allowed Clinton to win ........

We may never had to endure Bill/Hill if not for him

yes he got us into "deep doodoo" alright .
Title: Gloria Allred
Post by: ccp on October 27, 2022, 07:07:04 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/second-woman-accuses-herschel-walker-of-pressuring-her-to-have-abortion/ar-AA13pzff

does not Allred play TV judge ? now

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 27, 2022, 09:05:31 AM
I see that JD Vance says he does not care what happens to Ukraine.
Title: Cheney endorses Dem in Mich
Post by: ccp on October 27, 2022, 11:11:57 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/gops-cheney-endorsing-michigan-democrat-150007366.html

this news is likely to cause you to do what this video causes you to do:  (skip the flinstones ad/ i meant video after that )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv2wQvn6Wxc

I mean maybe one person cares what liz thinks and that would be her father :wink:
Title: 3rd post
Post by: ccp on October 27, 2022, 04:12:11 PM
Biden campaigns in New Mexico

for


Republicans  :-D

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/27/democrat-panic-spreads-as-joe-biden-plans-campaign-swing-through-new-mexico/

Title: Cong. Maya Flores blocked from Hispanic Caucus
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 28, 2022, 04:31:03 PM
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/10/congressional-superstar-mayra-flores-blocked-joining-congressional-hispanic-caucus/?fbclid=IwAR2p5CCBBwtSfoS3mlTo10c_UEplSsM1h-9xObspGTiZsht4hfzxz1WLN58
Title: GA
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 31, 2022, 09:00:16 AM
STACEY ABRAMS MIGHT BE KAMIKAZE-ING DEMS’ SENATE CHANCES… JIM GERAGHTY: Is Abrams Dragging Down Warnock in Georgia?

Last night, Zaid Jilani offered an intriguing theory about the dynamics between the two statewide races in Georgia. “National press is missing what’s happening in this race. Walker isn’t dragging Kemp down. Abrams’ underperformance is threatening Warnock’s numbers and the chances of Dems holding the Senate.”

And there’s some evidence to support that theory. The Insider Advantage survey puts Kemp up by eight percentage points, Rasmussen and Data for Progress puts Kemp up by ten, and Trafalgar and East Carolina University put Kemp up by seven. You notice you just don’t hear as much about Stacey Abrams lately; FiveThirtyEight calculates that Kemp has a 91 percent chance of winning reelection.

In fact, we might be witnessing a candidate meltdown, as Abrams declared during a debate with Kemp on Sunday night that 107 sheriffs had endorsed her opponent, incumbent Republican Brian Kemp, because they “want to be able to take black people off the streets.” (Note that Warnock is running on his endorsements by certain sheriffs and touting his support for funding law enforcement.) […]

Abrams has been crafting a public image and running a campaign ideal for the MSNBC audience, not for the Georgia electorate. She helped chase the Major League Baseball All-Star game away from Atlanta, supports reparations for slavery, wants to repeal Georgia’s permitless-carry law and campus-carry law, opposes any limits of any kind on abortion, says that illegal immigrants should be eligible for state-funded scholarships, supports eliminating cash bail, served on the boards of organizations promoting “defund the police” . . . and then there was that infamous photo of her, maskless, surrounded by masked elementary-school kids. That is a really hard-left agenda for a candidate running in a state where Democrats didn’t win a statewide election between 2000 and 2018.

 

ABRAMS ACCUSES GEORGIA SHERIFFS OF TRYING TO ARREST ‘BLACK PEOPLE’ … FOX: Stacey Abrams slams Georgia sheriffs as ‘good ol’ boys club’ while claiming to support law enforcement

“Miss Abrams on CNN got asked the question, would she defund the police? And she said, ‘Yes, we have to reallocate resources.’ That means defunding the police. She proposed in 2018, eliminating cash bail,” Kemp said before repeating his endorsement of 107 county sheriffs across Georgia.

Abrams shot back that she was not a member of the “good ol’ boys club” of 107 sheriffs who, she allegedly, “want to be able to take Black people off the streets, who want to be able to go without accountability.”

She then qualified her statement, saying she didn’t believe “every sheriff wants that.”

“But I do know that we need a governor who believes in both defending law enforcement, but also defending the people of Georgia,” Abrams said.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 01, 2022, 02:58:07 PM
"Libertarian candidate drops out of AZ Senate race."

This is HUGE!

Respect to the Libertarian candidate!!! (Name?)
Title: Senate, PA, Fetterman and fracking
Post by: DougMacG on November 01, 2022, 09:08:40 PM
He opposed it before he supported it and has never changed his mind...
https://www.facebook.com/pavotersagainstfracking/photos/pcb.453839958145027/453836554812034
This is 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsIvCmUfgLo
Title: PP: The Biden Record Voter Guide
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 02, 2022, 12:26:56 PM
https://patriotpost.us/alexander/92564?mailing_id=7051&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.7051&utm_campaign=alexander&utm_content=body
Title: Gallup, right direction, 17%
Post by: DougMacG on November 03, 2022, 05:55:58 AM
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/politics/republicans-advantage-midterms-analysis/index.html

Biden upside down 40-56%.

GOP preference increasing.

This is CNN.

I think the October Surprise was that Den House and Senate candidates aren't any smarter or more honest than their President.
Title: NRO: The Wuhan Effect
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 03, 2022, 07:22:56 AM
By MICHAEL BRENDAN DOUGHERTY
November 2, 2022 6:30 AM
The government’s authoritarian overreach has shifted voters’ allegiances and redrawn the political map.
Arecent Morning Consult poll held out that the Covid-19 pandemic is just not a top-of-mind issue for voters anymore. U.S. News summed it up: “The share of voters who see the COVID-19 pandemic as a main issue in the midterm election has dropped to 31% — its lowest point since tracking began in January.”

It’s true, in the strict sense, that voters are less and less inclined to feel that politicians should filter everything through the Covid-19 prism.

But give me a break. We have just gone through a national political trauma and disruption to our way of life the likes of which we’ve never experienced before, and many never want to experience anything like it ever again. Voters currently cite the economy and inflation as their top issues, far outranking abortion and guns. Crime is often second or third in the priority list of voters, according to all pollsters. This is all downstream of Covid. We are still climbing out of our pandemic response, and our politics reflect that. The 2020 election was about Donald Trump. The 2022 election is about where you stood on Covid, and the aftermath.

Worldwide, the economic dislocations, the supply-chain problems, and inflation are all downstream of the Covid response. We spent trillions on an experiment in sudden-onset guaranteed income, which was combined with forcibly lowered productivity. So did many other governments. China is still shutting down huge sectors of its society to stop the spread of Covid, thereby slowing the manufacturing of all sorts of goods upon which worldwide industry relies. Of course inflation was going to be one result.

Pandemics are times of moral mania, going back to the Middle Ages. The mania, mid-Covid, to defund police departments after the George Floyd tragedy shattered police forces in cities such as Portland, Ore. Cities that took this turn lost experienced leadership and have remained understaffed ever since. Seattle’s own woman-of-color police chief was asked to take a pay cut before she resigned. Progressive prosecutors, such as Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner, in an effort to bring about racial justice, have refused to enforce laws against illegal gun possession. Gun crimes are on the rise, and truly appalling murders are now occurring in neighborhoods not previously known for crime. And we had the repeated spectacle of leaders selectively breaking their own draconian Covid rules in order to march with crowds of Black Lives Matter protesters.

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Whole patterns of life were upset by the Covid protocols; in the upheaval, people’s institutional allegiances shifted. Citizens in some states saw their churches closed down for more than a year. Many churches that complied with mandates out of meekness to the state, or conviction, never reopened again. They were outflanked by those shepherds who did tend their sheep in a crisis. Public schools saw enrollment decrease by 2 million students. Parochial schools saw their decade-long trend of decline suddenly shift into reverse. Private-school enrollment soared, as did the number of students being homeschooled. The sum of these facts is that the new populist orientation of individual voters organized itself under the pressure of the pandemic into new social groupings and budding institutions. These churches and schools will provide form and leadership to a prolonged populist insurgency in our politics for a long time to come.

What’s to explain the huge shift of suburban women back into the GOP fold? They haven’t forgotten Trump, who repulsed them. They know about the fall of Roe v. Wade. But many of them also remember that their little kids were masked at school — even at speech therapy — for months or years, only for health authorities to eventually call these masks “little more than useless decorations.” They see the speech delays, the social-development milestones missed, the low reading scores. They see crime rising. And local school boards that became obsessed with eliminating “whiteness” rather than illiteracy.

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Over 352,000 New Yorkers left their state from mid 2020 to mid 2021. Over 100,000 New Yorkers in 2021–22 have moved to Florida. Despite the exodus of likely Republican-leaning voters, New York governor Kathy Hochul is seen as a drag on the Democratic ticket up and down the state, and her challenger, relative unknown Lee Zeldin, is at least within striking distance, according to most polls. His standing attracted the campaigning zeal of Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin and Florida’s Ron DeSantis.

And speaking of Ron DeSantis. Can anyone even remember four years ago? He was considered a punch line by the corporate political press, an improbable victor over his opponent in a tight race, abasing himself to Trumpian populists to win. Meanwhile, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan was considered by the same press to be presidential timber. She even got a serious look to be a vice-presidential contender. Guess which one of these governors is cruising to reelection, and which one is struggling?

Now, Ron DeSantis is seen as a serious threat, not only in a run for president but toppling Donald Trump while doing so. Why? Because of his response to Covid-19. DeSantis rejected what he called “Fauci-ism” while Donald Trump kept the famous doctor front and center.

Covid-19 completely reordered our politics. This is the first election where we’ll see what that looks like.
Title: WSJ on NH Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 03, 2022, 07:25:49 PM
Concord, N.H.

Reporters and political analysts wove a single story line through this year’s U.S. Senate races: Poor Republican candidate selection put multiple winnable races in jeopardy for the GOP. There’s truth to that. Yet its quick acceptance left an equally obvious story underreported: Many of the Democrats are terrible candidates too.

Sometimes these two story lines collide. That’s the case in New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan and outsider Republican Don Bolduc. When GOP primary voters in September rejected a more experienced candidate in favor of Mr. Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general, seasoned political observers agreed that Ms. Hassan had an easy path to re-election.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
WSJ Opinion Potomac Watch
Joe Biden's One-Sided Fears About Democracy


SUBSCRIBE
The day after Mr. Bolduc’s nomination, Vox declared national Democrats the winner. On Oct. 7, Politico declared that “New Hampshire appears increasingly out of reach for the GOP.” Now the race is a statistical tie. The two most recent polls show Mr. Bolduc nosing ahead. The outsider Republican who’s never held elective office has a real shot at beating the polished attorney whose decadeslong political résumé includes stints as state Senate president, governor and U.S. senator. Team Hassan has to be wondering how it wound up in this position.

Ms. Hassan’s campaign and the national Democratic Party were so sure they wanted to face Mr. Bolduc that the Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC spent more than $3.2 million in the Republican primary to attack his leading opponent, state Senate President Chuck Morse. Democrats and Republicans alike assumed that Mr. Morse, a 10-year veteran of the state Senate, would have broader appeal. Insiders in both parties believed the brash Mr. Bolduc would turn off independents and suburban voters. And there was the money issue. Mr. Bolduc didn’t spend a dime on TV ads during the primary. He couldn’t afford them.

Mr. Morse knew the issues, appealed to moderates, and could raise money. But Republican voters weren’t in the mood for someone who’d spent time in the political system. Vikram Mansharamani, a newcomer who ran in the primary against Messrs. Bolduc and Morse, said that everywhere he went in the state, the message from GOP voters was resounding: We want an outsider.

In Mr. Bolduc, they got one. And that’s why Ms. Hassan is in trouble. If the mood of the electorate is such that plain-spoken authenticity beats focus-grouped inauthenticity, then Ms. Hassan is at a distinct disadvantage. She is smart and accomplished, but in 20 years of public service she has carefully crafted a public persona rooted in late-1990s Democratic centrism. When she speaks to the public—which isn’t often—she is cautious to a fault. Every statement seems painstakingly crafted to mystify rather than clarify.

Mr. Bolduc still doesn’t have any money. His campaign has raised a paltry $2.2 million and spent $1.9 million. Ms. Hassan’s campaign has raised $38.2 million and spent $36 million. Despite being outgunned financially, Mr. Bolduc has managed to tie the race going into the final weekend. How?


Most obviously, Mr. Bolduc is more aligned with a majority of New Hampshire voters on the issues. He supports cutting federal spending and taxes, increasing domestic energy production, controlling the border, protecting Second Amendment rights and limiting foreign military engagements. He talks about inflation and energy prices constantly. Reluctant to draw attention to her voting record, Ms. Hassan relentlessly attacks Mr. Bolduc on abortion and Social Security. Whenever she mentions the Democratic Party, it’s to say that she stood up to it on some small, forgotten bill.

Ms. Hassan’s campaign thought Mr. Bolduc would crumble under her attacks on abortion and his previous claims, since renounced, that the 2020 election was stolen. But painting him as an extremist is a challenge in a state where many of his views are essentially mainstream.

Beyond policy, there’s culture, and here Mr. Bolduc has another advantage. He has an everyman appeal that Ms. Hassan lacks. He’s no conventional politician. Asked a question, he gives a plain and direct answer. From his regulation Army haircut to his sensible shoes, he maintains an image that many in a rural state find familiar. Nothing about him seems the slightest bit calculated.

He’s taken this show on the road, to great effect. Since losing a bid for the Republican nomination against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in 2020, he’s traveled the state in a continuous conversation with voters. He’s held dozens of town-hall meetings during this campaign, where he not only talks, he listens. At baseball games, fall fairs and town gatherings, it’s not uncommon to see Mr. Bolduc chatting amiably with strangers and letting kids pet his dog.

Ms. Hassan, by contrast, has a public persona that screams “political establishment.” She doesn’t release her public schedule, hasn’t had an open press conference in years, and studiously avoids engaging with anyone who isn’t screened by her staff. She had agreed to a debate hosted by the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, then said she would attend only if she and Mr. Bolduc weren’t on stage together.

New Hampshire is a quirky state that doesn’t mind sending unconventional outsiders to Washington. Mr. Bolduc is an outsider’s outsider. If he pulls this off, it will be an upset for the ages, due in part to his opponent’s impressive effort to maintain a protective buffer between herself and those she represents.

Mr. Cline is president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.
Title: Marco Rubio, America, closing message
Post by: DougMacG on November 03, 2022, 10:24:13 PM
Marco Rubio goes positive.

https://youtu.be/d4PJX_Ra3lw
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 04, 2022, 11:59:39 AM
Coincidentally , , ,

https://firehydrantoffreedom.com/index.php?topic=1748.0
Title: can Dr Chen be sued for malpractice ?
Post by: ccp on November 04, 2022, 02:14:00 PM
https://apnews.com/article/mehmet-oz-2022-midterm-elections-health-business-stroke-cd5e3188b74933566ba5a8f95b2c426f

any doctor who claims Fetterman is qualified to be a US Senator should have license revoked

 :wink:

I know I am not in that situation but I would refuse to write such a letter
plus dr chen is. a PCP like me,  and we are not  brain experts specialist in strokes,

though OTOH, you don't need to be a brain expert to see the guy is not qualified!
Title: This is VERY interesting
Post by: ccp on November 05, 2022, 10:22:22 AM
7 of the top 10 political donors are - Republican!

 :-o

https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/3720141-here-are-the-biggest-donors-in-the-midterm-elections/
Title: Congressional races, The Chief weighs in
Post by: DougMacG on November 07, 2022, 09:05:03 AM
Shut down coal across the nation
“We’re going to be shutting these (coal) plants down all across America and having wind and solar power.”

(Doug)  Of course he means clean natural gas as well.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/11/joe-biden-boasts-about-plans-to-shut-down-coal-plants-all-across-america-three-days-before-midterms/

(Doug) 38,000 Terawatt hours worth?  There is some math the bungling chief never pondered before he started shutting off our heat and shutting down our transportation and drove this economy into a tailspin.


It reminds me of the big mistake Republicans are making (as usual) this cycle.  We don't want your vote for this one candidate on your ballot this Tuesday.  We want you to join the cause for freedom, including the freedom from government imposed poverty.  That fight includes your vote now, up and down the ballot, and goes MUCH further than this Tuesday, no matter the outcome of the election.

BTW, somebody please remind me to vote tomorrow morning.   )

Title: Trump like a sprinter who can't wait to take off
Post by: ccp on November 07, 2022, 02:03:19 PM
aids must be holding him back

with chains

maybe they can stuff toilet paper down that volcano of a mouth of his

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/trump-might-announce-hes-running-in-2024-as-soon-as-tonight.html

wonder if GM will vote harder tomorrow ?


Title: Re: Trump like a sprinter who can't wait to take off
Post by: DougMacG on November 07, 2022, 04:19:03 PM
aids must be holding him back

with chains

maybe they can stuff toilet paper down that volcano of a mouth of his

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/trump-might-announce-hes-running-in-2024-as-soon-as-tonight.html

wonder if GM will vote harder tomorrow ?

"The man wants attention."

I heard he will be on the radio show Clay / Buck, and they hinted strongly he may have something to announce.  [Update:  I think he will announce his announcement date, Nov 15.]

Those trying to win tomorrow want so much for this to be a referendum on Biden not Trump.

Arguably he screwed up the Senate in the GA runoff Dec 2020.  Look at the damage that caused, every party line vote of the last two years!  Trillions of dollars wasted and double digit inflation the result.  Did he forget we may have one more of those?  Screw this up (again) and I'll never forgive him.

He is three years younger than Joe Biden.  He will be older in the next term than Biden is in this one.

I'll say now, I'm for someone else until he is the best choice remaining.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 08, 2022, 06:32:19 AM
"I'll say now, I'm for someone else until he is the best choice remaining."

Well said.
Title: Byron York : '22 was not about Trump
Post by: ccp on November 08, 2022, 07:56:50 AM
athough Democrats and of course Trump desperately wanted it to be

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-campaign-that-wasnt-about-trump
Title: Congressional races, waiting for results
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2022, 05:38:09 PM
Waiting for results.  Bolduc lost big, NH, that's bad.

Update:  At this hour, midnight eastern, it almost all looks bad to me.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2022, 11:08:54 PM
Fetterman wins.  I don't see a path to saving this country that includes losing that race under these circumstances.
----------

I don't know what all the final results will be but it's not too early to say I was wrong.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2022, 05:25:57 AM
".I don't know what all the final results will be but it's not too early to say I was wrong."

and so was and is Trump

the mail in ballots since corona have screwed us over
they had their ballot collecting machines in progress

To think we could beat a stroked out person with heart failure who walks around with a hoodie and never had a real job ....

people could simply not stomach Oz - thanks Trump

people could not stomach Mastriano - thanks Trump

Youngkin and Desantis who stayed away from Trump do well.

I am not sure how much abortion hurt us but surely it did.

But I agree,  if we can't do better in this economy and with 70% saying they don't like the direction of the country then the country is lost

expect to see GM back posting soon .

he is right about likely long term outcome just not about what to do about it - simply give up
and squirrel away in the woods somewhere - or at least yet


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2022, 05:29:10 AM
the only good news [for me] is this is curtains for Trump

though he will continue to beat his chest like and enraged gorilla...

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2022, 05:40:08 AM
I would also say open borders has helped Dems as designed to do. look at the whole southwest

which used to red

the reparations and affirmative action for Blacks keeps their attention

I don't know why they keep electing those who have not helped them but they do





Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 09, 2022, 12:15:24 PM
Note:  I deleted some overly optimistic thoughts of mine replaced by the statement:  "I was wrong."

Afterthoughts:
1.  ccp's post on the under 30 crowd.  We didn't even target them and probably don't know how.  We did scoff at student debt forgiveness.  Don't scoff at vote buying.  It's the most reliable trick in the Left arsenal.
2.  There were candidates in NH and PA more electable than the ones chosen.  Maybe so for Arizona too.  Maybe so for Herschel Walker.  All these had in common Trump backing at least partly based on loyalty to him.  In some of these, AZ and NH at least, Republican Leader withheld support, based at least partly on personal loyalty to him.

Dump these "leaders".  We need to start over.

Update:. McConnell poured millions into Alaska opposing the Republican endorsed candidate as well.
https://alaskapublic.org/2021/07/26/alaska-gop-gives-murkowski-a-thumbs-down-nationally-republicans-still-give-her-campaign-cash/

For years republicans repeated each cycle the old expression, we need the next Reagan, until we couldn't stand hearing it again.  There wasn't one.  (Not even H.W. or Bob Dole!)

We need the next Reagan now.
Title: Jason Miller : all up to Herschel
Post by: ccp on November 09, 2022, 02:05:11 PM
we got to get Herschel over the goal line

https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/jason-miller-donald-trump-herschel-walker/2022/11/09/id/1095662/

I can't believe it is coming down to Ga AGAIN

we need the entire Republican team to step onto the offensive line!!
Title: Patriot Post
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2022, 02:37:35 PM
A Big Winner and Two Losers From Yesterday's Midterms
Ron DeSantis stole the show yesterday, but a key swing state and a former president lost unequivocally.

Douglas Andrews


Just one day before the 2018 gubernatorial election in Florida, a Quinnipiac poll showed Republican Ron DeSantis trailing former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by a whopping seven points.

Lucky for DeSantis — and lucky for the people of Florida — that voters, not polls, decide elections. The following day, DeSantis ended up winning by seven-tenths of a point. Since then, the governor has enacted staunchly conservative policies, waded into the culture wars against Disney and its ilk, and counterpunched smartly at a mainstream media that's inclined to twist the news against him at every turn.

Yesterday, DeSantis won 62 of the state's 67 counties and beat Democrat challenger Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points. Where he won by some 30,00 votes in 2018, he won by 1,500,000 yesterday. Yes, by Election Day, everyone was predicting a DeSantis win. No one, though, was predicting a win of this magnitude.

If you're not stirred by this Churchillian passage from his victory speech last night, you might want to check your pulse:

We have embraced freedom. We have maintained law and order. We have protected the rights of parents. We have respected our taxpayers, and we reject woke ideology.

We fight the woke in the legislature. We fight the woke in the schools. We fight the woke in the corporations. We will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!

"USA! USA!" some supporters chanted during DeSantis's rousing victory speech in Tampa last night. "Two more years! Two more years!" others shouted, in a not-so-subtle call for DeSantis to run for president in 2024.

"We saw freedom and our very way of life in so many other jurisdictions in this country wither on the vine. Florida held the line," he said. "Florida was a refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as a citadel of freedom for people across this county and indeed across the world."

DeSantis thus sent a thunderclap across the political landscape, and he made Florida look like Arkansas in terms of its political imbalance. Indeed, it's the first time since Reconstruction that Florida hasn't had a single Democrat holding statewide office.

So Ron DeSantis and the people of Florida were big winners yesterday. But there were big losers, too. Among them: The people of Pennsylvania.

In the darkest moment of yesterday's election, the least qualified, least capable, furthest left candidate, John Fetterman, prevailed over a heart surgeon and highly successful businessman, Republican Mehmet Oz. Perhaps the worst part of this outcome was that nearly a million Pennsylvanians had cast their ballots before Fetterman's painful and utterly disqualifying debate performance. So now Pennsylvania will send to The World's Greatest Deliberative Body a man who is medically incapable of deliberating at any real depth, a man who has hardly held a real job in his life, and a man whose past policy prescriptions include freeing convicted murderers, creating heroin-injection sites, and banning fracking.

Another loser was Donald Trump. Things clearly didn't go the former president's way last night. There was no red wave, and there was no streak of wins by Trump-endorsed Republicans. There were, however, large and glaringly high-profile losses for Trump candidates, including Oz, Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc, and, it appears, Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters. Kari Lake is down but not yet out in the governor's race in Arizona.

And two candidates whom Trump publicly opposed — Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — won big last night, while Trump's candidate for Senate there, Herschel Walker, appears to have barely limped his way into a December 6 runoff against hard-left Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock. Walker may yet win that runoff, and the GOP may yet eke out a 51-49 Senate, but that doesn't discount the weakness of Walker's candidacy — a candidacy that caused some 200,000 Georgians to split their tickets by voting for both Kemp and Warnock.

Let's wrap up by going back to the big winner, Ron DeSantis: "We have accomplished more than anybody thought possible four years ago," he said toward the end of his victory speech, "but we've got so much more to do — and I have only begun to fight."

That last part was a reference to a fellow sailor and patriot, John Paul Jones, and it would serve his fellow Republicans well to remember it going forward. Conservative principles are attractive and popular when articulately conveyed and competently carried out.

But candidates clearly matter to Republican voters. And that message must be remembered as well.
Title: Boebert could lose
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 09, 2022, 03:54:35 PM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/rep-lauren-boebert-in-danger-of-losing-reelection-bid_4852794.html?utm_source=Goodevening&src_src=Goodevening&utm_campaign=gv-2022-11-09&src_cmp=gv-2022-11-09&utm_medium=email&est=9UxqD%2BPSI8IkfdYCAHz7t6s%2FJLRW3k194Dv5eo4JGXJQsIKu%2BBkzdiowW4GtSkzH2mvK
Title: Why Walker May Fare Worse in a Runoff
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2022, 01:49:02 AM
Did not realize he was "no exception on abortion".

Why Herschel Walker may fare worse in a runoff
Opinion by Tiana Lowe - Yesterday 3:31 AM




Outside of the red bloodbath of Florida helmed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, election night proved a pittance for the Republican Party. Dr. Mehmet Oz, former President Donald Trump's hand-picked Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, lost to a barely sentient stroke victim, and the possible pickups of Nevada and Arizona have receded from the GOP's grasp. Mere hours after conservative pollsters proudly predicted the party would close out the midterm elections with 53 or even 54 seats in the Senate, control of the chamber may yet again come down to a Georgia runoff.

When Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue lost their runoff elections in January 2021, that was a calculated choice, the obvious consequence of Donald Trump lying in service of his own ego that the Georgia elections were stolen. This time, however, Republican prospects are in peril without Trump's meddling.


For starters, Herschel Walker would head to a runoff election without the significant coattails of Brian Kemp, who won reelection for governor by nearly double digits. Oz suffered the spillover effects of Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. While Kemp's popularity may have kept incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock from reaching the crucial majority share of the vote this time, in a standalone election, Walker may not be so lucky.

Furthermore, Walker benefited from the distraction of Democrats, who were stuck focusing on flawed candidates across the country. The former football player's numerous personal scandals, including allegations that he paid for multiple mistresses' abortions, evaded the spotlight as the media focused on issues ranging from inflation and crime to internecine party warfare. However, for a matter of weeks, Walker v. Warnock would be the only race in the country.


Warnock is hardly purer than the driven snow. Recall that Warnock's wife alleged that the Democrat reneged on his court-ordered child support and that he ran over her with his car, but Walker is a candidate who has said he wants to ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. He's not just accused of being a philandering deadbeat dad; he's accused of hypocrisy over one of the most divisive political issues of our time.

It's possible that the consequences of Democrats controlling the Senate sink in, and Georgia voters ultimately bite the bullet and vote based on party preference rather than personal loyalty. But Walker had ample coattails and limited national attention on Tuesday, and it still seems like he blew it. That doesn't bode well for yet another risky Republican runoff.
Title: AOC wins by over 40%
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2022, 05:24:57 AM
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-new-york-us-house-district-14.html

looks like she will with future generations  long after we are gone ......

demographics of 14 th Congressional district :

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US3614-congressional-district-14-ny/

foreign born 44%

speak language other then English at home:

age 18+ - > 41%
less than 18 -> 45 % (even higher! )


Title: Election aftermath:
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2022, 08:58:45 AM
Steve Hayward Wed morning: 
"Democrats are certain to take their relative success as evidence that there is nothing wrong with their message or their policies."
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/11/wot-happened-2.php


Pres. Biden Wed afternoon:
"We're going to do nothing different after the midterm election."
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/11/09/biden_were_going_to_do_nothing_different_after_midterm_election.html
Title: more thoughts
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2022, 09:17:07 AM
"Democrats are certain to take their relative success as evidence that there is nothing wrong with their message or their policies."

AND CONVERSELY THE REPUBLICANS WILL SAY THE PROBLEM IS GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT

we have problems not simply getting messaging out
but with the messages

something is missing
I don't understand how pollsters could SO FAR off - even our conservative pollsters

not clear to me how much is ballot harvesting , abortion, lack of anything about climate change (for the younger generation )

or threats to government spending
HALF THE FREAKING COUNTRY NOW RELIES ON

I remember during 1/6 riot a cabbie had picked me up to a podiatry visit (I had broken foot)
We were listening to the capital breaking and entering on the radio

somewhere in the conversation he said he was grateful for the government assistance during corona . "ok with me if they want to send me a check"

this is a BIG problem

I don't know how we can compete
as long as it is someone else's money
somehow we have to convince people THEY  will also have to pay up in the end if this continues

Thatcher
socialism works till you run out of other people's money



Title: Congressional races, |CNN Exit polling
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2022, 09:39:31 AM
Married men:  R +20

Married women:  R +14

Unmarried men:  R +7

Unmarried women:  D +37

https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/national-results/house/21
https://www.dailywire.com/news/exit-poll-shows-nearly-70-of-single-women-voted-democrat-in-midterms
------------------------------

In my search for someone compatible, I seem to be targeting the wrong group.
Title: unmarried women
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2022, 10:02:40 AM
Unmarried women:  D +37

Doug

very interesting

do we know why?

my guess :

1) abortion
2) they want government to be their sugar daddy

and with over 50% of mothers now being unmarried this is devastating

breakdown of nuclear family marriage and fact it is almost a badge of courage to state "I am a single mother!"

I see it occasionally in medical practice

would stopping abortion simply make the problem worse?

where are all the God darn fathers ?

Title: Re: more thoughts
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2022, 10:17:22 AM
ccp:  "I don't understand how pollsters could SO FAR off - even our conservative pollsters"

   - The Republican pollsters tried to correct for the (past) silent Trump vote, but like the Republican messengers, did not know how to reach young voters.  My daughter's phone ringer is always off...

"not clear to me how much is ballot harvesting"

  - On this topic, I hope we wait for real, prosecutable evidence, and not get scorched by speculation and false starts.

"abortion"

   - Republicans pro life (me included) need to tone down the laws to match public opinion.  What 50% think is not murder and can easily be done by crossing state lines should not be murder equivalent in law.  We had some agreement at 15 weeks (?), plus exception for rape incest and life of the mother.  Also by determining laws state by state.  We need to find the right political answer and have some party discipline to stick to it.  Candidates and politicians espousing a no exceptions rhetoric are killing us on this issue. 

None of that says you can't argue that life is precious and convenience abortions as a woman's right is a denial of science.

ccp:  "lack of anything about climate change (for the younger generation )"

   - Yes!  Let's come back to this.  Let's develop a real plan and message.

ccp:  "or threats to government spending"  ... "this is a BIG problem"
 ... somehow we have to convince people THEY  will also have to pay up in the end"

   - Right.  This is the hardest sell.  No bumper sticker will do it.

Take the under 30 voters right now.  It is THEY who will have to pay for this.

Even the ones supposedly receiving 10 or 20,000 right now.  In total, they will pay for this and they are paying for it right now.  Their education, for one thing, was SO expensive because of programs like this.  It's hard to explain second level thinking, but making it all free would make it even more expensive!

In the art of persuasion, telling people they're wrong has not been working for me.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2022, 10:32:14 AM
"In the art of persuasion, telling people they're wrong has not been working for me."

I am not a parent
but telling children something that will affect them in the distant future

against their more immediate needs and urges must be very difficult

they have been persuaded by the LEFT that climate change is real and a huge threat

now we have to persuade them there is a right and a wrong way to deal with

and yes hard to do against a DNC that owns academia , media, big tech, global elites

 this is our delema

Title: Re: unmarried women
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2022, 10:39:07 AM
quote author=ccp

Unmarried women:  D +37

Doug

very interesting

do we know why?

my guess :

1) abortion
2) they want government to be their sugar daddy

and with over 50% of mothers now being unmarried this is devastating ...
--------------------------

First I laugh at the idea of me opining on the liberalism of unmarried women.  Who understands it less than me?

Abortion, yes.  Most have come to believe abortion is empowering to women. 

On the second point, not sugar daddy but their financial security.  Like a husband with a solid career and earnings and big life insurance policy is.

1)  Why do we have to scare them with overreach we can never enact.  Even in deep red states, be aware your rhetoric is hurting the national political cause.  We got Roe, a wrongly decided case, overturned.  Take a breath for a moment and read the will of the people.

2) Another case of second level thinking, so hard to sell.  Like the cab driver, I cashed my check.

We want a robust economy with a real safety net - for real people in real need.  Not a manipulated system with government the main operator in every industry.  If I knew how to sell that, we wouldn't be having this conversation. (

Even prosperity makes women (all people) want to give back more, help others.  But 'giving back' and coercive taking are two different things, intentionally conflated.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2022, 10:53:47 AM
"not sugar daddy but their financial security."

haha

yes you are right

no *sex* in return

just their vote !

is vote for money a form of prostitution?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2022, 12:41:40 PM
"We got Roe, a wrongly decided case, overturned.  Take a breath for a moment and read the will of the people."

Contrast Herschel Walker; if I have it right, no abortion for raped women.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2022, 04:57:57 PM
"We got Roe, a wrongly decided case, overturned.  Take a breath for a moment and read the will of the people."

Contrast Herschel Walker; if I have it right, no abortion for raped women.

Walking it back.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/14/walker-warnock-georgia-abortion-00061971
Title: What Herschel (and others) should have said on abortion
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2022, 05:42:59 AM
What Herschel (and others) should have said on abortion:

The Supreme Court returned the issue to the states.  I'm running for federal office.
Title: McConnell will live on to rule Senate as minority or majority leader
Post by: ccp on November 11, 2022, 08:31:15 AM
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/rick-scott-mitch-mcconnell-senate/2022/11/11/id/1095923/

I am very ambivalent  of him
certainly some shenanigans with his wife finances
among other concerns
Title: Re: McConnell will live on to rule Senate as minority or majority leader
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2022, 09:57:01 AM
It's time for new leaders but we don't need a public fight over it right now, not until Georgia is settled.

Regarding Scott, McConnell and Trump, there is enough blame to go around.  McCarthy vastly underperformed as well.  Better start pulling together, or get used to losing. 

McConnell is some kind of expert on process and legislative strategy.  Staffers could provide that guidance.  We need a public face, voice and message to represent us, especially as the minority or opposition party.

This isn't a sporting event.  It's our country we are losing.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 11, 2022, 10:38:09 AM
Black Republicans elected to Congress in historic numbers

McDaniel: Minority engagement is ‘paying off’

BY KERRY PICKET THE WASHINGTON TIMES

At least five Black Republican lawmakers will serve concurrently in Congress next year, a number the GOP has not seen since the early 1870s.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Reps. Burgess Owens of Utah, Byron Donalds of Florida, Reps.-elect John James of Michigan and Wesley Hunt of Texas will serve in the 118th Congress together.

Mr. Hunt was recruited by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California to run in Texas’ 38th Congressional District. Mr. James, who graduated from West Point with Mr. Hunt and roomed with him at the military academy, won the race for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.

Janiyah Thomas, the Black media affairs manager at the Republican National Committee, heralded the “new group of diverse leaders in the party.”

“Under the leadership of RNC Chairwoman Ronna Mc-Daniel, Republicans have been making inroads with Black voters by showing up in our communities and listening to Black voters at our RNC community centers,” she said in a statement to The Washington Times. “The Republican National Committee has made minority engagement a top priority and it is paying off. America is lucky to have these newly elected officials that will restore our country” Although the number is small compared to Black Democrats who had 55 Black members from congressional districts and two delegates from the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 117th Congress, it is still a new highwater mark for GOP diversity on Capitol Hill.

Horace Cooper, chairman of the Project 21 National Advisory Board, said that the significant gains by Black conservatives are evidence that the “freedom message is penetrating Black America.”

“It’s family, it’s faith. It’s personal responsibility that are going to solve the problems in the Black American community, and now with new leaders in Washington. That idea is likely to get a number of proponents to tackle and push,” he said.

The first five Black members of Congress, all Republicans, were sworn into the 42nd Congress in 1871. Their ranks increased to seven by 1873. That remained until the beginning of the 45th Congress in 1877, when the number of Black Republicans decreased to just three lawmakers.

That number continued to dwindle following the end of Reconstruction in the South. Between 1901 to 1929, no Black GOP lawmakers served in Congress.

After Rep. Oscar Stanton DePriest of Illinois left office in 1935, Congress had no Black Republicans until Rep. Gary Franks of Connecticut took the oath of office in 1991.

The number of Black Democrats in Congress has grown steadily every decade since 1935, starting with Rep. Arthur Mitchell of Illinois.

Back in March, the National Republican Congressional Committee this year counted 81 Black candidates running as Republicans in 72 congressional districts, up from 27 in the 2020 election cycle.

The NRCC called the number at the time “a record in the modern era” for the party
Title: Congressional races, Mike Lee, Utah, wins
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2022, 12:19:12 PM
I didn't notice this one, Mike Lee won 55-41.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-elections/utah-senate-results

No thanks to Mitt.

If you count McMuffin as a Republican, Republicans won 96 to something like 0.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 11, 2022, 02:09:11 PM
"I didn't notice this one, Mike Lee won 55-41"

 :-D

and that was the race in which a former R ran as an I with democrat funding
is that right!

both are "friends of Mitt"

yes I remember now

my nephew worked for Mitt back in '12
not sure if he would tell me what he thinks of Mitt now
he is very careful with his words   :wink:
Title: Congressional races, Vance, Ohio
Post by: DougMacG on November 11, 2022, 04:42:30 PM
Great article I think about how Vance won by 7 in Ohio.

This is how it should go in 50 states.
Title: Kelly wins in AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 12, 2022, 08:18:03 AM
Arizona Republican Hopeful Blake Masters Loses Senate Race to Dem Incumbent Mark Kelly
By ARI BLAFF
November 11, 2022 10:59 PM

Following the release of a new batch of votes by Arizona’s Maricopa County on Friday night, it became clear that incumbent Democratic senator Mark Kelly had held off the challenge by Republican hopeful Blake Masters, multiple media outlets reported.

Masters failed to close the gap of roughly six percentage points, with a margin Friday night of 51.8 percent to 46.1 percent. Approximately 120,000 votes separated the two candidates, with nearly 2.2 million ballots cast.

Pollsters had projected the Arizona Senate race on Election Day to be a virtual dead heat.

Although Masters has trailed Kelly consistently in the vote tallying since Tuesday, media outlets have been hesitant to declare the incumbent the winner, given the large percentage of outstanding votes across the state.

Vote-counting woes have continued to plague Arizona since residents went to the ballot box Tuesday for the midterm elections. By Friday evening, less than 80 percent of the overall Senate votes had been counted and verified, according to the New York Times.

However, the newly released ballots have cleared up any uncertainty.

Masters was initially spurned by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and relied on his boss and close Trump ally, Peter Thiel, for financial backing and support. In recent weeks, Masters ratcheted up his denunciations of establishment conservatives such as McConnell, saying the senator would “not own me” and that he would operate more detached from strict party lines.

Masters ran a considerably less competitive race than Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has narrowed the gap with her Democratic opponent, Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs. That race has yet to be called.
Title: AZ skullduggery?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 12, 2022, 08:37:00 AM
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/11/developing-patriots-organize-rally-tomorrow-saturday-maricopa-county-election-department-response-maricopa-countys-attack-free-speech/
Title: Re: Kelly wins in AZ
Post by: DougMacG on November 12, 2022, 09:29:27 AM
September, McConnell pulls funding from Blake Masters.

It's hard to run against both parties.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/20/slf-arizona-senate-funding/
Title: Congressional races, Herschel Walker, GA
Post by: DougMacG on November 12, 2022, 10:22:07 AM
Herschel Walker - more than a stump speech.  This video came up for me after the officer Tatum video.

Very good speech, full of wisdom and passion.  Don't tell me he's a weak candidate!   )

https://youtu.be/tjw4DKzvIhc
Title: Sean Spicer
Post by: ccp on November 12, 2022, 11:52:46 AM
sean spicer - when it is pointed out how much Dems outspent Repubs in all these vulnerable races that loss -

he puts the fundraising blame squarely on the candidates

he criticized Republicans who lost for not going out and raising their OWN funds

they all sat around waiting for funding to be handed over but he says they completely ignored the most important part of campaigning - raising money!

he was a newsmax show 2 to 3 days ago pointing this out

but I cannot find it now.

anyone else see this?
Title: Andy Biggs for Majority Leader
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 14, 2022, 01:19:08 PM
https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/congress/andy-biggs-announces-for-speaker/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 14, 2022, 02:26:09 PM
I don't understand why we can't have a majority  who is popular among the party members

we need to tell our Senators to get rid of this guy already

why do we have to get these power hungry people who will simply NOT LEAVE?
Title: House Rep. 219 - Dem 216
Post by: ccp on November 14, 2022, 03:27:27 PM
 :-o

wow

we need to start going out and signing people up

go to nursing homes and offer the aids a few bucks more then the dems

and the homeless and those who otherwise don't give a hoot

and get there before they do.........
Title: AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 14, 2022, 04:18:24 PM
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/election/2022-arizona-election-results-live-updates
Title: Dem Congressman disappears
Post by: ccp on November 14, 2022, 06:41:26 PM
are they hiding the body?
or is he incapacitated in hospital?

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/11/14/democrat-rep-david-scott-still-missing/

would not  underestimate the crooked dems
Title: McCarthy for speaker
Post by: ccp on November 15, 2022, 06:57:12 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2022/11/14/biden-and-trudeau-beclown-themselves-by-parading-around-asia-in-commie-mao-jackets-n1645623

in my previous post I was about BIggs
I was confusing McCarthy with McConnell

I think McCarthy is doing a good job
and talks and acts the walk

it was McConnell who needs to be ousted from where I sit.

Title: Re: McCarthy for speaker
Post by: DougMacG on November 15, 2022, 07:40:21 AM
ccp:  "it was McConnell who needs to be ousted from where I sit."


McConnell apparently wanted to be minority leader and we need leaders who want to win majorities.  McConnell couldn't rise above a fight with Trump, even if Trump started it, and now both must go.  The leader of the party can't be the leader of the divide in the party.

It's not who did the most in the past.  It's who will do the most for us in the future.
Title: PP: McConnell has got to go
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 15, 2022, 10:34:58 AM
Mitch McConnell's Got to Go
Now more than ever, it's time for some fresh blood and new ideas in the Republican Senate caucus.

Douglas Andrews


Let's get right down to business: Mitch McConnell's got to go.

It'd be best if the 80-year-old senator stepped down as minority leader and allowed some fresh blood into the Republican leadership mix, but that appears highly unlikely. Instead, Nancy Pelosi-like, he seems committed to hanging onto power and content to blame his party's failure to retake the Senate on a slate of candidates that wasn't entirely to his liking.

If Mitch had his way, his Republican caucus would be chock-full of Donald Trump haters like Joe O'Dea, the Coloradoan who got his clock cleaned by 14 points by incumbent Michael Bennet, even though McConnell funneled millions in campaign advertising into O'Dea's campaign at the expense of far closer races, such as that of Arizona's Blake Masters and that of New Hampshire's Don Bolduc, both of whom lost more narrowly than O'Dea.

But that's not the worst of McConnell's sins. No, that would be his decision to pull campaign funding from the likes of Masters and Bolduc and instead spend it on the single worst Republican senator in the entire caucus, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, a RINO who voted against confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and who votes with Joe Biden a sickening 67% of the time.

Sixty-seven percent of the time.

Worse yet, McConnell didn't just funnel those much-needed millions to Alaska so that Murkowski could stave off a Democrat challenger. No, he did so to allow Murkowski to wage war on a fellow Republican — a solid conservative named Kelly Tshibaka, whom the state's Republican Party supported over Murkowski and whom Alaska's voters prefer over Murkowski.

Currently, in a rotten ranked-choice election that Murkowski engineered specifically to help her prevail over a more conservative challenger, she trails Tshibaka by 1.4%. But because of ranked-choice voting, she may well ultimately prevail due to her being preferred by most Democrats as their second choice.

Why on earth would Mitch McConnell weaponize Republican money against the preferred candidate of Alaska Republicans? Answer: Because he has Murkowski's support as minority leader.

What could be scummier?

"Election defeats have consequences," say the editorial page editors of The Wall Street Journal, "and Republicans on Capitol Hill are grumbling about their leaders again. Fair enough, but where are the alternative candidates and what would they do differently?"

Okay, we'll bite: For starters, how about giving full-throated and unequivocal support to your entire slate of Senate candidates, regardless of whether they were endorsed by Donald Trump, and regardless of whether they said something that hurt your feelings?

"Social-media griping about the 'establishment' is grandstanding, not governance," say the editors, who are clearly in the tank for Establishment Mitch. And it's true that Republican support hasn't coalesced around a particular successor to McConnell, but it most certainly will, given time. Instead, McConnell is eager to ram through a scheduled leadership vote tomorrow, before the 2022 election is even completed. (In case McConnell had forgotten, there's a crucial Senate seat yet to be decided in Georgia, and all his energies — and those of every Republican — should be focused on getting that 50th seat for Herschel Walker and the GOP.)

One Republican senator who seems superbly equipped for leadership is Arkansas's Tom Cotton. He's young, whip-smart, articulate, and staunchly conservative, but he's also registered his support for McConnell. Here's what he said this weekend:

I don't see why we would delay the election, since all five or six of our leadership elections are uncontested. You know, the great wrestling champion Ric Flair used to say, to be the man, you got to beat the man. And so far, no one's had the nerve to step forward and challenge Senator McConnell. So, I support Senator McConnell. I support the other slate of candidates for our leadership elections. I think it's better that we move forward with these elections, so we can focus again on the Georgia runoff.

Elsewhere among Republicans, the anti-Mitch sentiment is building, and it includes Senator Marco Rubio, who called for postponing this week's leadership vote, as well as Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, Rick Scott, Cynthia Lummis, and others.

"Abandoning Blake Masters was indefensible," said Cruz on his podcast. "Because Masters said he would vote against Mitch McConnell. And so Mitch would rather be leader than have a Republican majority." He added, "If there's a Republican who can win who's not going to support Mitch, the truth of the matter is he'd rather the Democrat win."

Mitch McConnell almost singlehandedly kept Merrick Garland off the Supreme Court during the Obama years, and for that all conservatives should be eternally grateful. He's also largely to thank for confirming a slew of Trump-appointed judges and justices. But it's time for new Republican leadership in the Senate. And it's time for someone to step forward.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 15, 2022, 11:01:49 AM
"One Republican senator who seems superbly equipped for leadership is Arkansas's Tom Cotton. He's young, whip-smart, articulate, and staunchly conservative, but he's also registered his support for McConnell."

Tom really impresses me on the Megyn Kelly show
yes he is brilliant
my guess he does not see his time to challenge McConnell and is biding his time

that said we have no time ......

 :cry:

Title: One last chance in the Senate:
Post by: DougMacG on November 16, 2022, 11:02:28 AM
As it sits, Dems have 50 plus VP Kamala.  Republicans have 49, and both have a shot at winning Georgia. 

With my math that means best case for Republicans is 51.  (What?)

A Herschel Walker win makes it 50-50, and if Walker wins, Joe Manchin jumping ship makes it 51-49.

Why wouldn't he.  He's had an almost complete falling out with Biden and his party and he's up for reelection in two years.  He serves in the majority either way but with a better margin if he jumps.  Saves him a lot of money on reelection.

The House (assuming Republican) already can stop all new radical Left legislation and the President and the Senate filibuster can stop all Republican legislation. What is left are judicial nominees and positioning for political futures.

Does Joe Manchin support far left radical judges or does he hold his nose and vote to stay in the party?  Does his constituency (+40 Trump) prefer Left judges?  I doubt it.

Mother Jones (far Left) wrote Georgia still matters because the narrow Dem majority (50-50) for them depends on the votes of Manchin and Sinema.

In the House we had an analogous situation in MN congressional district 7, western Minnesota.  The district had turned red and then redder.  The long serving incumbent Dem (Collin Peterson) was very well liked locally, kept getting more and more moderate, was the only Dem in the nation to vote against Obamacare (because they didn't need him).  Kept winning by less and less and then he lost.  Now the Republican is winning the district with a 40% margin (similar to WV):  https://www.fox9.com/election/minnesota-election-results-2022-congressional-district-7

Manchin is well liked in his state but swimming against the tide.  It's easier to be in the same party as your constituents than to keep making excuses.  The vote for majority leader is the most important vote they make.
Title: Republicans win the House
Post by: DougMacG on November 17, 2022, 05:26:32 AM
https://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-era-draws-close-gop-032132982.html
Title: Sean Trende, What happened?
Post by: DougMacG on November 17, 2022, 06:06:33 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/11/17/what_happened_148483.html

Sean Trende, election analyst, RCP, excepted:
...
As of this writing, Republicans received 51.0% of the vote to Democrats’ 47.1%.
...
As things stand, we are seeing roughly a 7-point swing from 2020, when Democrats won the popular vote by a 50.8% to 47.7%
...
Republicans made gains among African Americans, and significant gains among Hispanics. Darren Soto won by just eight points in his heavily Puerto Rican district in central Florida. Two Democrats were held below 60% in heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley districts. At least as of this writing, the GOP is performing well in Central Valley districts. In Los Angeles, Grace Napolitano is at 57%, Norma Torres is at 56%, Pete Aguilar is at 58%, and Linda Sanchez is at 55%. Bill Pascrell won his heavily Hispanic district in New Jersey by 10 points.

But with the potential exception of the Central Valley districts, these extra votes did not translate to seats. Because the VRA requires that these voters be placed into heavily Hispanic/black districts, which become overwhelmingly Democratic districts, it takes huge shifts in vote performance among these voters to win a district outright, and Republicans aren’t there right now. 

The other issue is that Republicans may be suffering a representational penalty in rural areas similar to the penalty Democrats have suffered in urban districts. That is to say, the GOP puts up stunning vote percentages in rural America, margins that would not have been deemed possible a decade ago, to say nothing of three decades ago. But this means that a large number of those votes are effectively wasted. As the suburbs become more competitive for Democrats and the cities become somewhat less competitive (but not enough to lose seats) as minority vote percentage moves, Democrats lose the penalty they’ve suffered for running up overwhelming vote shares in urban districts in the past.
...
----------------
From other analysts:
1) We lost the under 30 vote.
2) We lost unmarried women.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 17, 2022, 06:10:00 AM
here is a map that gives the breakdown in the House (still anxiously waiting for you [final results] in several elections a 9 d after election  :x]

https://www.google.com/search?q=congress+vote+tally&rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1001US1001&oq=congress+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59l2j69i61l3.3103j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

man, NJ +  New England sucks for us . NY improved  :-o
Title: McConnell Senate Fund took money from Sam Bankman Fried - FTX
Post by: ccp on November 17, 2022, 10:51:47 AM
https://republicbrief.com/dirty-mitch-was-on-the-take-mcconnell-received-2-5-million-from-crypto-laundromat-ftx/

so SBF who funded democrats

would give money to Mitch - in effort to help rinos I presume
Title: hollywood libs :nancy is the best in history
Post by: ccp on November 18, 2022, 06:30:33 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/11/18/hollywood-celebrities-fawn-over-outgoing-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-you-are-the-best-speaker-there-ever-was/

I was trying to find the interview with NEwt I saw last week

he also said she was possible the most effective leader in history  :-o

somehow through carrot and stick she kept the whole dem crew in line.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 18, 2022, 09:40:03 AM
Pelosi, greatest of all time, right...

She historically won the House in 2006 at the low point of Bush Cheney as the Big Lie about the WMD lie succeeded.  Then tanked the economy into historic crisis.  Won the 2008 election on the coattails of The One, The Uniter, who immediately divided.

Then in 2010, judged on her own merits, methods and legislation, Obamacare ("You'll have to pass it to see what's in it"), she lost:

lost a net total of 63 seats in 2010, giving up all the gains of 2006, 2008 and more.
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections

She won the House back in 2018 under the auspices of President Trump and "Russian Collusion" while Robert Mueller held his empty report until well after the election.

Under Biden she passed trillions and trillions of new spending managing to tank an economy capable apparently of handling only single trillions of deficits, causing historic inflation and high interests certain to cause the next recession. 

And now lost the House again on a 7 point D to R swing in 2 years.  (Isn't it the popular vote that matters?)

Greatest of all time.  Good grief.  Good riddance.
Title: their new obama
Post by: ccp on November 18, 2022, 11:27:32 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakeem_Jeffries
Title: Re: their new obama
Post by: DougMacG on November 18, 2022, 12:57:59 PM
I don't see him on a path to be President but he will be the next Pelosi.
Title: New Members of Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 18, 2022, 01:18:08 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/new-members-of-congress/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F385ca2c%2F6377bff47e2620469f164158%2F61cdf026ae7e8a4ac205b2b3%2F9%2F72%2F6377bff47e2620469f164158&wp_cu=10fdb05edea8f32c1b02f6dfec609335%7CD462DD329F9C56B3E0530100007F597F
Title: Warnock trumpets Trump endorsement of Walker
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 18, 2022, 06:10:36 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/quite-astonishing-cnn-s-chris-wallace-stunned-by-trump-endorsement-being-used-as-attack-ad-against-herschel-walker/ar-AA14hiGE?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=fd78d6d3a12244fea114b7e466bf9771
Title: Re: The US Congress; (Dem) Election deniers for Leader
Post by: DougMacG on November 20, 2022, 06:14:58 AM
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/democrat-poised-succeed-pelosi-repeatedly-has-denied-legitimacy-trumps-2016
Title: thanks McConnell
Post by: ccp on November 20, 2022, 08:03:04 AM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/murkowski-takes-lead-kelly-tshibaka-senate-race

Why can't we have the representative we want for our party?

I presume Dems are voting for murkowski now
negating the real choice of Republicans

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 20, 2022, 08:24:05 AM
Fk.
Title: latest update on House seats
Post by: ccp on November 20, 2022, 11:31:45 AM
https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2022-election-house/

this is the only one I could find reporting on this
says repubs up to 219

with 4 pending of which 3 have R ahead though one by on 0.7% ( in California )

seems like the MSM stopped counting 2 to 3 days ago
since the Dems were finally counted out.

Title: Re: thanks McConnell
Post by: DougMacG on November 20, 2022, 12:34:45 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/murkowski-takes-lead-kelly-tshibaka-senate-race

Why can't we have the representative we want for our party?

I presume Dems are voting for murkowski now
negating the real choice of Republicans

Ranked choice is bullshit.  I don't care what anyone's second choice is.

Picking one is hard enough with typically lousy choices.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 20, 2022, 02:11:09 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/20/gops-kevin-mccarthy-set-to-bounce-democrats-schiff/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=iSe3ca9PIN8uguzPtCsA53SPIGkxYwKLKej9iLmePc%2Bm5tUIzydhJThCgXQvKbMy&bt_ts=1668964331925
Title: A Positive take on the Midterms
Post by: DougMacG on November 21, 2022, 07:49:55 AM
https://spectatorworld.com/topic/midterm-results-good-republicans-not-great/

Republicans grew support among all minority groups: +4 among Black voters, +10 among Hispanics and an impressive +17 among Asians. If Republicans can continue to improve on these trends, even at the marginal level, it puts a significant number House districts previously out of reach on the table and solidifies their positing in current swing districts.
----------------------------------

Not mentioned, the under 30 vote.  The next batch to come out of that lived through lockdowns.  Maybe we can make an argument to these future voters.

Not mentioned, the new voting system.  No ID required.  No election day.  No controls.  No investigations.  No prosecutions.  No chance of changing it.

Not mentioned, the disastrous showing in suburbs where I live.  Our district was Republican held for 60 years, flipped Dem in 2018.  Fake Moderate Dem won reelection this year by 19 points.  I posted the huge positive implications if suburbs flipped back.  Did not happen.
Title: Republicans to be at 221 or 222
Post by: ccp on November 21, 2022, 09:07:58 AM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2022/11/21/republicans-narrow-house-majority-has-expanded-n2616173

of course AP has it republicans are still at 218
while they desperately try to "find"more ballots

https://www.google.com/search?q=congress&rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1001US1001&oq=congress&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59l2j69i61l3.4415j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Title: McCarthy goes after DHS Mayorkas
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 22, 2022, 02:37:49 PM
https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/22/mayorkas-biden-mccarthy-republicans/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking&pnespid=vKJsGS5XbbIRyPjaq2m7FZWBpUygS4YvNrat0LJorxBmePeWecDZLijEKtKVjK409zpaiLhi
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 22, 2022, 03:29:56 PM
“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure to determine whether we can begin an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said."

good ; about time

not clear what happens to cabinet level head who gets impeaches exactly what that means

will this then go to the Senate for a trial - same as for pres or vp?

if so we do not have majority and this mayorkas gets to gaslight us for another 2 yrs

and the shysters will stonewall every step of the way and bill for hours wasted

protecting a  law enforcement officer who will not enforce the laws .



Title: WSJ: Why Herschel matters a lot
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 23, 2022, 04:39:20 PM
Herschel Walker Can Become the Republicans’ Defensive MVP
A 51st Democratic Senate seat would make the party a lot more powerful than an evenly split chamber.
By Heather R. Higgins
Nov. 23, 2022 6:54 pm ET

SAVE

PRINT

TEXT
5

The U.S. Capitol building, March 8, 2021.
PHOTO: JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS

Unlike in 2020, Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff won’t decide whether Chuck Schumer or Mitch McConnell is majority leader. But it will determine whether Democrats have a true majority. If they do, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has cast 26 tie-breaking votes, will have less to do—but that’s the least important implication.

With an evenly divided Senate, any single Democrat can prevent legislation from passing without Republican support. Even when the holdout eventually gives in, the result may be less extreme, as when West Virginia’s Joe Manchin brought the cost of the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act down to $750 billion, plus another $1.2 trillion for a separate infrastructure piece, from its initial $6 trillion.

A 50-50 Senate also means a single Democrat can prevent a party-line confirmation. Mr. Manchin forced Neera Tanden’s withdrawal as director of the Office of Management and Budget and Sarah Bloom Raskin as a Federal Reserve governor by announcing he’d vote against them. David Weil, the radical academic who would have headed the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, went down to defeat when Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema and two other Democrats voted against him.

An even split makes every Democratic senator the deciding vote on every party-line measure that requires a simple majority. That helps provide clarity at re-election time. With 51-49, Mr. Schumer could let two at-risk senators be absent when the chamber votes on bills or confirmations that would be particularly unpopular back home.

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And although the Republican House makes this prospect remote, an evenly split Senate is less likely to vote by simple majority to abolish the legislative filibuster. The only holdouts in the current Congress were Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema. If one of them defects in a 51-49 Senate, that’s enough to give Ms. Harris the deciding vote.

The additional senator would also give an edge in committee assignments. That would give Democrats the power to move bills and nominees through committee, where Ms. Harris doesn’t have a tie-breaking vote. Under the parties’ 2021 power-sharing agreement, a tie vote doesn’t block a floor vote, but delays it by requiring the full Senate to approve a discharge motion. With committee majorities, Mr. Schumer could force onto the floor “messaging” bills—appealing legislation that couldn’t pass the House, designed to give the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fodder against GOP incumbents.

Democrats would also have the power to move nominations directly to the floor without Republican support. That would speed the process of filling vacancies in the executive branch and the judiciary. Gigi Sohn’s nomination to serve on the Federal Communications Commission has been stalled for more than a year and awaits a discharge motion after a 14-14 committee vote. Ms. Sohn has suggested she might use the FCC to censor conservative news broadcasters.


A 51-49 majority would give committee Democrats roughly twice the minority Republicans’ allocation of money, office space and staff to draft legislation and prepare investigations and subpoenas. Democrats would control committee time, and Republicans would get half as many witnesses.

An evenly split Senate moves more slowly. Not only do Republicans get more floor time and parliamentary options, but the majority leader moves something to the floor only when all 50 of his members are present. Many times in the past two years Mr. Schumer was unable to proceed because a single Democrat was absent—although the easing of Covid fears will make that less frequent.

Victory in Georgia also improves Republican chances of taking a majority later. This could happen quickly: If a Democratic seat becomes vacant, Republicans would immediately have a 50-49 majority; if a Republican governor appoints a replacement, it would go to 51-49. And the winner on Dec. 6 will serve until 2029, so the race will help determine the chamber’s composition for the next three Congresses. If Republicans win a majority in 2024 or 2026, having a margin will be as valuable to them as it is to Democrats now.

For now, though, we aren’t talking margin. Herschel Walker would be the crucial brake that prevents a run on the judiciary, on subpoenas and investigations, and on a progressive wish list of messaging bills. He was a star running back at the University of Georgia. Now is his chance to be a defensive MVP.

Ms. Higgins is CEO of Independent Women’s Voice.
Title: Palin loses to Dem
Post by: ccp on November 24, 2022, 06:54:31 AM
the Dem was endorsed by  Rep Murkowski. and Rep  Don Young

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/mary-peltola-sarah-palin-alaska/2022/11/23/id/1097785/

alaska congresspeople

liberty score  Reps . Dan Sullivan 64 % Don Young 46 % Murkowski 29%

Alaska is faux conservative state ......

they elect republicans but they are all Rino-democrats
Title: Walker four points down?
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 24, 2022, 12:11:13 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/herschel-walker-reacts-to-hearing-raphael-warnock-pulling-ahead-in-polls/ar-AA14uU2v?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2f4e1662588944c69c16d3600eb11f02
Title: 3M more votes for the Reps
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 24, 2022, 12:20:25 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/24/gop-won-3-million-more-votes-this-year-but-not-whe/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=yaLIW176BXiN6knoGefNpzFo0h5Xwx3g2GrozSmuAgLRwi%2FAO0KaVGg9hZNDZ%2BLM&bt_ts=1669312393928
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 24, 2022, 02:25:00 PM
repubs

won 3 M more "but not where it counts "

wait till next time when we go out and start our own ballot harvesting
where "it counts"

we need better outreach in the urban areas

just with bars and bullet proof windows at the outreach centers
and communicate why Dems fail and out policies succeed

I admit  I am lots of talk here but far easier to bloviate rather then actually do....
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 28, 2022, 07:56:44 AM
Apparently, Herschel maintains a home/property in Texas that his IRS filings claim as his residence.

Fuct again.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 28, 2022, 08:36:07 AM
Apparently, Herschel maintains a home/property in Texas that his IRS filings claim as his residence.

Fuct again.

 :-o :x :roll:

isn't that what oz did ?

dems are now gloating
and pushing for everything this last month of course

Title: PP
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 28, 2022, 09:14:52 AM
Another strategic blunder by Herschel Walker: With the December 6 Senate runoff election looming in Georgia between Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker, political blunders need to be avoided. Unfortunately, Walker just made a big blunder, similar to that of Republican candidate Mehmet Oz in his failed Pennsylvania race. It's the "carpet bagger" label, which Oz was never able to escape. It turns out that Walker is receiving a primary resident tax break on his home in Dallas, Texas. Back in 2021, Walker registered to vote in Georgia not long before launching his Senate bid in the Peach State. For decades prior, Walker lived in Texas, and records indicate that he took the "principle residence" tax break for his Texas home on his 2021 and 2022 tax returns, despite the fact that he had already launched his Senate bid in Georgia. While it appears that legally speaking, Walker's Senate bid in Georgia is within bounds of the law, politically speaking this is another flaw that Warnock is sure to use to paint Walker as an outsider, despite Walker's storied history as Georgia's most famous running back.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 28, 2022, 09:45:08 AM
Apparently, Herschel maintains a home/property in Texas that his IRS filings claim as his residence.

Fuct again.


Bad?  Yes, but already well known.

"legally speaking, Walker's Senate bid in Georgia is within bounds of the law, but politically..."

Double standard.  Al Franken (born in NY) moved to New York in his adult life, not MN, for decades.  Worked for NY companies, SNL and Air America radio for decades.  Then decided to run - in MN.  The left loves Liz Cheney, from Virginia, not Wyoming.  That never comes up.  Robert Kennedy was from New York, not Massachusetts?
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/history/sept-1-1964-robert-kennedy-to-run-for-senate-first-stop-buffalo/article_6663744d-5e3f-5deb-8450-d92a35c65b52.html
"He (RFK) was not a New York State resident and wasn’t registered to vote here (1964); the state Democratic Committee had to give him permission to run."

That's quite a tradition of not caring what state people are from if they advance your politics.

My congressman, Democrat Dean Phillips, ran his first campaign from his house across from my daughter in Minneapolis, not in 3rd district where the seat was winnable.  Then he bought a house on Lake Minnetonka for the phony move.  A house that is now sold.  THEY do it all the time.

Is Mitt Romney from Utah?  No.  He owns a house there, and a lot of other places.  Throw him out.

Herschel Walker has plenty of authentic roots in Georgia, (especially compared to the above) and can legally change residency anytime he wants (if he forgot).  (I doubt he has not done that.)

What about Warnock and these eviction actions the Left hates so badly?  Does.Not.Matter.

Like the Fetterman vote, this is a simple choice of left vs right for the country. 

The Libertarian won 2.1%.  That plus 48.5% Walker vote takes it well over 50.  https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/results/georgia/senate

But somehow we already know the turnout will go the other way.

God help us.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 28, 2022, 12:01:50 PM
"The Libertarian won 2.1%.  That plus 48.5% Walker vote takes it well over 50."

The counter argument is that Kemp pulled voters into voting for Herschel.
 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 28, 2022, 01:49:54 PM
"But somehow we already know the turnout will go the other way."

yes

stacy abrams and her crew are working overtime

hollywood and other rich democrat money rolling in etc.......

soros and the rest
probably money taken for Bankman Fried
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 28, 2022, 02:37:33 PM
"The counter argument is that Kemp pulled voters into voting for Herschel."

   - Good, then Gov Kemp can keep pulling.  We're not there yet.  I understand he is helping.  I hope it's enough.

We're not in their market but it sure seems quiet right now considering the stakes.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 28, 2022, 04:13:43 PM
Point being that Kemp is not on the ballot this time.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 28, 2022, 05:13:49 PM
Right.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on November 28, 2022, 05:14:52 PM
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-sports-religion-georgia-9ba48d67d6c4d18c9a11e5dc852bba9f
Title: NYT nate cohn
Post by: ccp on November 30, 2022, 07:34:27 AM
laments that black turnout was

not so great

he asks if it is due to doubts about the ability to fight "white supremacy"

"Is it simply a return to the pre-Obama norm? Is it yet another symptom of eroding Democratic strength among working-class voters of all races and ethnicities? Or is it a byproduct of something more specific to Black voters, like the rise of a more progressive, activist — and pessimistic — Black left that doubts whether the Democratic Party can combat white supremacy?"

 :roll:

oh the self righteousness ......
Title: US Congressional races, Republicans vs Republicans
Post by: DougMacG on December 01, 2022, 09:13:12 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3757720-republican-georgia-lieutenant-governor-says-he-couldnt-vote-for-walker/

How do you win divided?  He can't see the difference between Warnock and Walker?
Title: these broads are being paid off
Post by: ccp on December 01, 2022, 11:56:48 AM
https://www.mediaite.com/election-2022/five-more-herschel-walker-exes-come-forward-to-accuse-him-of-terrifying-violent-behavior-i-saw-a-fist-flying-toward-me/

I don't know if Walker is a problem or not
but the fact this comes out in the Daily Beast ( :roll:) and
NOW  speaks volumes



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on December 05, 2022, 07:18:56 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/12/04/is-trump-costing-the-gop-the-senate-seat-in-georgia-again-n1650832
Title: Last nail in the coffin!
Post by: DougMacG on December 05, 2022, 07:31:22 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3761518-betting-markets-heavily-favor-warnock-over-walker-in-georgia-runoff/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 05, 2022, 09:16:23 AM
last nail in coffin

thank "the Donald"

lost us Ga - again

( or probably anyway)

I read Warnock (warlock?)
is making three times the campaign stops as Herschel

:roll:

 
Title: A hundred reasons we lost Georgia
Post by: DougMacG on December 06, 2022, 03:13:40 PM
Today is election day and I have heard nothing about it.  No one thinks Walker will win and no one seems to care.  Did I miss something?

I thought we fight to the end to save the republic, and instead we're handing the keys to Warnock et al. Fidel, Chavez, Mao and Warnock.  Without a fight.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 06, 2022, 03:49:31 PM
agree

I guess I assume the mail in ballot cartel will simply keep counting till the get the magic #

if Fetterman can win why not Herschel
is the only other thing I can add

 :wink:
Title: Warnock wins
Post by: DougMacG on December 07, 2022, 12:35:55 AM
Warnock
Incumbent
51.4%   
1,814,827
95,451 ahead
Walker
48.6%   
1,719,376
---------

2.8% win by these numbers.

Not a 3% advantage in money, 3-FOLD!

Not counting the Atlanta Constitution, Facebook, Google and all the local channels and national networks.

WHY does this keep happening?

As mentioned earlier, no one on the right seemed to care.

WTF do people on the right think was meant by, "a republic if you can keep it"?

I gave $20 for the runoff.  Rounds to zero alone but if 40 million (half o 80 million rightward voters with above average income) gave 20 that's 800 million.

Dem 'volunteers' are paid, does anyone not know that?  You work the block, the neighborhood, and get paid for it.  And someone checks your work, a higher paid 'organizer'. They gather and return ballots, right?

Meanwhile we sit home and hope people "turnout" on a bad weather day for an alleged wife batterer who doesn't love his kids, pays for abortions, lives out of state etc.

A little further North, no one held a few minor alleged personal defects against Fetterman when they wanted their ideology represented

Does anyone want to learn anything from this, other than to give up?.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2022, 06:17:47 AM
" For the moment I am ashamed of my party and ashamed of my country."

"As one might whisper at Augusta, this was a makeable putt."

yes .  I don't know how many judges get appointed but it is free reign now
by a half senile lying crooked Democrat who should never have been President from day one.

It is up to Kevin McCarthy to hold down hatches till '24.

meanwhile the academics those maintaining the wide open border keep working on making more Democrats

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2022, 07:05:52 AM
"" For the moment I am ashamed of my party and ashamed of my country."

"As one might whisper at Augusta, this was a makeable putt."

while Dems keep winning and we keep losing the country
all I hear is Hunter Biden.........

from our side......    :cry:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 07, 2022, 12:04:27 PM
Woof Gents:

I share your mood.

Too busy catching up from four days without electricity to comment though.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2022, 01:46:33 PM
and you thought you were safe (r) in NC  :-o
Title: Sinema to switch to R ?
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2022, 03:48:42 PM
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/kyrsten-sinema-democrats-biden/2022/12/07/id/1099525/

she would be most welcome even if she have her arms around Romney in the photo   :-o

(Mitt, you dog  :-D)f



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 07, 2022, 05:27:47 PM
That would be fg AWESOME!!!
Title: Sinema "Indepedent"
Post by: ccp on December 09, 2022, 06:31:55 AM
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/kyrsten-sinema-independent-senator/2022/12/09/id/1099783/

Another Independent who is really a Democrat and  "Independent in name only"

The other 2 are really Democrats, Angus King and Burnie Sanders (faux independents)

Article does not state if she will "caucus with democrats " but we can probably assume she will



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 09, 2022, 07:47:21 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/09/what-sinema-party-switch-means/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F388875d%2F6393729f9d88976ba34eb551%2F61cdf026ae7e8a4ac205b2b3%2F9%2F72%2F6393729f9d88976ba34eb551&wp_cu=10fdb05edea8f32c1b02f6dfec609335%7CD462DD329F9C56B3E0530100007F597F
Title: we will have 9 seat lead in Congress
Post by: ccp on December 10, 2022, 09:30:34 AM
I'll take it :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/118th_United_States_Congress

double the count (q 2 yrs)

336.

back to 1686?

early Congress must have been counted yearly ?


Title: but Herschel not offering 1/4 mill in reparations
Post by: ccp on December 10, 2022, 02:53:01 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/herschel-walkers-wife-had-obsessive-181028413.html

You just can't just be black
you have to convince Black Americans why you are better for them .....


this lesson is clear


I am trying to figure out how many Blacks voted for Tim Scott. in SC

but cannot find it in googling

if he can't bring in more Black voters no one can

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races, Sen. Sinema leaves the Dem Party
Post by: DougMacG on December 11, 2022, 06:24:53 AM
For one thing, what say Joe Manchin?

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kyrsten-sinema-independent-leaving-democratic-rcna60993

PS Romney will remain in the Dem Party.
https://babylonbee.com/news/following-sinemas-exit-romney-announces-intention-to-remain-in-democrat-party
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 11, 2022, 08:56:07 AM
"My understanding is Tim Scott's vote demographic looks similar to that of a (popular) white conservative."

LBJ was right .   My understanding was more Republicans voted for the civil rights act in '64 then Dems many of whom were southern segregationists.

If only Barry Goldwater would have supported instead of turning it over to LBJ..

of course lamenting "if only " does not help us now.....

can anyone image what a new government largess that will further bankrupt this country
reparations would be?

was on Bongino or Newsmax when a guest stated we will need to new *DEPARTMENT OF REPARATIONS"



Title: Gaetz: No to McCarthy
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 11, 2022, 09:37:30 PM


https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/11/mccarthy-is-not-the-right-leader-for-the-moment/
Title: US Senate, Joe Manchin
Post by: DougMacG on December 12, 2022, 09:51:26 PM
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/12/joe-manchin-no-intention-switching-independent-doe/

Not ruling it out, is what I hear.
Title: Boebert wins by 546
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2022, 05:43:10 AM
https://populistpress.com/rep-lauren-boebert-officially-wins-reelection-seat-after-recount/

wow

WE actually won by tiny margin
Title: Re: The US Congress; Speaker race, Andy Biggs
Post by: DougMacG on December 13, 2022, 03:48:45 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/the-gop-requires-a-stronger-house-speaker

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3736687-five-things-to-know-about-andy-biggs/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 16, 2022, 04:57:29 PM
https://nationalfile.com/ultimatum-house-gop-moderates-demand-mccarthy-keep-nancy-pelosis-rules/
Title: Gen. Flynn calls for Trump as Speaker of the House
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 17, 2022, 11:56:09 AM
https://nationalfile.com/video-general-flynn-calls-for-trump-to-be-next-house-speaker/

Too bad he's been fg up so much , , ,
Title: NRO: How Trump Cost Republicans the Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 19, 2022, 07:46:14 PM
As I post this I have not had a chance to give it a proper read, but from the intro I'd say it looks to be pretty devastating:
=====================

How Trump Cost Republicans the Senate

Former president Donald Trump speaks in support of candidates Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., September 3, 2022. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)
By DAN MCLAUGHLIN
December 19, 2022 6:33 PM

When you look at the big Senate races, it is clear that Donald Trump blew his party’s chances at claiming the majority.

Author’s note: This is the first in a series of articles looking at Donald Trump’s impact on the Republican candidates chosen to run in the 2022 midterms.

Amajor reason why many Republicans and conservatives have increasingly soured on Donald Trump following the underwhelming 2022 election cycle is that Trump played a crucial, often decisive role in picking so many of the bad candidates who lost winnable races. What follows is an examination of exactly how badly Trump harmed Republicans, beginning in this first installment with the big three Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. All three were eminently winnable with good candidates, and any two would have given the party control of the Senate.

Trump and his defenders argue that he endorsed more than 200 candidates who won, and that this outweighs his losing endorsements. Clearly, as unpopular as Trump is, being endorsed by Trump was not a kiss of death all by itself. Nor did voters reject candidates merely for what the GOP’s more florid critics call “complicity.” In Florida, Marco Rubio won by 16 points running with Trump’s general-election endorsement, double his 2016 margin. In Utah, Trump endorsed the reelection of Mike Lee. Evan McMullin built his whole Senate campaign around Lee’s post-election text messages with Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Lee faced a surprisingly competitive race — he got the lowest vote share of any Utah Republican for the Senate since 1974 — but he won by double digits anyway.

But Mike Lee and Marco Rubio were not chosen or recruited by Donald Trump. And therein lies the difference.

In examining how Republicans ended up with so many losing candidates in winnable races, tallying endorsements is the wrong question. Trump padded his list by backing a ton of safe House incumbents with no real primary challengers. The more important question in assessing whether Trump should continue in a leadership role in the party is what role he played in the party’s selection of candidates in 2022.

That role goes beyond simply a numerical scoreboard of endorsements. Trump deterred some potential candidates, even incumbents, from running. He endorsed unsuccessful primary challengers to candidates who won in November. He helped some candidates win their primaries with decisively timed interventions. He endorsed others only when they had locked up their nominations, or only in the general election. Once the campaigns began, some Trump-endorsed candidates ran standard Republican campaigns; others, even those not formally endorsed by Trump, went all-in on 2020 stolen-election theories. The latter fared much worse.

A separate question, not examined here, is the impact of Trump, Stop the Steal, January 6, and the poor candidates recruited or endorsed by Trump on the huge spending advantages enjoyed by Democrats in many key races.

Turnout and Persuasion

Candidate selection is, of course, not the only way in which Trump negatively affected the midterms. As I have detailed from exit poll data, Trump was massively unpopular with the people who voted in the midterms. The people who said that they were casting a vote to oppose Trump greatly outnumbered those who said that they came out to support Trump. Indeed, the margin between the anti-Trump and pro-Trump voters was, by itself, enough to play a decisive difference in nearly every Republican defeat for which we have exit polls.

Whatever issues Republicans had with turning out their voters early or by mail-in balloting, the electorate wasn’t the main problem. According to the exit polls, the national electorate was R+3 — in other words, three points more Republican than Democrat, 36 percent to 33 percent. If you’re familiar with party identification in polls, R+3 is extraordinary red-wave turnout. The national electorate was D+7 in 2008, D+4 in 2016 and 2018, and D+1 in 2020. It was evenly divided in 2004 and 2010, the former for George W. Bush’s national popular majority, the latter for a 63-seat red wave in the House. It was R+1 in 2014, when Republicans gained nine Senate seats.

On a state-by-state level, exit polls show an electorate that was astoundingly Republican: R+14 in Florida, R+11 in Ohio and Texas, R+6 in Georgia and Arizona, R+5 in North Carolina, R+3 in Pennsylvania, R+2 in Nevada and Wisconsin, and R+1 in New Hampshire. I have expressed some skepticism about whether those polls classified too many Democrat-leaning voters as independents, but the data we have are hard to square with the theory that Republicans lost mainly due to failure to use mail-in balloting and early voting to turn out their voters.

The Key Senate Races

One must look race-by-race to see the true scale of Trump’s impact on Republican fortunes in 2022. It was not all negative in every case — but on balance, it was so overwhelmingly negative that only a determined effort at denial can avoid acknowledging the damage done. I will award a letter grade to each race to summarize Trump’s impact.

The most important elections of 2022 were the contests for the Senate. The Senate controls the courts. Each election yields a six-year term, so the consequences of this cycle would be felt until the end of the next presidential term. It entered this cycle divided 50/50. Senate races are traditionally highly correlated with presidential approval, so Joe Biden’s low standing offered a lot of Republican opportunities, but big-money statewide races can buck trends due to individual candidates.

Democrats had only one retirement, that of an elderly incumbent in deep-blue Vermont, but they had short-tenured incumbents in vulnerable seats in Georgia and Arizona, and there were other potential Republican pickups, such as Nevada and New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Republicans had to defend seats they won in good GOP years in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

Pennsylvania: By any standard, the Pennsylvania Senate race was the year’s most important election. It turned out to be the only Senate seat to change parties, in a state that Trump carried by 0.7 points in 2016 and that Biden won by 1.2 points in 2020. It began 2022 with one senator from each party, a Democratic governor, and a Republican state legislature.

The top Republican priority should have been persuading incumbent Pat Toomey to run again. Every single Senate incumbent ended up getting reelected in 2022, as well as all but one incumbent governor (a Democrat). In retrospect, Toomey would almost certainly have been reelected in this environment. Trump, whose relations with Toomey were always frosty, did nothing to help persuade Toomey to stay on, and much to drive him away.

Toomey publicly announced his retirement a few weeks before the 2020 election, before he voted to impeach Trump over January 6 (after voting against the first impeachment). He offered principled reasons to not stay too long in public office. Like other Republicans who passed on winnable races, Toomey won’t exactly say that he retired rather than continue dealing with Trump and his influence on the party. So, it is possible that Toomey would have retired anyway. But given his small-government Tea Party principles and how obviously uncomfortable Toomey was with having Trump as the party leader, it seems clear that Trump’s continuing influence contributed to Toomey deciding to pack it in rather than fight for his seat.


Trump wasn’t worried: He had his man, Sean Parnell. Trump’s first endorsement to replace Toomey, in September 2021, was a failed 2020 congressional candidate who had never won an election, and whom Trump touted as “a great candidate, who got robbed in his congressional run in the Crime of the Century — the 2020 Presidential Election Scam.” Whatever might be said for Parnell’s political talents, he withdrew from the race after an ugly divorce in which his wife accused him of domestic abuse. Lest we pass too quickly over this disastrous judgment by Trump, imagine the national narrative if the domestic violence charges against Parnell had come out after he won the nomination, and while Herschel Walker was already dealing with similar baggage.

Enter Dr. Mehmet Oz, who won Trump’s endorsement on April 9, 2022, a little over five weeks before the May 17 primary. Despite nearly universal name recognition, Oz was then at 16.3 percent in the RealClearPolitics poll average, six points behind front-runner David McCormick in what was effectively a five-candidate field, none of whom had ever won elected office. Trump’s intervention was likely the decisive factor: Oz pulled ahead in the polls ten days later and never trailed. But he was hardly an overwhelming choice of the primary electorate, beating McCormick by 950 votes out of 1.35 million cast and capturing 31.2 percent of the vote. The other 68.8 percent of Republican primary voters were stuck with him.


(Real Clear Politics)
Oz was a strange choice. He was not the natural MAGA candidate in the race: Kathy Barnette ran a much more populist campaign, embraced the Stop the Steal movement identified with so many other controversial Trump candidates who rejected the 2020 election outcome, and basically ran as a ticket with Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. Barnette inspired some real populist energy in the western half of Pennsylvania, but she also had her own severe flaws. Trump seems to have warmed to Oz mainly because he was a celebrity and because he gave Trump a flattering bill of health when they met in 2016. He had previously served under Trump on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, although being a former Trump official is often a path to becoming one of Trump’s enemies.

Oz was not without his strengths. In addition to being massively famous and a smoothly experienced television performer, he is highly intelligent and intensely hard-working. He campaigned tirelessly, and by all accounts took seriously the role of a future Senator. He was, nonetheless, a poor candidate for reasons that were obvious from the outset. He lacked warmth — no bedside manner for the TV doc — and his lack of a prior record of political engagement made him seem a rich dilettante. His long residence in New Jersey allowed John Fetterman’s campaign to paint the Muslim with Turkish citizenship as “not a real Pennsylvanian.” Despite his distinguished medical record, he also carried an odor of quackery from some of the things he’d promoted during his TV career.

With 46.3 percent of the vote — two and a half points behind Trump’s own 2020 showing — Oz ended up running just under four points ahead of Mastriano, whose campaign was an even bigger fiasco also traceable to Trump’s malign influence. Mastriano and Oz took the Republican majority in the state house down with them. But at the congressional level, Republican House candidates won 52.5 percent of the vote statewide, and Republicans held their majority in the state senate, in which they also won a majority of the votes cast statewide. Even if you exclude the two House districts in which Republicans ran unopposed, Oz ran five to six points behind the party’s House candidates.

Looking geographically, Pennsylvania is traditionally divided in a way that compels both parties to make choices about the coalitions they pursue. The eastern part of the state is more upscale and educated and prefers socially moderate, fiscally conservative Republicans; the western part is more white working class and populist. The east is Arlen Specter country; the west is Rick Santorum country. Toomey, despite coming to office via successive primary challenges to Specter, was always more an eastern Pennsylvania guy. Even in 2016, Trump ran far ahead of Toomey in Western Pennsylvania, and Toomey ran even farther ahead of Trump in Eastern Pennsylvania.


(Pa.gov)
Compared with those two paths to victory, Oz was the worst of both worlds. He ran ahead of Trump’s 2016 coalition in only one county, Philadelphia itself. He lost two counties Trump won: Northampton on the New Jersey border, and Erie in far northwestern Pennsylvania. Oz ran stronger than Toomey in a bunch of the thinly populated western counties, reflecting the reddening of those counties as well as Oz’s association with the Trump brand. But he did so at the cost of losing seven counties carried by Toomey, some of them among the state’s most populous: not just Erie and Northampton, but two heavily populated upscale suburban Philadelphia counties (Bucks and Chester), Dauphin, Centre (home of Penn State), and Allegheny (Fetterman’s home county, which contains Pittsburgh).

Oz ran ahead of the party’s 2022 House candidates only in three counties. All three were in counties he lost in the easternmost parts of the state: Philadelphia, Chester, and heavily Democratic Lackawanna. But his failure to keep the pace cost him even in the east and center of the state: Bucks and Centre, which Oz lost, were won by House Republicans.

A stronger candidate should have been able to do more against Fetterman, who had a debilitating stroke in May and was visibly impaired throughout the campaign, especially when the two candidates debated on October 25. Republicans would likely have been wiser to pick McCormick, who worked for the Commerce and Treasury departments during the George W. Bush administration. Also a novice candidate, and perhaps vulnerable to some similar populist attacks for being the CEO of a Connecticut-based hedge fund, McCormick looked more like a Toomey-style candidate retrofitted with some harder edges for the Trump era. At least one early poll had McCormick three points ahead of Fetterman in the spring at a time when Oz trailed him by nine.

Given the absence of any Republican alternative besides Toomey who had ever won an election, I will be charitable and give Trump a D, but the sheer number of ways in which he drove the final outcome argues against any better grade.

*  *  *

Georgia: The single biggest target among Democrat incumbents in the Senate was Raphael Warnock. Georgia still has strong Republican roots (until 2020, no Republican had lost a statewide race in Georgia in 20 years), and Warnock was seen by many Republicans as essentially an accidental senator elected in the midst of Trump’s post-2020 tantrum. After all, the Republican candidates got more votes than the Democratic candidates in Warnock’s race on Election Day in 2020, just as David Perdue got more votes on Election Day, 2020 than did Jon Ossoff — until the runoff was blighted by Trump’s sore-loser campaign.

Even moreso than in Pennsylvania, the recruiting of a challenger to Warnock cannot be separated from either the endgame of the 2020 election or from the 2022 election for governor. Because Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stood in Trump’s way in the 2020 election controversy, Trump publicly swore revenge and set about recruiting his own slate of candidates for nearly every major office in Georgia.

Two of those recruits — former senator David Perdue, running against Kemp, and Congressman Jody Hice, running against Raffensperger — might have been formidable challengers to Warnock, had they kept their distance from Trump’s stolen-election obsessions. So might any number of experienced political figures in Georgia. Instead, Trump talked Herschel Walker into running. Arguably the greatest living Georgia sports legend, Walker played for Trump’s New Jersey Generals in the mid 1980s; he was thus a friend of Trump long before either man got into politics. Few Georgia Republicans wanted to go head-to-head with Walker in a primary. For a variety of reasons, not least of which was the need to pick their battles with Trump in the Georgia primaries, most leading Republicans in Georgia and nationally took a pass on opposing Walker, who faced only poorly funded opponents. Thus, while there is blame to go around among national and statewide Republicans in declining to present a serious alternative to Walker, Trump was pivotal to getting him into the race and deterring opposition.

The strategy of picking their battles with Trump worked for the rest of the ticket: Aside from the lieutenant governor’s race, all of Trump’s other endorsees lost in the primary, several of them (including Perdue) by substantial margins. All of those Republicans went on to win on Election Day by five or more points. Up and down the ticket, even in federal races for the House, Republicans had a good election in Georgia — except for Walker. An analysis by Nate Cohn of the New York Times emphasized that there was plenty of Republican voter turnout in Georgia, and that Republicans were likelier to turn out than Democrats — a pattern we have seen across a number of states. Even Walker supporters in polls were likelier to turn out than Warnock supporters. The New York Times/Siena poll found that Georgia voters wanted Republicans to control the Senate; they just didn’t vote that way, because they didn’t like the candidate.

A full catalogue of Walker’s well-known failures as a candidate is unnecessary here. His weakness as a public speaker, his documented mental-health issues, and his moral failures were all either apparent or easily discovered at the time Trump persuaded him to run for the Senate.

As in Pennsylvania, it is not entirely clear who would have run and beaten Warnock without Trump’s meddling, but the strength of the Georgia Republicans and the catastrophic recruiting of Walker justifies giving Trump an F.

*  *  *

Arizona: In Arizona, there was a mounting fissure in the state Republican Party going into 2022, which Trump has done everything in his power to exacerbate. The old party establishment, an uneasy alliance of moderates with Reagan/Goldwater libertarian-leaning conservatives, was arguably more successful before Trump than the Georgia Republicans:

Arizona remains a red state in every meaningful sense. Republicans have controlled both houses of the state legislature for two decades, and appear to have retained control this year. Before 2022, Democrats hadn’t elected a state attorney general since 2006 or a state treasurer since the 1960s; the state treasurer’s race this year was a Republican blowout, the attorney general’s race still too close to call, but likely a very narrow Democratic pickup. Before 2018, Democrats hadn’t won a Senate race in the state since 1988. Before 2020, Bob Dole in 1996 was the only Republican to lose Arizona at the presidential level since 1948 — and 1948 was also the last time a Democrat won a majority of the popular presidential vote there. From 1968 through 1992, Democratic presidential candidates never cracked 40 percent in Arizona; from 2000 through 2016, they never cracked 45 percent. In the House, Republicans have held onto six of the state’s nine seats, winning the popular vote across those House races by a margin of 56.9 percent to 43.1 percent. Two Republican incumbents ran unopposed, but even if you arbitrarily assume that Democrats would have taken a third of the vote in each of those deep-red districts, Republicans would still have won the statewide vote for the House by 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. Exit polls showed an electorate that was 33 percent Republican, 27 percent Democrat, 36 percent self-identified conservatives, and 22 percent self-identified liberals.

Some cracks were showing by the Trump era. Jeff Flake won his Senate seat with just 49.2 percent of the vote in 2012, but that was a year when Republicans won only two of the 13 Senate races decided by less than 15 points (Dean Heller in Nevada was the other). John McCain won a career-low 53.7 percent of the vote in 2016 after fending off a populist primary challenge from Kelli Ward, whom he defeated by twelve points. Both McCain and Flake drifted left in office and fell out with Trump. In 2018, a Democratic wave year but one more congenial to Republican Senate candidates, conventional Republican Martha McSally won the nomination with 55 percent of the vote when Ward and Sheriff Joe Arpaio divided the populist wing, but McSally went on to lose to Kyrsten Sinema by a little over two points.

In the round of musical chairs that followed McCain’s death in 2018, Governor Doug Ducey first picked former senator John Kyl as a placeholder, then — in a rare misstep by Ducey — chose McSally to hold and try to defend the seat in 2020. Ward became the state-party chair. McSally ran a lackluster campaign and lost to Mark Kelly in 2020. She ran two points behind Trump, who lost Arizona by a hair. Trump, backed enthusiastically by Ward, charged pervasive fraud in the 2020 election, and demanded an expensive audit of Maricopa County, which concluded that Trump lost the county by slightly more than the official count.

Trump declared war on Ducey, for certifying the 2020 election, and on state attorney general Mark Brnovich, for concluding that Joe Biden did not steal Arizona. Ward led the state party in censuring Ducey, Flake, and McCain’s widow, stopping short only from censuring McCain himself posthumously. She may as well have censured Arizona’s Republican voters.

The bland Kelly was in some ways a fatter target than Warnock in 2022, tying himself closely to Biden and his agenda (both of which are unpopular in Arizona) while Sinema acted as one of the few effective checks on Biden’s money-printing machine. The top recruit sought by Mitch McConnell and other Republicans was Ducey, who was term-limited from seeking a third term as governor. Arguably the most effective enactor of conservative policy in the country, Ducey was elected state treasurer with 52 percent of the vote in 2010, won the governorship with 53 percent in 2014 (after winning a six-way primary by 15 points), crushed a primary challenge in 2018 by 40 points and went on to be reelected with 56 percent of the vote.

Like Toomey, Ducey won’t say he passed on a Senate bid because of Trump, and as a career executive in business and politics, he likely had little enthusiasm for moving to Washington to become one of 100. Still, without Trump’s enmity, Ducey could likely have sailed to the nomination and would probably have beaten Kelly. It is hard not to conclude that Ducey’s falling-out with Trump, which was caused entirely by Trump’s rage over the 2020 election, contributed mightily to Ducey passing on the race.

Arizona could still have run a proven conservative, because Brnovich was not similarly deterred. Brnovich toppled a Republican incumbent in the 2014 primary, won 53 percent of the vote to become state attorney general that fall, and won 52 percent in his reelection in 2018, running four points behind Ducey but four points ahead of McSally. He is best known nationally for a successful 2021 Supreme Court defense of Arizona’s election laws against all the usual Democratic charges of racism, voter suppression, Jim Crow, and the rest. But defending actual election integrity put him, too, at odds with Trump. In December 2021, Kari Lake (running for governor of Arizona) “headlined a rally outside Brnovich’s office in December and used her time at the microphone to demand Brnovich file charges and make arrests.” In April 2022, Trump issued a statement claiming that Brnovich had disregarded “massive information on the fraud” and “crime committed” in the 2020 election that was “compelling, irrefutable, and determinative.” Trump promised an endorsement of one of his opponents:


Brnovich offered the reliability that characterized winning Republican candidates in 2022, but the attacks from Trump and Lake took their toll. Brnovich led by double digits in some early polls. If the modest public polling in the race can be trusted, he was still at or near the front of the pack until June 2, when Trump endorsed Blake Masters. Trump wasn’t shy about why: “Blake knows that the ‘Crime of the Century’ took place, he will expose it and also, never let it happen again,” he declared. Masters responded that “President Trump is a great man and a visionary.” Alayna Treene of Axios reported that “one key factor was Masters’ attendance at a screening of the 2020 election conspiracy documentary, “2,000 Mules,” at Mar-a-Lago last month — a move Trump thought gave him an edge over the other candidates, according to two sources.”

Masters — in single digits until late April — leaped ahead and ended up winning the primary with 40.1 percent of the vote. Brnovich, the two-time winner of statewide popular majorities, got 17.8 percent.


(Real Clear Politics)
This turned out to be a disastrously bad endorsement. Masters, who unlike Ducey or Brnovich had never run for office or won an election before, was a strange, creepy guy with no personal charisma. Assessments of how he went over with the public found “some of the worst focus-group results of any Republican candidate ever, according to the head of a Mitch McConnell–aligned super PAC; lower favorability ratings than Roy Moore, according to an internal poll of the Arizona Senate race.”

Masters took fire for being too Trumpy, and also for some amateur efforts to have it both ways. After he scrubbed from his website his primary-season claims about the 2020 election and said in a debate that Biden was the “legitimate president,” he got a call from Trump, who demanded that he not “go soft” and follow Lake’s model: “Look at Kari. Kari’s winning with very little money. And if they say, ‘How is your family?’ she says the election was rigged and stolen. You’ll lose if you go soft. You’re going to lose that base.” (Lake lost). Masters promised Trump, “I’m not going soft.” Tucker Carlson, for some reason, thought Masters’s sycophantic responses to Trump were helpful to him, and played the call on national TV. Masters kicked up a similar storm when he seemed to back away from pro-life commitments made during the primary.

He also brought a lot of strange baggage of his own. He touted the Unabomber when asked in a debate to name a thinker people should know more about. His past included all sorts of weird paleolibertarian stuff like this:

In a 2006 post on the libertarian site LewRockwell.com, he rehashed an elaborate conspiracy theory about the United States’ entry into World War I, implying a connection between the banking “Houses of Morgan and Rothschild” and the failure to alert American steamship passengers to German threats that preceded the sinking of the Lusitania. His main source was C. Edward Griffin, an ardent libertarian who once said that “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” — a notorious antisemitic forgery — “accurately describe much of what is happening in our world today.”

He was pulverized by Democrats for touting entitlement reform and saying, in a debate, “Maybe we should privatize Social Security.” Naturally, Kelly misrepresented this as a plot to defund the system, but it allowed Masters to be saddled with all of the baggage of the Romney–Ryan era Republican Party in addition to all the baggage of Trump and a trove of stuff that sounded like it came from a Ron Paul newsletter. Meanwhile, there ended up being a festival of finger-pointing between Masters, tech magnate Peter Thiel, McConnell, and Trump over whose responsibility it was to adequately fund the general election campaign. Masters, who relied heavily upon the patronage of Thiel in the primary, enjoyed no such financial edge against Kelly, who outspent him significantly.

The results weren’t pretty. Compare Masters’s showing with that of the top-of-the-ticket Republican candidates for president, senator, or governor since 2016, along with the midterm statewide votes for Republican House candidates in 2018 and 2022. Masters was the weakest of the bunch, losing by nearly five points, more than two points worse than either of McSally’s campaigns:


(Dan McLaughlin)
As in Pennsylvania, Republicans ran up the score in the popular vote for the House because Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko both ran unopposed, but the House GOP slate still drew 81,000 more votes than Masters. Masters ran nearly ten points behind Ducey in 2018, in a much more favorable environment for Republicans. This was a fiasco.

Per the exit polls, the 36-year-old Masters lost voters in their 30s by 21 points, and voters in their forties by eleven. He lost white voters (by one point), which no Republican can survive in any jurisdiction in America, on account of losing white women by ten and white college graduates by 18. He lost independents by 16 and moderates by 30. He won 89 percent of Republicans, while Kelly was winning 97 percent of Democrats and six percent of 2020 Trump voters. He lost suburbanites, who make up 48 percent of the Arizona electorate, by one. He ran up only a twelve-point margin among white voters without college degrees. Kelly rolled up a 59-point margin among the 63 percent of the electorate who thought Biden won the 2020 election. Fifty-seven percent of Arizona voters had an unfavorable view of Trump, and Masters lost them by 72 points; 57 percent disapproved of Biden, but Masters had a less commanding 66 point margin among them. Kelly won 28 percent of voters who listed inflation as their top issue.

The 800-pound gorilla of Arizona elections is Maricopa County, which houses both Phoenix and Mesa and accounts for about 60 percent of the state’s voters. The other big county is Pima, which includes Tuscon and the southern border. Traditionally, Maricopa leans modestly Republican, while Pima is heavily Democrat, and the rest of the state is deep red. Arizona’s blue shift in recent years has not, unlike in some states, been driven by a disproportionate population shift towards the big, urban-centered counties. It has been largely the result of demographic and political change within Maricopa.

Maricopa’s share of the state electorate peaked in the 2020 presidential and Senate races, but not by a large amount. In 2022, Maricopa turnout was down significantly in the House races, due in part to a chunk of the county being included in Lesko’s and Gosar’s districts. Overall, the rest of the state outside of Maricopa and Pima was a larger share of the electorate in 2022 across the board than in any recent election. Arizona Republicans didn’t lose in 2022 because the red hinterlands got swamped by the big cities; quite the opposite happened:


(Dan McLaughlin)
Masters was a terrible candidate for Maricopa. He lost the county by six points just four years after Ducey carried it by nearly 14, and while the county was swinging from 50-48 percent Democrat to 57-40 percent Republican in House races. He did worse there than Trump, Lake, or McSally:


(Dan McLaughlin)
Kelly, meanwhile, ran up bigger margins against Masters in Pima than any Democrat had done in recent years, even Katie Hobbs in her campaign against Lake:


(Dan McLaughlin)
What about heavily rural red Arizona? Here, at last, Masters wasn’t the very worst, compared with McSally’s 2018 campaign, but his 12.4 point margin of victory in the rest of the state pales in comparison with Ducey, McCain, or Lake — three very different candidates:


(Dan McLaughlin)
Maybe Arizona Republicans would not have recruited Ducey for the Senate without Trump, and maybe Brnovich would have lost to Jim Lamon in the primary. But clearly, Trump’s intervention had a disfiguring impact on this election from start to finish, leading to the worst statewide defeat for Arizona Republicans since at least the 2006 race for governor, accomplished by a candidate who excited nobody and turned off every category of persuadable voter. F.

*  *  *

If Donald Trump had simply disappeared after losing the 2020 election, it is highly likely that Republicans would have won at least two of these three races, and probably all three. They would today control the Senate. In the next installment, I will follow how much further his leadership damaged the party in 2022.
Title: Congress, Senate, Manchin, switch parties?
Post by: DougMacG on December 21, 2022, 01:20:36 PM
From the border thread where he spoke out against Biden.  Manchin is also feuding with Democrats over energy (coal).

“And I think that basically, I will make my decision (about switching parties) whenever I make the decision, or if I do make a decision, I will do it, and I’m not in any hurry to do that,” Manchin continued. On CNN with Jake Tapper
--------------

We may be better off without the switch and defeating or replacing him in 2024.  He has indicated he will be as much of a thorn in the side to R's as he is to Dems.
Title: WT on McCarthy
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 22, 2022, 07:01:48 AM
Can the unpopular McCarthy actually grab the speaker’s gavel? Dysfunctional Republicans rule the House By Joseph Curl Y

ou know who doesn’t like Rep. Kevin Mc Carthy? Kevin McCarthy’s mentor. “The Kevin McCarthy who is now, at this time, in the House isn’t the Kevin McCarthy I worked with,” former Rep. Bill Thomas, 81, told The New Yorker this week. Thomas served as a mentor to Mr. McCarthy as both were Republican lawmakers from California.

Mr. Thomas described his former protégé as mendacious, always on the lookout for what can benefit him politically.

“Kevin basically is whatever you want him to be. He lies. He’ll change the lie if necessary. How can anyone trust his word?” Mr. Thomas said. “He’s the guy in the college fraternity that everybody liked and winds up selling life insurance, convincing people they need it.”

Ouch. The scathing New Yorker article comes just as Mr. McCarthy is trying to talk his fellow Republicans into voting for him as the new speaker of the House. The current minority leader has made a lot of enemies along the way, and at least five Republicans have already said they won’t support him.

That’s a big problem because the GOP controls the chamber by a thin 222-213 margin, and losing five votes would put Mr. McCarthy below the 218-vote majority he needs to wield the gavel.

A week after the dismal showing by the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections, Mr. McCarthy won the Republican Party’s nomination to become the next speaker of the House. But then all hell broke loose, and now, it’s all up in the air.

The GOP caucus is fractured: A slew of splinter caucuses are battling for a share of power, meaning the California congressman has got to be all things to all people.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus has made numerous moves to be a central power broker in the GOP. The caucus, made up of 30 to 40 Republicans, last month sent potential new members a 55-page “Road Map” for the party, with a host of proposed rule changes, many of which sought to reduce the power of party leaders.

Other cliques are also looking for power. One known as the Problem Solvers Caucus pledges to be a centrist band that can help the GOP win battles in the House but will look for bipartisan support from Democrats.

Politico reported that the co-leaders of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Republican, and Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Democrat, met for dinner. They talked about changes that could unify and empower the 50 or so members of their group, including one idea that it would endorse only bills that have Republican and Democratic cosponsors when introduced.

Then there’s the Main Street Caucus, which touts itself on Twitter as “the 2nd largest Caucus of Republicans in the House,” adding that its top priorities are “implementing pro-growth policies for small business owners, fostering economic and individual prosperity [and] delivering results for the American people.”

“It’s time we flex our muscles,” Rep. Don Bacon, Nebraska Republican, co-leader of the Main Street Caucus, said, according to Newsmax.

The situation is getting even weirder.

House members “say preliminary conversations are happening among Republicans and Democrats about a possible contingency candidate if McCarthy cannot win the gavel after multiple ballots in the new GOPmajority House next month,” The Hill reported.

“We’ve had preliminary talks with the Democrats,” Mr. Bacon told reporters, according to C-SPAN. “If we have multiple, multiple votes, and they’re not willing to support what the far majority of the conference wants to do, we’re not going to be held hostage by them.”

And to make everything even weirder, former President Donald Trump has entered the game, backing Mr. McCarthy’s bid for speaker.

“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Mr. Trump said. “He is just — it’s been exhausting. If you think he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully, he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good, and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”

Mr. McCarthy was a big Trump cheerleader, but that ship has sailed. With the release of egocentric NFTs showing Mr. Trump as Superman, among other bizarre cartoons, Republicans are busy moving on from The Don.

And Mr. McCarthy has miffed moderates, meaning he’s got very few paths that lead to holding the gavel.

The New Yorker piece summed it up: “‘Everyone knows the joke,’ a former House staffer told me. “’All Kevin McCarthy cares about is Kevin McCarthy. He is the man for this moment.’ His main strength has always been his malleability. There are no red lines, core policy beliefs, or inviolable principles, just a willingness to adapt to the moods of his conference.”

That’s gotta hurt. Mr. McCarthy will turn just 58 next month, but he is, weirdly, part of the Old Guard. Democrats smartly cleared their decks — when Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 81, announced she would step down from a leadership role next year, second-in-command Rep. Steny Hoyer, 83, and third-incommand Rep. James Clyburn, 82, announced they’re stepping down, too.

Want weirder? The election of the speaker happens before the House sets the rules for the 118th Congress, meaning the vote is not beholden to the chamber’s standard operating procedures. If Mr. McCarthy doesn’t win on the first ballot, all hell breaks loose.

And that’s just how dysfunctional Republicans can be. Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.

ILLUSTRATION BY LINAS GARSYS POLITICAL
Title: 18 Rep Senators with Schumer
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 23, 2022, 11:16:26 AM
THE 18 REPUBLICANSWHO VOTED WITH SCHUMER… Here Are The 18 Senate Republicans Who Voted For $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill

Eighteen Senate Republicans voted to pass the $1.7 trillion omnibus package Thursday that includes hundreds of billions in defense and domestic spending.

The final vote on the 4,155-page bill was 68-29. Republican Sens. Roy Blunt (MO), John Boozman (AR), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Susan Collins (ME), John Cornyn (TX), Tom Cotton (AR), Lindsey Graham (SC), Jim Inhofe (OK), Mitch McConnell (KY), Jerry Moran (KS), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Robert Portman (OH), Mitt Romney (UT), Mike Rounds (SD), Richard Shelby (AL), John Thune (SD), Roger Wicker (MS) and Todd Young (IN) all voted in favor of the legislation.

 

ROMNEY MITTS ALL OVER HIS OWN PARTY… Romney Says He Didn’t Trust GOP-Controlled House To Craft A Budget (VIDEO)

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Thursday that he backed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill because he did not trust House Republicans to handle crafting a budget in light of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California’s difficult campaign for speaker of the House.

“House Republicans say that they want to craft a budget, but they haven’t yet been able to select a speaker,” Romney said, referencing the fact that several House Republicans came out in opposition to McCarthy’s bid for speaker. Romney noted it would be very difficult to sort out budgets for the current fiscal year and the following fiscal year.
Title: Prospects for AZ Senate Seat
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 25, 2022, 02:07:28 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kyrsten-sinema-destined-for-defeat-to-kari-lake/ar-AA15ETqH?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=aeb28758406c4e0da034abf4d3048622
Title: The Replacement Theory in Action
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 27, 2022, 03:29:48 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/27/not-all-house-members-are-created-equally-district/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=OzJOgS54dkxfkdN6pk5nYKDCTUzRrGy1PcxH7e6Va90gyJLE1pUoSgLaXrI3rv6K&bt_ts=1672148664487

Not all House members are created equally: Districts with big noncitizen populations warp elections

Rep. Ritchie Torres won reelection last month with roughly 73,000 votes, out of fewer than 90,000 cast in his district in the heart of the Bronx.

Slip across the East River and it took Nick LaLota 173,000 votes, out of more than 300,000 ballots cast, to win his Long Island race.

They’re in the same state, but those who cast ballots in Mr. Torres’ district effectively had three times as much political power in picking their member of Congress.

Some of that is population age, since only those over 18 are eligible to vote, but the biggest factor is immigration: Nearly 20% of his district are noncitizens — either illegal immigrants or legal ones who have not gotten citizenship.

They are still counted in divvying up districts, though, meaning that the citizens in Mr. Torres’ district benefit from living near so many noncitizens.
Title: NR: What should happen to George Santos
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 28, 2022, 08:15:30 AM
What Should Happen to George Santos?

On the menu today: Should George Santos serve in the upcoming Congress? It’s not just that the congressman-elect isn’t a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, as he had claimed, and made up large swaths of his résumé. There’s also the more significant question of how he suddenly amassed a fortune: a fortune he used to finance his successful congressional campaign.

Lies, Damned Lies, and $600,000

If the balance of partisan power of the House of Representatives would not change, and if it would have no effect on the upcoming selection of speaker of the House, would you want George Santos to stay in the House, or would you want him to resign?

It has become de rigueur among conservatives to point out that the Democrats are gargantuan hypocrites when it comes to a political figure’s lying about his background — and they are.

A few days ago, Tom Elliott listed all of the tall tales, sketchy claims, likely hallucinations, and outright lies offered by Joe Biden over the years. Among the highlights were Biden’s claims that:

he was arrested during a civil rights march;
he spent part of a summer working as a tractor-trailer driver;
he was arrested while trying to meet Nelson Mandela;
his son, Beau, was killed in Iraq (Beau Biden passed away after battling brain cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.);
he graduated “top of his class” in college (he in fact graduated “near the bottom”);
he hit a 368’ home run in one of the congressional baseball games;
his first job offer was from an Idaho timber company.
There’s a lot more on Tom’s list. I just felt like offering links and background on the handful above.

Liberals are tying themselves in knots to explain how Biden’s false stories are mere exaggerations, or instances of Grandpa’s getting confused, while Santos’s lies require an automatic expulsion from Congress. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes attempted to draw such a distinction: “I think there’s a line between ‘normal’ politician bs-ing and conman serial lying, and he’s got infractions on either side of that line. I mean it would have been a pretty big deal if it turned out Joe Biden didn’t actually have a law degree!”

One of the reasons that pathological liars are attracted to politics is because there are partisans who are very eager to forgive and shrug at “normal politician BS-ing.” Aspiring officeholders see other politicians and think, “If they can get away with those lies, I can get away with my own!”

Imagine if we had an honest president. In that case, would Republicans want George Santos to take the oath of office on January 3, or would they tell the voters of New York’s third congressional district, “Nope, this guy is no good, go find somebody else”?

Or would they want to leave his fate in the hands of the voters, to be evaluated in the 2024 Republican congressional primary and/or general election?

New York’s third congressional district scores a D+3 on the Cook Partisan Voting Index, and Biden carried the district 54 percent to 44 percent in 2020. In other words, Santos’s victory (52 percent to 44 percent) in 2022 was an upset, a pleasant surprise for a GOP that didn’t get many other pleasant surprises in the midterms. If Santos were to resign, there’s no guarantee that a Republican candidate would replace him.

If the GOP had won a massive House majority in 2022, would Republicans feel differently about Santos’s remaining in the House? If this district was in Wyoming and represented a lock for whichever Republican won the primary, would they feel differently?

In case you’re new to the story, Representative-elect Santos admitted that he never graduated from any college, despite previously claiming to have received a degree from Baruch in 2010. He claimed to work at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither firm has any record of his working there; now Santos says he worked for a firm that worked with those financial giants. Then there are the indications that he’s not Jewish and perhaps not all that gay:

Santos, elected to Congress on Nov. 8 to represent the Long Island- and Queens-based 3rd District, was also accused of lying about his family history, saying on his campaign website that his mother was Jewish and his grandparents escaped the Nazis during World War II.

Santos now says that he’s “clearly Catholic,” but claims that his grandmother told stories about being Jewish and later converting to Catholicism.

“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’” [Note that Santos had issued statements that included the phrase, “As a proud American Jew . . .”]

Santos, the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House, also faced accusations that he lied about his sexual orientation, with the Daily Beast reporting last week that he was previously married to a woman until shortly before he launched his unsuccessful 2020 campaign against Democrat Tom Suozzi.

The soon-to-be lawmaker confirmed to the Post on Monday that he was indeed married to a woman for about five years, from 2012 until his divorce in 2017, but insisted that he is now a happily married gay man.

You know we have become a more tolerant and open society when a politician is getting outed as straight.

Almost nothing that Santos claimed during the campaign has checked out, as our Ryan Mills reports:

Santos also claimed to have headed an animal-rescue charity, though the Internal Revenue Service has no record of it. Times reporters found no evidence to back up claims that he had a family-owned real-estate portfolio of 13 properties. Instead, they found that Santos had faced eviction lawsuits from his landlords in 2015 and 2017. And the woman who answered the door at the address where Santos is registered to vote told reporters she was not familiar with him.

Keep in mind that there is a potential public-corruption angle here, too, because Santos appears to have gotten extremely rich extremely quickly, and no one is sure who has paid him and for what:

He furthered the impression that he was independently wealthy by lending his campaign at least $580,000, and his political action committee at least $27,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The loans played a key role in his surprising victory and helped give Republicans a narrow majority in the House.

In his first bid for the House, Santos said in a 2020 financial disclosure that he had no assets or earned income, and he only cited a commission worth more than $5,000.

But by the time Santos filed his 2022 financial disclosure, he declared he was worth millions of dollars, with most of the wealth coming from a Florida company in which he was the sole owner: the Devolder Organization.

At one point, Santos said on his campaign website that Devolder was a privately held family firm that had $80 million in assets under management, a claim that has since been removed.

Documents filed with the Florida secretary of state show that Santos organized the company in May 2021, one month before he declared his latest candidacy. A little more than a year later, on July 30, 2022, the financial data company Dun & Bradstreet estimated that Devolder had a revenue of only $43,688.

. . .

In any case, on Sept. 6, when Santos filed his financial disclosure report with the clerk of the U.S. House, he said the Devolder Organization had provided him with millions of dollars. Santos reported that the Devolder Organization had paid him an annual salary of $750,000 in 2021 and 2022, and that the company was worth between $1 million and $5 million.

Congressional candidates and members of Congress are required to complete financial-disclosure forms, and Congress has authorized the U.S. attorney general to seek a civil penalty of up to $50,000, up to five years of imprisonment, or both, against an individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies or fails to file or to report any required information.

Right now, the most consequential question is where Santos got that $600,000 or so that he used to finance his campaign.

For all we know, some foreign power may have bought itself a congressman. This isn’t outlandish speculation, as one of his largest donors has ties to the Russian government. The Daily Beast pointed to a February 12 tweet from Santos that reads, “We are going to enter a war in the middle of the Eastern Europe winter against Russia, to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine. Meanwhile this is the sight at the US southern border, where our sovereignty is no longer a priority.”

Shockingly, pathological liars aren’t all that consistent in their foreign-policy beliefs, because ten days later Santos was telling Fox News that President Biden was too weak in standing up to Russia.

Congressional candidate George Santos, R-NY, feels President Biden has essentially looked the other way while Russia attacked Ukraine because of frail leadership, but the Republican candidate with family ties to the region believes a stronger administration would cut the Kremlin out at the knees.

“If we’re going to be honest about it, Joe Biden is a colossal failure for us, and I hate saying that because his failure is our failure, as a country. I want our country to succeed,” Santos told Fox News Digital from the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando as the Russian invasion unfolded. . . .

“It sends a signal to Russia, we’re pulling back sanctions. . . . If you’re not going to enforce your sanctions, if you’re not going to stand by them, to not only remove them from the SWIFT [banking] system,” Santos said.

“They need to remove them from the international banking community altogether,” he continued. “Cut them at the knees, cut their supply to oil, cut the pipeline. Sanction the pipeline, stop it. Don’t make it operational. It’s not operational yet. Sit down with Germany and say, ‘We need to make them understand that they are going to have severe consequences for their actions,’ but instead we’re giving them a pat on the shoulder.”

Could you imagine if there was some Russian plot to elect a congressman, and that congressman then turned around and called for tougher sanctions on Russia? Then again, based on what we know so far, does George Santos seem like the kind of crook who could stay bought?
Title: Re: NR: What should happen to George Santos
Post by: DougMacG on December 28, 2022, 08:34:24 AM
My first thought was my pride that Republicans don't put up with this sort of thing while Democrats do.

The article suggests second level thinking to me.  Make full use of the opportunity to end the double standard.  If I were Santos:
"I'll resign when Joe Biden does."
------------------------------------------

"A few days ago, Tom Elliott listed all of the tall tales, sketchy claims, likely hallucinations, and outright lies offered by Joe Biden over the years. Among the highlights were Biden’s claims that:

he was arrested during a civil rights march;
he spent part of a summer working as a tractor-trailer driver;
he was arrested while trying to meet Nelson Mandela;
his son, Beau, was killed in Iraq (Beau Biden passed away after battling brain cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.);
he graduated “top of his class” in college (he in fact graduated “near the bottom”);
he hit a 368’ home run in one of the congressional baseball games;
his first job offer was from an Idaho timber company.
"

There are some much worse ones IMHO.  Being old and unable to think, remember or function is not an excuse for the POTUS and leader of the free world.  Plus his duplicity dates much further back.
Title: McCarthy offers concession
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 30, 2022, 06:08:30 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mccarthy-offers-his-critics-a-key-concession-in-effort-to-clinch-house-speakership/ar-AA15NlPn?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=fdbca5622cf7425aac50c65e011e7123
Title: Amer.Spectator : Santos as "hero"
Post by: ccp on December 31, 2022, 10:24:18 AM
for exposing the abject hypocricy of the Dems and their propaganda machines:

https://spectator.org/heres-to-you-george-santos/
Title: Pelosi raises salary cap again
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 31, 2022, 03:27:36 PM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/pelosi-raises-salary-cap-for-house-staff-in-one-of-her-final-acts-as-speaker_4954726.html?utm_source=Goodevening&src_src=Goodevening&utm_campaign=gv-2022-12-31&src_cmp=gv-2022-12-31&utm_medium=email&est=VbkrklIlb3S4zGuhtNFMdS%2FTjeR0bJz53TuWmc8Pee7PVPdPWjNJfcxADxyMQpI0LlTa
Title: Scalise: GOP plans
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 01, 2023, 07:59:13 AM
Scalise Reveals First Legislation for Republican House, Vows ‘Bold Agenda’
By Tom Ozimek December 31, 2022 Updated: January 1, 2023biggersmaller Print

0:00
7:08



1

Incoming House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) revealed a list of legislation that he will bring up for Republicans to consider on the House floor when they assume control of the lower chamber in mere days and loosen the Democrats’ grip on power in Washington.

In a letter to his GOP colleagues, Scalise listed eight bills and three resolutions that he will be scheduling for Republicans to take up in their first two weeks of work after the 118th Congress begins at noon on Jan. 3.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us next year as we begin to get our country back on the right track,” Scalise wrote.

American voters have made their desire for change clear in the midterm election, Scalise said, noting frustration with soaring inflation, the rise in violent crime, and the crisis of illegal immigration.

“The last two years have been tough on hard-working families as they have grappled with drastic increases in the cost of living, safety concerns with violent crime skyrocketing in our communities, soaring gas and home heating prices, and a worsening crisis at our Southern border,” Scalise said.

The incoming Congress, he pledged, will work to fix these problems by passing bills that will improve the lives of “all Americans” with measures like getting tougher on crime by encouraging more prosecutions.

Republicans look to press what Scalise described as a “bold agenda” after winning enough seats in the midterms to retake the House and challenge the Democrats, who remain in control of the Senate and White House and so have the power to block legislation.

A review of the bills and resolutions Scalise has scheduled for the first two weeks of the new Congress—like defunding the IRS or restricting releases from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve—suggests Republicans want to send a message to the Biden administration that the winds of change are about to blow harder.

Tough on China, Tough on Crime
The first bill, dubbed the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act (pdf), aims to revoke some of the additional IRS funding that Democrats passed as part of their Inflation Reduction Act that the agency plans to use for tax enforcement.

With the bill, Republicans are targeting what Scalise said was “tens of billions of dollars allocated to the IRS for 87,000 new IRS agents.” That figure is in dispute, with the Biden administration saying much of the money would go to non-enforcement staff like customer service.

Getting tougher on China is another immediate action item for the House Republicans, with a resolution (pdf) that seeks to establish a bipartisan Select Committee on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The panel has long been a priority for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who hopes to become House speaker and who recently announced Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) as his proposed chair of the committee.

Gallagher said in mid-December that he hopes for bipartisan cooperation on the committee, saying “our first priority right now is just getting the best team together,” noting that “a lot” of Democrats have reached out with interest in being on the panel.

“We want to make sure that we’re enhancing and elevating the discussion on China,” Gallagher said, noting that the top near-term priority is deterring Beijing from taking aggressive actions regarding Taiwan.

Other priorities of the panel, Gallagher said, is what he described as “economic statecraft” that would entail “smartly and selectively” decoupling from China.

“We don’t want American taxpayer dollars or retirement financial security subsidizing China’s military modernization or subsidizing genocide,” he said.

The third is ideological competition and human rights, he said, which would “shine a light on some of the malicious practices of the regime and the [Chinese Communist Party’s] abysmal human rights record.”

Domestic Energy, Border Security, Abortion
Another bill Scalise put forward is the Strategic Production Response Act (pdf), which would prohibit non-emergency drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve without a parallel plan to boost energy production on federal lands.

Republicans have been highly critical of President Joe Biden for ordering the release of oil from the strategic reserve, arguing that it was a ploy to win votes ahead of the midterms by trying to lower pump prices.

Biden, for his part, has insisted the release was meant to stabilize global oil markets amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy price shock, as well as trying to lower prices for Americans amid decades-high inflation, of which a major component is the cost of energy.

Scalise has scheduled another related bill, called Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act (pdf), which would restrict the energy secretary from selling oil from the strategic reserve to China.

Another bill is the Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act (pdf), which would allow the public to see how many cases prosecutors are declining to prosecute, along with the number of criminals released onto the streets and the number of offenses committed by career criminals.

A related tough-on-crime resolution (pdf) seeks to express support for police while condemning efforts to defund or dismantle law enforcement agencies.

On border security, Scalise put forward a bill called the Border Safety and Security Act (pdf), which would give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the power to turn away people crossing the border illegally in order to gain “operational control” of the border.

Republicans have accused DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of failing to ensure “operational control” of the border as illegal border crossings have surged.

Another related bill, called the Illegal Alien NICS Alert Act (pdf) would require the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS) to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and relevant local law enforcement if someone trying to buy a firearm is an illegal immigrant.

There are three abortion-related measures: two bills and a resolution.

One bill, called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (pdf), seeks to make the Hyde Amendment permanent and prohibit federal funding for abortions as well as funding for any insurance plans that include on-demand abortion.

The other bill, called Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (pdf), would ensure that infants born alive after a failed abortion would receive the same legal protection and health care as a newborn.

Scalise also put forward a resolution (pdf) that would condemn attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.

In addition to the “ready-to-go” bills, Scalise said House Republicans would also develop oversight plans to bring “much-needed accountability” to the Biden administration.

He also endorsed McCarthy for House speaker.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 01, 2023, 08:20:30 AM
“It is my privilege as Speaker to announce that the House will raise the maximum annual rate of pay for staff to $212,100,” Pelosi said in a Dear Colleague letter Friday."

That is the Democrat answer to everything.

Spend more money.
Title: McConnell - longest serving party leader in Senate award
Post by: ccp on January 03, 2023, 09:01:25 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/03/mitch-mcconnell-becomes-longest-serving-party-leader-in-senate-history/

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Swamp_King_(Dark_Multiverse)?file=Swamp_King_Dark_Multiverse_0001.jpg
Title: Re: McConnell - longest serving party leader in Senate award
Post by: DougMacG on January 03, 2023, 12:30:04 PM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/03/mitch-mcconnell-becomes-longest-serving-party-leader-in-senate-history/

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Swamp_King_(Dark_Multiverse)?file=Swamp_King_Dark_Multiverse_0001.jpg

What should come out of the fruitless McConnell Trump power struggle is loss of power for both of them.

Mcconnell, more than any other person, was responsible for Republicans winning or losing the Senate last year. That his candidates lost in primaries to Trump backed candidates was another sign of failed leadership.

Second place isn't a good in a two-party system.

We don't need to destroy him. It is simply, you tried, you failed, we're getting new leadership.  Anyone interested in the future of the party should understand that.

And change in leadership does not mean hand it to McConnell's second in command.

Title: Fetterman's swearing in by Harris
Post by: ccp on January 04, 2023, 07:35:39 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/01/04/watch-fettermans-painfully-awkward-swearing-in-renews-doubts-about-ability-to-serve-n1658466

gives a new look to Lurch :

https://www.google.com/search?

q=lurch+youtube&rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1001US1001&oq=lurch+youtube&aqs=chrome..69i57.4016j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:70cc9556,vid:lYQkudsfgwc

PS : I hated this show as a kid; I hate the reincarnation of Lurch even more
       don't expect lurch to be seen as a guest on any talk show soon...........
       his Brazilan wife will probably start a clothing line......
Title: Tucker to McCarthy: Do these two things
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 04, 2023, 06:30:27 PM
https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1610454218061807617?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rundown&pnespid=t6Q6FygfKaYTxv6coGmrF4KT4wP2RoN8NuG4nLtq.0Jme.U8m70_qKQIFnLIWXAv7AlLMD7P
Title: Neb congressman Mike Flood on Newsmax
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2023, 10:16:37 AM
recommend fast forward to minute 16:45 and watch through 24:40

for positive view of the speakership debates :

https://www.newsmaxtv.com/Shows/Greg-Kelly-Reports/vid/1_dq9zz787

when this battle is over it will be forgotten in a week.
Title: stabenow announces retirement in '24
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2023, 12:16:15 PM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/01/05/the-u-s-senate-map-in-2024-just-got-better-for-the-gop-n1658887

Title: Gaetz
Post by: ccp on January 06, 2023, 07:29:42 AM
https://www.conservativereview.com/california-republican-kevin-mccarthy-falls-short-in-11th-speakership-vote-as-opponents-stand-firm-2659076292.html

why does he not nominate himself?

funny how none of the people nominated are actually nominating themselves

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on January 06, 2023, 11:57:20 AM
ccp: "not a fanboy for McConnell but this is what he must have been seeking to avoid
in the omnibus bill
one can only imagine how Gaetz and Boebert could hold up everything coming from the House
to the extent of helping the Dems."

(Doug) $4 trillion in 'excess spending in two years, I would hope they'd hold something/everything up.  MHO.

They don't ever need the last 20 Republicans to pass Democrats spending bills.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 06, 2023, 04:40:38 PM
Hannity had a very strong opening last night on what has already been agreed to.

Working from memory:

a) Regular order in the budget (i.e. department by department instead of one mass clusterfuck;
b) at least three days to read bills;
c) complete disclosure of EVERYTHING the J6 Committee did;
d) a deep dive Church Committee investigation of FBI/CIA/Intel Community interference with our elections.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 09, 2023, 09:03:37 AM

THE FOUNDATION
"If it be asked what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer, the genius of the whole system, the nature of just and constitutional laws, and above all the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America, a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it." —James Madison (1788)



GOP Stronger After Speaker Fight
Despite what Democrats and their Leftmedia toadies claim, the Republican Party is better for having vigorously debated the issue of our next speaker.

Douglas Andrews


Everyone had their say, the competing factions agreed to some significant reforms, and then the Republican conference voted up a speaker of the House. So what's wrong with that?

Plenty, if you to listened to Joe Biden or Chuck Schumer or Dan Crenshaw or the mainstream media.

On Saturday, California Congressman and longtime House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy finally won enough votes to become speaker. It took 15 votes and more than a few frayed nerves, but Republicans got it done just as we said they would. They had to, after all. And in so doing, they reaffirmed the truism that real freedom is often messy, often contentious, but ultimately indispensable.

"Sure, it looks messy," said Wisconsin Congressman, Marine, and Iraq War veteran Mike Gallagher, "but Democracy is messy — by design. That's a feature, not a bug, of our system." (And by "democracy," he no doubt meant republican democracy or representative democracy.)

A lot of good came out of the negotiations, too — and all of it good for those who respect the Constitution and appreciate limited government. As one of the 20 Republican holdouts, Dan Bishop of North Carolina (American Conservative Union lifetime rating: 100), yesterday explained:

Twenty courageous members of the House Republican conference made sure that we've ... nailed down a vision for a Republican majority so that we know what we're doing together. We have restored genuine parliamentary participation to the body, rather than have it run in a Pelosi-style [with] backroom-deal-making. We have agreed to specific and achievable fiscal commitments to prevent the Democrats from winning every negotiation. And there's several other details, but the big one, or a big one for me and that I worked on personally, we have nailed down in complete detail the terms of a select committee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government against Americans and to make sure that it is sufficiently vested with authority to get the job done.

That select committee is indeed a big win. Republicans and conservatives generally have been set upon in recent years by a federal law enforcement and intelligence apparatus run amok, and the committee that Bishop is talking about would focus on these agencies' abuses in a way much like the Senate's Church Committee of the 1970s — a select committee that investigated abuses by the CIA, NSA, FBI, and IRS.

Anyone else think a little sunlight might help disinfect those agencies?

Another win for the holdouts was to allow a single member of the House to raise a motion to vacate the chair — that is, to raise what's essentially a no-confidence vote on the speakership. This is a return to the rules that were in place before Nancy Pelosi trampled them. "That's been in parliamentary law in the United States since the country began until Pelosi eliminated it at the beginning of the last Congress," said Bishop. "It's not weakening Kevin McCarthy. It's providing the speaker with the tools he needs for Republicans to go to the mat for the American people."

To be clear, we expect a lot of opportunistic hand-wringing and pearl-clutching from the Left, but we don't expect it from our side. Still, we got it from a few grandstanders, most prominent — and most disappointing — of whom was Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw.

On Wednesday, Crenshaw blasted the holdouts, accusing them of looking for a "scalp," calling them "terrorists," and ranting: "Behind closed doors tell us what you actually want, or shut the f**k up. They need to be men and adults and say what they want, instead of playing these little games, that's what we're asking." Crenshaw gave an awful lot in service to our country fighting actual terrorists, so we're willing to give him a lot of latitude here, but he should also know better.

Crenshaw's fellow Texan Ted Cruz took him to task: "My view is 'settle down.' This will work out and it'll be fine. That kind of overheated rhetoric, calling people 'terrorists,' is not terribly conducive to anything resembling Republican unity. It's not conducive to having strong leadership for the next two years in the House, engaging in vitriol and personal attacks."

As it turns out, the holdouts made their case and got their concessions. And the country will be better for it. Despite what the Democrats and the Leftmedia would have us believe.

All in all, it ended as a good week for Liberty.
Title: Hallelujah!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 10, 2023, 11:19:43 AM
https://dailycaller.com/2023/01/10/kevin-mccarthy-adam-schiff-eric-swalwell-ilhan-omar-committees/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking&pnespid=sLtmDDREZK9Agf7Do2WrCMOWtgOzC595c7Pi0_szpAZmgg38utpvtBK96pvqbsK9_d5hkLdk
Title: Catfight!
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 10, 2023, 11:33:32 AM
second

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lauren-boebert-deepens-feud-with-mtg-in-wake-of-house-speaker-battle-calling-her-former-ally-unhinged/ar-AA16aEAv?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8d45e36cb5264954ab9ab64e41a9c2c0

Having to defend/explain either of these two to normal people , , ,
Title: 76 yo wants to replace the 89 yo in Senate
Post by: ccp on January 11, 2023, 02:44:43 PM
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-second-batch-of-classified-documents-discovered-by-biden-aides?utm_campaign=64487
Title: Congress; Congressional races, WV, Manchin
Post by: DougMacG on January 12, 2023, 02:01:55 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/commission-led-sen-manchins-wife-set-receive-millions-more-manchin-backed-omnibus
Commission led by Sen. Manchin's wife is set to receive millions more from Manchin-backed omnibus
Commission led by Gayle Manchin will receive $200 million in 2023 from Sen. Joe Manchin-backed omnibus bill

Let's see.  He voted for it.  Against his own principles.  Against the interests of WV.  And she, the wife, benefitted.

Looks to me like he's not running again, or he would have switched parties and changed his voting by now.

Joe Manchin
Age 75 years
Born August 24, 1947

How about if he switches parties now we turn down the offer.

10 most conservative states:
4. West Virginia
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/most-conservative-states

Maybe he can get Chuck Schumer or Kamala to campaign for him.

Here's a Senator, West Virginia:
https://www.capito.senate.gov/about/about-shelley
"supports commonsense policies that promote economic growth, unleash energy potential, lift up working families, ..."

While Joe Manchin supports Joe Manchin.

 If all the accolades of wisdom about him are true, then he knows it's time to declare success and move on.  He will easily get a job in washington, if he wants one.
Title: correction to my post #1397
Post by: ccp on January 12, 2023, 06:25:31 AM
I mistakenly posted wrong link:

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-11/barbara-lee-california-senate-feinstein
Title: US Congress; Payback's a bitch, VDH
Post by: DougMacG on January 12, 2023, 06:43:42 AM
https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/11/what-caused-the-political-hysteria/
Title: Interesting to know of this power, but the specifics here seem really stupid
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 16, 2023, 07:46:39 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/14/house-gop-eyes-their-renewed-congressional-power-d/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=DaZfB9y%2BmLYsxvsDqknhA4cJZJ5L%2BihOtNHwAXQ7Fj0LUf77sKANXAoEPapuo3Hv&bt_ts=1673868540884

Republicans revive rule to ax any federal salary, eye Trump investigator

Holman a tool to shrink government

BY SUSAN FERRECHIO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

House Republicans this month reinstated a rule that allows Congress to cut the salary of anyone working for the federal government, and some hope to slash the pay of Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump.

Republicans have in mind plenty of federal employees they would like to stop paying as they try to reduce the size and scope of government, but Mr. Smith may top the list.

Appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Mr. Smith is overseeing a two-part criminal investigation of Mr. Trump: his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Many Republican lawmakers say the investigation is politically motivated and have lobbied House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to reinstate the Holman Rule, which would allow them to attempt to reduce Mr. Smith’s salary to nearly nothing.

“That means no money for Garland’s politically weaponized special counsel,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, tweeted in support of the Holman rule. “Whoops, defunded!”

Other Republicans say halting the investigation may be impossible.

House Republicans reinstated the Holman Rule after taking over the majority this month. Although the provision would allow lawmakers to try to eliminate individual salaries, the rule is primarily aimed at reforming agencies, Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican who pushed for the rule’s reinstatement, told The Washington Times.

Eliminating the special counsel investigation of Mr. Trump would be difficult, he said.

“The special counsel is a trickier problem,” Mr. Biggs said. “The way the Holman Rule is set up, you go into a department or agency and Congress kind of reforms it. So you can reduce salaries or eliminate positions without necessarily eliminating the agency or the program itself.”

Another political complication could be Mr. Garland’s appointment Thursday of a second special counsel to investigate President Biden.

Mr. Garland announced that Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney appointed by Mr. Trump, will investigate Mr. Biden’s storage of classified documents from his time as vice president in nonsecure locations.

With few exceptions, Mr. Biden did not have the authority as vice president to declassify any Obama-era classified material upon leaving office. Mr. Trump, as president, did have that authority.

A Biden attorney said the documents, found in three locations including the president’s garage at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, “were inadvertently misplaced.”

Mr. Trump launched his third presidential campaign on Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago, which the FBI raided three months earlier and seized 11 sets of classified materials. On Nov. 18, three days after Mr. Trump announced his White House bid, Mr. Garland announced the appointment of Mr. Smith to conduct a criminal investigation into the classified materials and Mr. Trump’s role in the riot, which was under a separate investigation by a Democratic-led House panel.

“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election, and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Mr. Garland said. “Such an appointment underscores the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

Mr. Trump and other Republicans say the special counsel investigation is warrantless and an effort by Democrats to stop Mr. Biden’s chief 2024 rival.

On his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump called the investigation a “political persecution” and Mr. Smith a “fully weaponized monster.”

Although federal law strictly forbids the removal or retention of classified documents or materials outside secured locations without authorization, Mr. Trump had the authority as president to declassify any document. He said he did so with the material taken by the FBI.

Congressional Republicans have sided with Mr. Trump’s concerns about the special counsel investigation.

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, called the appointment of Mr. Smith “Trump derangement syndrome, but this time with a gun and badge.”

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee criticized the appointment of Mr. Smith, who played a role in ramping up IRS scrutiny of tea party groups and other conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status nearly a decade ago.

“Jack Smith and his buddies have been politicizing Washington for AGES,” committee lawmakers said. “And he’s who AG Garland picked to be the special counsel to ‘investigate’ President Trump?”

Despite the hurdles, some Republicans may try to slash Mr. Smith’s salary by invoking the Holman Rule. They would have to wait until October after Congress passes fiscal 2024 spending legislation.

If House Republicans use their fiveseat majority to pass a spending bill that cuts Mr. Smith’s pay, the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, is almost certain to reject it. Mr. Biden would never sign it into law.

House Democrats, who eliminated the Holman Rule in 2019, accused Republicans of putting it back into place to protect Mr. Trump from criminal charges.

The Holman Rule was forced on the Republican majority, they said, by “the hard-right MAGA fringe … to defund law enforcement and shield Donald Trump from investigation.”

Although Republicans may not be able to use the Holman Rule to end the criminal investigation of Mr. Trump, they plan to use the provision to address what they say is an increasingly weaponized and politicized federal government.

The Holman Rule permits lawmakers to cut agency staffing in addition to individual salaries.

Republicans are eying parts of the Justice Department, including the FBI, which has come under scrutiny for trying to ban conservative voices on social media platforms.

Mr. Biggs told The Times that the Holman rule could be used to overhaul the FBI, which he said seems to be “overly and overtly politicized,” and the Justice Department, where someone coordinated with the National School Board Association president to persuade Mr. Garland to generate an investigation of parents whose behavior at school board meetings was deemed threatening.

“We know that letter came from the National School Board Association, requesting this, and so you could find out who at the Justice Department was doing that, what their position was, and you could begin to eliminate that position altogether and restructure that part of the office so they can’t do that type of thing in the future,” Mr. Biggs said.

The reinstatement of the Holman Rule dovetails with a committee that the Republican majority created to examine the “weaponization of government.”

“Every American should shudder at the power of the government to target and tyrannize American citizens,” said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who was among the Republicans who called for the panel. “That’s why this committee is so crucial to defend the American people.”
Title: Re: The US Congress; Senate races2024
Post by: DougMacG on January 17, 2023, 04:49:40 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3812648-the-eight-senate-seats-most-likely-to-flip-in-2024/
Title: Rep bills in the House
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 17, 2023, 08:48:49 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/16/house-gop-fires-fusillade-bills-challenge-biden-co/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=morning&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=morning&bt_ee=JxOjeA8ay62fwxD%2B3Iu9G5lvwz5%2B0Jx3N5IonTxesVTifGlA2dFaW8Iz%2B1u9WUuY&bt_ts=1673952628324
Title: so when is lying become too much lying
Post by: ccp on January 18, 2023, 05:48:20 AM
when we have a President who lies to us for 2 yrs

over and over again

when is it , do we determine it is time for a politician to go?:

https://nypost.com/2023/01/18/george-santos-allegedly-stole-3k-in-donations-for-veterans-dying-service-dog/

so Santos got elected on false claims .

but so did Fetterman , Biden whose health problems were covered up

so did Hillary who is guilty of crimes though all covered up by the deep state mafia

so how and where does one actually draw a line

can one
Title: WSJ: Schiff earned getting kicked off the Intel Committee
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 21, 2023, 08:36:31 PM
Adam Schiff, Disinformation Man
The latest Twitter documents show how he deceived the public and has earned his ouster from the Intelligence Committee.
By The Editorial BoardFollow
Jan. 20, 2023 6:23 pm ET

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Rep. Adam Schiff
PHOTO: MICHAEL BROCHSTEIN/ZUMA PRESS

House Republicans are preparing to strip Adam Schiff of his Intelligence Committee seat, and his media allies are rallying to the California Democrat’s defense. Maybe that’s because he was such a useful source against Republicans over the years, as the latest documents released by Twitter show.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
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The media says House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s motive for removing the ranking House Intel member is retribution for Nancy Pelosi’s unprecedented decision to strip two Republicans of committee seats in the last Congress. No doubt Republicans want Democrats to meditate on the consequences of their norm-busting. But Mr. McCarthy has offered a good reason for giving the Californian the boot: “Adam Schiff openly lied to the American public.”

That’s true. The most well documented example was in early 2018, in response to then Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes’s effort to inform the public about the FBI’s abuse of the FISA warrant process as part of its Trump-Russia collusion probe.

Mr. Nunes released a memo summarizing the committee’s findings that the FBI had obtained surveillance warrants from the secret FISA court against former Trump staffer Carter Page during the 2016 campaign; that the Steele dossier financed by the Clinton campaign formed an “essential” part of the surveillance applications; and that the FBI failed to tell the FISA court that dossier author Christopher Steele had political and media ties.

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Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed all of this two years later in his report on the FBI’s probe. But in early 2018 Mr. Schiff fought release of the Nunes memo, and he released a memo of his own that he claimed was a more accurate summary of the evidence.

Though he had access to the same documents, the Schiff memo trashed the Nunes document and he deceived the public. His summary claimed the “FBI and DOJ officials did not ‘abuse’ the [FISA] process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign.” That was all false. Yet nearly all of the media seized on the Schiff document to declare the Nunes memo “a joke,” and keep the collusion deceit going for another year.

The latest Twitter documents released by journalist Matt Taibbi have exposed another Schiff falsehood. As news broke that Mr. Nunes had submitted his then-classified memo to Congress, Twitter exploded with the hashtag “#ReleaseTheMemo.” Mr. Schiff—still trying to block the memo’s release—joined ranking Senate Judiciary Democrat Dianne Feinstein to publicly claim this hashtag was driven by “Russian bots and trolls” in an effort to “manipulate public opinion,” “influence congressional action” and “undermine Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller’s investigation” into the collusion claim.

The Democrats asked Twitter and Facebook to “expose and deactivate accounts involved in this influence operation.” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse released their own public letter bemoaning “Russian agents” who so “eagerly manipulated innocent American citizens.”

The documents now show that Twitter executives promptly reported back to Democrats that it had not “identified any significant activity connected to Russia.” As one internal communication explained: “We investigated, found that engagement was overwhelmingly organic.” One Twitter employee in an email advised telling an aide to Sen. Blumenthal that it was in his “boss’s best interest to not go out there on this because it could come back to make him look silly.” Yet Mr. Schiff and company kept up their smears against Mr. Nunes and his memo.

Mr. Schiff has other deceptions in his record, including numerous false claims that he had secret evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. He never produced any, and neither did the Mueller report.

***
We rehearse all this because Mr. Schiff and his media friends are claiming he is being targeted unfairly by Republicans. But as a ranking Democrat and later the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he had a particular duty to be honest because he had access to classified information that the press can’t verify. He could deceive without fear of contradiction until months later. Payback or not, Adam Schiff has earned his ouster from the Intelligence Committee.
Title: Re: WSJ: Schiff earned getting kicked off the Intel Committee
Post by: DougMacG on January 22, 2023, 06:23:22 AM
Good to see this slimy man of Washington called out for his animosity for truth.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 22, 2023, 06:55:23 AM
throw santos out

only if we throw out Schiff

who has wrecked far more damage

and biden too

Title: Noonan: Santos has got to go
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 23, 2023, 09:16:11 AM
George Santos Has Got to Go
He’s a bad example to the young, an embarrassment to the old, an insult to the institution and America.
Peggy Noonan hedcutBy Peggy NoonanFollow
Jan. 19, 2023 6:51 pm ET


I’m sorry, but it keeps bothering me. I don’t get why members of Congress would let the George Santos story continue. It diminishes them. It is both a daily insult to the American people and a taunt.

He is a nut but can’t be dismissed as only that. He is also wicked in that he has for decades abused all around him by waging war on reality. He has stolen, from all who had dealings with him, including voters, a sense of what is true. He has lied about every central fact of his life, purloining achievement, stature and sympathy. He then hoodwinked a congressional district on Long Island whose residents are now effectively without a functioning representative. Seeing the chance to replace a longtime Democrat with a Republican, they gave him solid backing on the assumption that surely he’d been vetted by someone. He hadn’t.

The only entity that smoked out a fake was a small local newspaper, the North Shore Leader, which brought a certain skepticism to his financial disclosures. He’d taken to telling people he had a mansion in the Hamptons and a mansion in Oyster Bay Cove. Why then did certain campaign records show he lived with his husband in a rental in Queens? The Leader’s publisher, Grant Lally, told the Washington Post he’d had lunch with Mr. Santos a few years before and remembered him talking about his family from Belgium. In 2022 he saw Mr. Santos on the stump, talking about his grandparents who’d fled Ukraine during the Holocaust.

In an editorial before the election, the Leader said it wanted to endorse a Republican—Mr. Lally himself has run for Congress as a Republican—but Mr. Santos was too much. His policy stands were incoherent. Until the last few weeks he had no visible signs of a campaign—“no offices, no signs, no mailings.” He seemed “bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy” and was “most likely just a fabulist—a fake.” The Leader endorsed Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who at least had experience, and—touchingly—“is a gentleman.”


All this should have been picked up nationally, but wasn’t. In a competitive local newspaper environment it would have made waves, but the Leader was small, with students and retirees on its staff. If you think the decline in local newspapers is only an abstract story, or that Facebook posts can make up for local investigations, ladies and gentlemen, we give you New York’s Third Congressional District.

In only the past week it has been reported that Mr. Santos operated over the years under several aliases and started a GoFundMe account for a homeless veteran’s ailing therapy dog, then absconded with the $3,000 it raised. The dog, denied a needed operation, died. (Mr. Santos on Thursday tweeted that the charge, which the veteran made on CNN, is “shocking & insane. My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work.”)

Mr. Santos’s mother, who he has stated was in her office in the south tower on 9/11, and whom he variously described as killed in the attack or barely escaping with her life, was in fact in Rio de Janeiro and hadn’t been in the U.S. since 1999. She apparently never had an office in the south tower.

Like all professional hustlers, Mr. Santos seems to enjoy getting away with it. He thinks he’s getting away with it now, marching around Congress trailed by staff—this mamaluke has staff—conferring with whoever will confer with him. “I will not be distracted nor fazed,” he tweeted, denying allegations he performed in drag shows in Brazil. “I am working to deliver results.” “I will NOT resign!”

He shouldn’t be in Congress. We all know this. It’s not good enough to say they’re all con men. Even in Congress there are degrees. This one’s a pro, a menace, a total, not partial, fraud. If he has any qualifications for public office they haven’t emerged. He is a bad example for the young: Cheating works. He is an embarrassment to the old. He is an insult to the institution.

Getting rid of him will “take time,” we are counseled—ethics investigations, campaign finance probes. But the entire Republican leadership, while not quite embracing him, has been happy to use him. He voted for Kevin McCarthy for speaker. He was appointed to two committees.

They are making a mistake. They should stop, and tell him he has to leave. They should press him to resign. They should dissociate themselves from him, ostracize him.

They are going this route because they have a majority of five votes and think they can’t afford to lose even one. Especially a particularly malleable one who’ll do anything leadership asks! But in the meantime Mr. Santos is allowed to put his own poisonous imprimatur on all of them, on every initiative and bill, on everything they do.

If they can’t do the right thing they should at least be practical. He will be used relentlessly by the Democrats, and the media, to make the Republican conference look like a cabal of fraudsters. In the short term he damages their reputation, in the long he will surely cost them seats.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 23, 2023, 09:49:22 AM
"I’m sorry, but it keeps bothering me. I don’t get why members of Congress would let the George Santos story continue. It diminishes them. It is both a daily insult to the American people and a taunt."

ccp:

duh,
just look at why Biden has not been called to step down or myorkas who does not enforce the laws of the land .

if santos were to be forced out who would take his seat
someone appointed by Hochul ?

till they have a special election or wait till next election period ?

I cannot find answer

but surely odds would be the Republicans would lose the seat.

so there is your answer peg

dems only resign when they know they can replace the person with another dem
and only demand resignation when they are trying to replace a repub

so it is time for US to stand our ground
and yes Santos if total disgrace I get it.



Title: Senate Reps' bill would restrict President's SPR authority
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 24, 2023, 03:51:35 PM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-republican-leaders-introduce-bills-restricting-bidens-spr-authority-wh-threatens-veto?fbclid=IwAR3FQO3qjee7j2UobILG-XE41dlg9i8bGQszfUkJ3-fOEwIxVGiK65Y1njA
Title: McCarthy appoints to House Rules Committee
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 25, 2023, 08:48:54 AM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/mccarthy-appoints-gop-critics-to-house-rules-committee-after-speaker-standoff_5007191.html?utm_source=China&src_src=China&utm_campaign=uschina-2023-01-25&src_cmp=uschina-2023-01-25&utm_medium=email&est=BuGX4eokNoAGXMqfDdcIzmVDi2%2FzbnLb4BH8MU%2B0l%2Bc8dHayjZny%2Ft7yKMY92p3TRm5r
Title: swalwell
Post by: ccp on January 25, 2023, 09:12:08 AM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/swalwell-says-mccarthy-will-regret-booting-off-intel

I don't remember where I saw him
I think MSNBC

but swalwell stated about his Chinese / spy girlfriend

he did the right thing and helped get her out of the country!!!
as though this was not only self serving but traitorous to help a spy escape out of the country  :roll:

for God's sake

she she be in front of a US firing squad
and he should be in a jail eating bugs

Title: WSJ: AZ Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 25, 2023, 01:35:22 PM
Sinema vs. Gallego vs. Who for Arizona Senator?
A Democratic schism could help the GOP pick up a seat in 2024, if the party is smarter than it was in 2022.
By The Editorial BoardFollow
Jan. 24, 2023 6:24 pm ET

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Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego
PHOTO: MICHAEL BROCHSTEIN/ZUMA PRESS

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego said Monday that he will try to defeat Arizona’s independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. “I’m better for this job,” he told the Associated Press, “because I haven’t forgotten where I came from.” So begins the 2024 Senate campaign, and given how closely divided Arizona has become, a fight for Democratic voters could give an opening to the GOP.

Ms. Sinema departed the Democratic Party last month, but she’s no crypto-conservative. The website Five Thirty Eight has a tracker for how often Members of Congress vote in line with President Biden’s position. Ms. Sinema scores 100%, as does Mr. Gallego. Mark Kelly, Arizona’s other Senator, gets 95.5%. Quibbles can be raised about that scorecard, but Arizona isn’t California, and the point is that Ms. Sinema delivers liberal votes from a purple state.

The biggest progressive knock on Ms. Sinema is that she stood with Sen. Joe Manchin over the past two years and refused to kill the legislative filibuster, which stopped Democrats from getting everything they wanted in a 50-50 Senate. She recently called the filibuster an “important guard rail” that Democrats tried to bulldoze for “the short-term victories they wanted.”

Or as a headline recounted: “Manchin, Sinema high-five at Davos over keeping Senate filibuster.” The risk for Democrats is that some of their voters agree with her. If she and Mr. Gallego split the party in 2024, that could help the GOP retake the seat. But will Republicans pick a nominee who can win?


Kari Lake, who lost the Governor’s race in November, reportedly is considering going for it. This month on Steve Bannon’s podcast, Ms. Lake claimed that “our state government is controlled by the cartels right now,” while calling Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs a “cartel-owned goon.” The question is whether the GOP learned anything from Ms. Lake’s 2022 failure.
Title: PENCIL Act bill proposed by Gaetz
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 26, 2023, 01:53:02 PM
The name really chuckles me:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/exclusive-matt-gaetz-to-introduce-pencil-act-blocking-adam-schiff-from-reviewing-classified-information/ar-AA16M4Kl?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=578865b4fdf14a8ab8fb369ff143bbad
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 26, 2023, 02:13:47 PM
funny
right up their with Josh Hawley's PELOSI Act barring members from stock trading while in office

funny how Pelosi just sold $6 mill of Google just before DOJ announcement of antitrust lawsuit.

Schiff running around claiming this is a travesty to DEMOCRACY:0

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/angry-man-screaming-alphabet-letters-flying-out-of-open-mouth-gm507287250-84670907


Title: From DNUZ[pcp]
Post by: ccp on January 30, 2023, 06:00:47 AM
"Matt Gaetz, Political Arsonist, Has New Powers. What Will He Do With Them?"

https://dnyuz.com/2023/01/29/matt-gaetz-political-arsonist-has-new-powers-what-will-he-do-with-them/

me:  STAND UP FOR CONSERVATIVES FOR A GOD DARN CHANGE !
        that's what.
Title: second post
Post by: ccp on January 30, 2023, 07:16:08 AM
Omar has "love " for this country  :roll:
  she is a warrior for Jews  :roll:

she has not committed crimes ( marrying her brother to illegally get him to US , campaign finance etc )

along with the other 2 stooges

on the Dana Bash CNN/ white wash show

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/01/29/ilhan-omar-i-wasnt-aware-there-were-tropes-about-jews-money/


Title: Omar
Post by: DougMacG on January 30, 2023, 08:08:52 AM
quote author=ccp
Omar has "love " for this country  :roll:
  she is a warrior for Jews  :roll:

she has not committed crimes ( marrying her brother to illegally get him to US , campaign finance etc )
-----

This was from childhood, not her fault, but just that they were from the Omar family was a lie to get into the US.

Her Jew and Israel hatred is so deep she's not even aware of it.  It's perfectly normal in her circles.

"It's all about the Benjamins, baby," relating to the Israel lobby, is not anti-Semitic?  Then why the big public apology - demanded by her own leadership. 

Now she's saying the apology was forced, not genuine?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/02/11/its-all-about-benjamins-baby-ilhan-omar-again-accused-anti-semitism-over-tweets/

Title: new leftist poll
Post by: ccp on January 30, 2023, 08:33:49 AM
https://news.gallup.com/poll/468983/cite-gov-top-problem-inflation-ranks-second.aspx

more people cite government as problem (since 1/23)

Oh , I get it .


I must be those dastardly Repubs (Fascism , threat to Democracy) ====>>>

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1001US1001&q=image+of+screaming.+mouth&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=ndq6tYj-fVXTxM%252CA1cDru29JDjIfM%252C_%253BHbpTxl2fn7uNWM%252C4OqG5FAxlrahiM%252C_%253B-zWYW_aZIzq3zM%252Cl3W3cJoXYzvYKM%252C_%253BoZ97sD00dpOQiM%252C_wnwYdjMYqi0DM%252C_%253Bj49N-BvZqxdzuM%252CSC7wUuVP6BK0IM%252C_%253BP26QGRTwFN2uWM%252C4OqG5FAxlrahiM%252C_%253BjentQNqLIKqbiM%252Cl3W3cJoXYzvYKM%252C_%253BVOkZg6ig134ztM%252CSC7wUuVP6BK0IM%252C_%253BX3RcQkpiEZ5ZyM%252CqylaOKRJguTWvM%252C_%253Bw-g8eE1l0N9jKM%252CKlZLekWYxkfj8M%252C_%253BSvjXOcDrPa1hhM%252C6LfpwVVP6we-PM%252C_%253Bxz1r6gceWSzz5M%252C4OqG5FAxlrahiM%252C_%253BoKY34YJSMlkmTM%252CotQbo3bv2eUXfM%252C_%253BUcok9PcXW0TYbM%252COZrJGmCW6Nl5zM%252C_%253B2BwdnsxF27XTcM%252Cl3W3cJoXYzvYKM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRUbfaCZRh_AQcJyl7bI73ubPUd6A&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj25_2p3O_8AhX-FVkFHfKkCKsQjJkEegQICxAC&biw=1440&bih=789&dpr=2the

KEEP SCREAMING OVER THE MEGAPHONE ECHO CHAMBER MEDIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Title: if the "honorable" George Santos should resign
Post by: ccp on January 31, 2023, 03:05:55 PM
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/what-happens-if-george-santos-resigns-a-look-at-past-ny-rep-resignations/4042174/

so Huchal would have to call for special election
by 10 days

which would have to be held by 80 days or 90 days total

Of course NY dems would delay it as long as possible

It does not appear the Republicans feel they could replace him with another R
or else why not?


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/rep-george-santos-says-he-wont-serve-on-house-committees-while-investigations-are-ongoing.html

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 31, 2023, 05:25:43 PM
I was wondering about all that.  Thank you.
Title: Re: if the "honorable" George Santos should resign
Post by: G M on February 01, 2023, 07:29:52 AM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/if-were-punishing-politicians-for-lying-about-their-past-start-with-joe-biden



https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/what-happens-if-george-santos-resigns-a-look-at-past-ny-rep-resignations/4042174/

so Huchal would have to call for special election
by 10 days

which would have to be held by 80 days or 90 days total

Of course NY dems would delay it as long as possible

It does not appear the Republicans feel they could replace him with another R
or else why not?


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/rep-george-santos-says-he-wont-serve-on-house-committees-while-investigations-are-ongoing.html
Title: Spartz to retire '24
Post by: ccp on February 04, 2023, 09:34:01 PM
probably good news in view of what I have read about her recently:
https://www.westernjournal.com/gop-representative-retire-congress-will-not-run-office-kind-2024/
Title: Earl Blumenauer wants to increase the # of seats in the House
Post by: ccp on February 06, 2023, 06:14:31 AM
I'll give you one guess as to which party he is in (funny this did not come up pre 11/22)

https://www.theepochtimes.com/oregon-democrat-proposes-increasing-congressional-diversity-by-adding-seats_5024554.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport

 :roll: :x
Title: fetterman still in hospital
Post by: ccp on February 10, 2023, 06:43:32 AM
3rd day now

since Tuesday :

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/10/john-fetterman-still-in-hospital-as-doctors-rule-out-second-stroke/

3 days is a long time for simple lightheadedness

either we are not getting the full story
or he is simply getting the $million dollar work up
with every conceivable test because he is a VIP
Title: Re: fetterman still in hospital
Post by: DougMacG on February 10, 2023, 07:32:22 AM
I pray for his recovery but doubt full recovery is possible.

I know nothing more than I see but suspect, like Santos and Biden, he did not tell the full truth about himself to the voters before his election.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 10, 2023, 07:55:08 AM
Yup.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 10, 2023, 08:11:59 AM
looks like if he dies
Josh Shapiro
will simply appoint another LEFt wing lib for the remainder of the 6 yrs

no special elections in PA:

https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/vacancies-in-the-united-states-senate

we may be better off he lives
rather then a more vocal mentally qualified left wing lib
OTOH Fetterman's handlers are doing all the talking for him anyway

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 10, 2023, 01:15:55 PM
Thanks for the specifics on the PA rules.
Title: Sen. Fetterman in the hospital for depression
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 16, 2023, 02:38:25 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/fetterman-receiving-inpatient-care-for-clinical-depression-at-walter-reed/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=30575963
Title: Dems to lose House Seat in June
Post by: ccp on February 21, 2023, 10:55:41 AM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/democrat-david-cicilline-to-retire-from-congress-in-june_5072701.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport

[for roughly 5 minutes ] till RI gov ( a c[rat]) will call special election in Dem controlled
RI to replace him.
Title: Sen Tester D-MT
Post by: DougMacG on February 22, 2023, 07:15:05 AM
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-tester-reelection-senate-montana/

R's must win Montana.

The man separates himself from his party in Washington - except for when he is in Washington.
Title: Re: Sen Tester D-MT
Post by: G M on February 22, 2023, 07:17:23 AM
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-tester-reelection-senate-montana/

R's must win Montana.

The man separates himself from his party in Washington - except for when he is in Washington.

Like most republicans.
Title: Re: Sen Tester D-MT
Post by: DougMacG on February 22, 2023, 07:24:09 AM
quote author=G M
Like most republicans.
[/quote]

True.  Why don't we work to get new ones, better ones.  Now is the time.  Montana is the place.  If we can't sell American Creed there, we have no chance nationwide.
Title: Fetterman
Post by: ccp on February 25, 2023, 09:04:50 AM
First we view him as a hero

a disabled man who if furiously fighting his disability in the service of fellow Pennsylvanians

Now we view hims a hero , a champion for battling the common affliction of depression.  Doing the right thing - getting help.

never mind the 13,000,000 Pennsylvanians .  They will be taken care of Dem operatives who cover for the man.

His wife is at his side every day

https://www.westernjournal.com/fettermans-wife-abruptly-fled-country-hospitalized/
Title: Re: Fetterman
Post by: G M on February 25, 2023, 09:54:02 AM
Good thing we have fair and honest elections!


First we view him as a hero

a disabled man who if furiously fighting his disability in the service of fellow Pennsylvanians

Now we view hims a hero , a champion for battling the common affliction of depression.  Doing the right thing - getting help.

never mind the 13,000,000 Pennsylvanians .  They will be taken care of Dem operatives who cover for the man.

His wife is at his side every day

https://www.westernjournal.com/fettermans-wife-abruptly-fled-country-hospitalized/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 25, 2023, 11:05:44 AM
"Good thing we have fair and honest elections!"

Oz lost because *he* was the candidate

even Pa. Repubs were skeptical and did not like him as the candidate
I thought was a bad choice day one sitting here in "joysey".



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 25, 2023, 11:43:55 AM
FWIW my take on the PA Senate race is that the Fetterman vote was for control of the Senate, not for Fetterman.

Also OZ was weak.

Full on Trumper for Governor faired far worse.

None of which has anything to do with the legit case against the bureaucratic shenanigans, affirmed by an elected State Supreme Court, in 2020.
Title: GOP rebels now approve of Speaker McCarthy
Post by: Crafty_Dog on April 11, 2023, 05:28:58 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/11/house-gop-rebels-change-their-tune-kevin-mccarthy-/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=LjDjHQQma94znO99jk2mbfrIhnAOdzTh92ndqABGB9gWXN%2B4K6Gmd26pvjQpvxSQ&bt_ts=1681249170743
Title: dianne feinstein
Post by: ccp on April 13, 2023, 06:56:07 AM
since democrats are calling for her to resign and
since it hurts them (she is not present to vote)

I am thinking it is good for Republicans if she stays in for rest of term.

who are we going to get Schiff?  impossible it will be anyone better from SF .

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/04/13/calls-for-dianne-feinstein-to-resign-now-coming-from-sitting-democratic-members-of-congress-n2621895
Title: How Clyburn fuct fellow black Dems for the safety of his incumbency
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 05, 2023, 09:10:39 AM
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-rep-james-clyburn-protected-his-district-at-a-cost-to-black-democrats?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=feature
Title: WSJ: Sen. Feinstein
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 09, 2023, 02:29:46 PM
The Age of Dianne Feinstein
Many agendas are hostage to whether the senator chooses to stay or leave.
William McGurn hedcutBy William McGurnFollow
May 8, 2023 6:25 pm ET


Dianne Feinstein leaves a classified briefing in Washington, Feb. 15. PHOTO: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Polite society holds that a woman’s age is nobody’s business but her own. But as Dianne Feinstein is learning, Washington will never be confused with polite society.

The Beltway is now consumed with the California senator’s age and related health issues. At 89, Mrs. Feinstein is the oldest member of Congress. But she hasn’t been seen in the Senate since late February owing to a case of shingles. Her record as a trailblazer for women hasn’t stopped younger congressional colleagues such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) from calling on Ms. Feinstein to step down.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been joined in her call by other whippersnappers such as fellow squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.). But she’s also supported by progressives and an increasing number of colleagues who are quoted anonymously saying Ms. Feinstein isn’t all there anymore. Even those not willing to go that far are finding it hard to defend Ms. Feinstein, as Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin did Sunday on CNN when Jake Tapper noted they were all “very ginger and very polite” in not acting decisively to get rid of her.

Mr. Durbin conceded Ms. Feinstein’s absence was affecting the Democrats’ ability to get on with their business. Mr. Tapper likened the situation to what happened when Democrats failed to coax Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire so that Barack Obama could choose her successor.

“How’d that work out for you?” Mr. Tapper asked Mr. Durbin.

Mr. Tapper is on to something. Notwithstanding the many public expressions of sympathy and hope for a speedy recovery, Democrats want Ms. Feinstein to step down if she can’t show up for votes. The truth is that many other agendas in Washington are hostage to her decision.

The most obvious is Joe Biden’s judicial agenda. The Senate Judiciary Committee is divided 11-10 in favor of Democrats. But Ms. Feinstein’s absence brings the balance to 10-10, and Democrats no longer have the votes to get the judicial nominees out of committee without Republican support.

Ms. Feinstein’s absence affects larger votes too. In a Senate where Democrats have a 51-49 majority, a senator whose votes can’t be relied on may put a president’s entire legislative program on hold—especially with Pennsylvania’s Sen. John Fetterman out as well until very recently.

On the surface, Republicans appear more elder-friendly because they have been encouraging Ms. Feinstein not to retire if she doesn’t want to. But that’s because they have an interest in depriving Democrats of a functioning committee majority—which itself depends on California’s senior senator continuing to miss votes. This explains why Republicans blocked a floor resolution in April that would have let Majority Leader Chuck Schumer replace Sen. Feinstein on Judiciary. The hope is that if Mrs. Feinstein continues to be a committee no-show, Mr. Biden will have to moderate his judicial picks.

READ MORE MAIN STREET
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President Biden has personal interests here too. Questions about Mrs. Feinstein’s age and health inevitably draw unwelcome attention to his own plainly diminishing mental faculties. Nikki Haley, the former Republican governor of South Carolina and current presidential candidate, recently made the link between Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Biden explicit when she said both should have to pass a cognitive test.

Finally, ambitious California Democrats are eyeing Mrs. Feinstein’s Senate seat. In February she announced she won’t seek re-election in 2024. But if she were to retire before that, Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint someone to serve out her term.

Unless that person agreed not to run for election, it would cease to be a primary for an open seat. Already three Democrats have announced they’re running—Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter. Were one of them to be appointed, he or she would have the advantage of running as an incumbent.

Whispers of decline have plagued Mrs. Feinstein for years but the stakes are now higher. After she issued a defiant press release Thursday promising to return but not saying when, the New York Times didn’t mince words. On Friday the Times editorialized that it’s time Mr. Schumer set “aside the antique Senate gentility” and make her an offer she can’t refuse.

The irony is that the Senate is usually an ideal place for people Ms. Feinstein’s age. Senators enjoy exceptional healthcare, and they lack the day-to-day executive responsibilities that keep governors and presidents in the public eye. They also have large staffs to do most of the work.

So long as a senator’s party has a sufficiently large majority that his votes aren’t needed for bills or nominations, no one much minds what shape he’s in mentally. When it really matters, anyone can be trundled in to cast a vote.

The knives come out when a senator can’t do even that. Just ask Dianne Feinstein.
Title: Dem shysters got Santos
Post by: ccp on May 10, 2023, 07:25:20 AM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/congressman-george-santos-charged-fraud-money-laundering-theft-public-funds-and-false

I assume he would be replaced with a Dem
or else this would never have happened

however , this guy is a disgrace to be honest.
Title: Re: Dem shysters got Santos
Post by: G M on May 10, 2023, 07:39:24 AM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/congressman-george-santos-charged-fraud-money-laundering-theft-public-funds-and-false

I assume he would be replaced with a Dem
or else this would never have happened

however , this guy is a disgrace to be honest.

Why did the FBI have an asset in his office?
Title: Re: Dem shysters got Santos
Post by: G M on May 11, 2023, 06:39:05 AM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/congressman-george-santos-charged-fraud-money-laundering-theft-public-funds-and-false

I assume he would be replaced with a Dem
or else this would never have happened

however , this guy is a disgrace to be honest.


https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=852,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/137/549/849/original/5ad4ab6a77f9f4e2.jpg

(https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=852,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/137/549/849/original/5ad4ab6a77f9f4e2.jpg)

Why did the FBI have an asset in his office?
Title: dianne finestine more of a mess then let on
Post by: ccp on May 18, 2023, 01:18:05 PM
now that finestine considered dispensable  by the dems

(she was disparaged on MSLSD by Katy Tur this afternoon)

i presume because she is holding up dem judge confirmations

we are allowed to hear the truth from the MSM

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 18, 2023, 02:11:50 PM
What is with the misspelling?

Title: Dem Senator announces retirement
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 22, 2023, 09:21:23 AM
https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/22/tom-carper-announces-retirement-delaware/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking&pnespid=rqV8FC0Xa6YCyOOdqmvqSoOD4xGuSIl6Kfi2mPl0tg9mrvOtB5mzYf3FQC2vwawMXh4s50li
Title: Gov. Newsom considering Oprah as replacement for Feinstein.
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 25, 2023, 01:23:03 PM


https://www.oann.com/newsroom/newsom-considers-oprah-as-a-replacement-for-dianne-feinstein-in-senate/
Title: Occasional Cortex gets heckled
Post by: Crafty_Dog on May 27, 2023, 07:04:33 PM
https://freedomnews.tv/2023/05/26/american-citizens-before-migrants-heckler-at-aoc-townhall-in-corona-queens-gets-booed/ 
Title: Sold out
Post by: G M on May 31, 2023, 09:42:29 AM
https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1136,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/139/184/190/original/b569867113fe47b5.jpeg

(https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1136,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/139/184/190/original/b569867113fe47b5.jpeg)
Title: Gisele Fetterman "hates politics "
Post by: ccp on June 04, 2023, 11:15:22 AM
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/03/john-fetterman-wife-hates-politics-gisele-barreto-fetterman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NK_News
Title: Re: Gisele Fetterman "hates politics "
Post by: G M on June 04, 2023, 05:09:02 PM
She just likes power, money and fame!


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/03/john-fetterman-wife-hates-politics-gisele-barreto-fetterman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NK_News
Title: not sure what this was supposed to gain Repubs torpedo own bills
Post by: ccp on June 06, 2023, 01:32:11 PM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2023/06/06/house-freedom-caucus-gets-its-revenge-for-the-debt-deal-n2624137

to punish McCarthy?

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 17, 2023, 01:34:55 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/17/gops-tax-bill-gives-over-200-billion-cuts-punishes/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=zVKrschRp4lU3BWPS2MhfcQbPSpNHq49E1xA8f2%2FLheLdu4pH9TDvh59ZEFsaECw&bt_ts=1687029220066
Title: The GOP vote to protect Schiff
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 20, 2023, 05:49:29 AM
House GOP Vote to Protect Adam Schiff
By Roger L. Simon
June 15, 2023Updated: June 15, 2023
 

Commentary

Sen. Adam Schiff?

Like the sound of that?

Twenty Republican U.S. House members who voted against and three who abstained in the vote to censure Rep. Schiff (D-Calif.) may not either, but, inadvertently or not, they have done their best to ensure not only Schiff’s survival but his promotion.

There is nothing more that Schiff, of notoriety for Russiagate lies, would like than to be a U.S. senator from California. And California, being the one-party state that it is, would like nothing more than to elect him, to stick it to us heathens who might believe in such unfashionable items as God and truth.

It’s hard to know what motivated the votes of those Republicans considering that Schiff, for years chairman or ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, used his high position in the world of state secrets constantly to mislead the public about the truth. He did this with regularity, almost daily on cable television. It was said of Schiff that he never found a camera he didn’t like.

In doing so, he aided and abetted the FBI’s pursuit of the Russia Hoax that almost all—including Schiff, as he testified behind closed doors—knew was fallacious propaganda from the start. The Durham Report has explained that all in detail.

The result was massive public brainwashing, the equivalent of what was common in the Soviet era, that has yet to be undone here. Millions still believe the absolute untruth that Trump colluded with Russia.

This prepared the way for those people to be fed many subsequent untruths that they accepted, sheep-like, in the tradition of the original hoax. We have Schiff—among others but still majorly—to thank for that.

We also have him to thank, again among others, for the promulgation of an obvious lie whose investigation cost us taxpayers millions. Schiff was most noteworthy in shoring up the dishonesty when people were beginning to doubt what they were being told.

For this reason, it seems natural and, dare I say, equitable that a fine would be imposed on Schiff along with the censure by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), the Freedom Caucus member who proposed the censure as a privileged resolution.

The Republicans who voted with the (of course unanimous) Democrats to kill the resolution have some explaining to do.

One of them already has—the sometimes-controversial Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—who claimed this censure was unconstitutional, citing the Eighth and 27th Amendments. The latter is about pay raises and is quite a stretch. The Eighth might apply since it refers to excessive fines but looked at objectively, this fine is far from excessive considering the damage done to our country and its people by a leader of the House Intelligence Committee.

Luna says she picked the number as it’s about half the expenditure of the Mueller investigation. That damage done to our body politic, the country having been torn asunder, is, of course, inestimable.

But at least Massie has given a reason, dubious as it may be. The others so far haven’t.

Looking at the list of Republicans who broke with their own party on the Schiff censure vote, I am reminded once again of one of the disturbing parts of our two-party system.

On the Republican side, we are urged to donate to candidates through a rather opaque system called WinRed. Some of that money goes to the intended candidate, but the rest? It’s out of our control. Some undoubtedly filters down to that list of 20.

Unless I hear a good explanation otherwise, I’d prefer for those representatives to be primaried than to give them a penny.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Title: Committee makes noise about investigating NGO subversion of border
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 20, 2023, 03:18:07 PM
https://joeguzzardi.substack.com/p/ngos-feds-collude-on-migrant-travel?r=wtvg7&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post&fbclid=IwAR0fksS4mb6vUMWX1my4u4FSnDKWzW3Pdw0sU05g2kLzuxCHDxnUef-7jA4
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 21, 2023, 05:20:58 AM
When we first saw this issue a few days ago I hesitated to criticize because Tom McClintock, a favorite of mine (I have donated to him more than once) voted in opposition.

Having read a bit more, I no longer hesitate.  To fail to go after Schiff would be cowardly weakness.  This resolution should pass!!!

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/20/adam-schiff-new-censure-resolution-be-brought-hous/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=k5aValO8vKQr47ka4jkJxyLTK9KmkWo01rgPBwactr0TaRlVA7I70qATa8nTk1Iy&bt_ts=1687315789823 
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on June 21, 2023, 06:52:42 AM
Weak and feckless is the republican default setting.


When we first saw this issue a few days ago I hesitated to criticize because Tom McClintock, a favorite of mine (I have donated to him more than once) voted in opposition.

Having read a bit more, I no longer hesitate.  To fail to go after Schiff would be cowardly weakness.  This resolution should pass!!!

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/20/adam-schiff-new-censure-resolution-be-brought-hous/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=k5aValO8vKQr47ka4jkJxyLTK9KmkWo01rgPBwactr0TaRlVA7I70qATa8nTk1Iy&bt_ts=1687315789823
Title: Failure to end DEI in Pentagon
Post by: Crafty_Dog on June 24, 2023, 06:14:11 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/laura-ingraham-names-and-shames-frequent-fox-guest-and-house-republican-for-voting-with-democrats/ar-AA1cUyPK?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6ebafb968a544dababf1512898093bcc&ei=9
Title: Re: Failure to end DEI in Pentagon
Post by: G M on June 25, 2023, 12:16:24 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/laura-ingraham-names-and-shames-frequent-fox-guest-and-house-republican-for-voting-with-democrats/ar-AA1cUyPK?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6ebafb968a544dababf1512898093bcc&ei=9

Almost like there is some sort of Uniparty...
Title: Electoral map good for GOP
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 01, 2023, 11:14:59 AM
Good thing we haven't given up and are voting!

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/1/brutal-electoral-map-looms-over-independence-day-f/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=uIqO%2BvproYkFM%2FLGKujdlKWwzG3upP40GSunCEiqV152KyWqnHhA34DIMHsFvYPz&bt_ts=1688218531948
Title: Re: Electoral map good for GOP
Post by: G M on July 01, 2023, 09:29:58 PM
Oh! Will there be a RED WAVE, like in 2022?

Good thing we haven't given up and are voting!

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/1/brutal-electoral-map-looms-over-independence-day-f/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=uIqO%2BvproYkFM%2FLGKujdlKWwzG3upP40GSunCEiqV152KyWqnHhA34DIMHsFvYPz&bt_ts=1688218531948
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 02, 2023, 05:42:54 AM
Good Morning Eeyore.

Yes, unlike the last time around, the GOP will have to have a ground game that includes mass mail balloting and ballot harvesting. 

Yes, the Dems will be playing cheater games.

But failure to fight means failure for sure.

In this you appear to be determined to sit on the sidelines, exerting yourself only to toss snark bombs of discouragement our way.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: G M on July 02, 2023, 09:18:28 AM
The PTB that ended the American Republic in 2020 via soft coup WILL NOT let themselves voluntarily be removed from power.


Good Morning Eeyore.

Yes, unlike the last time around, the GOP will have to have a ground game that includes mass mail balloting and ballot harvesting. 

Yes, the Dems will be playing cheater games.

But failure to fight means failure for sure.

In this you appear to be determined to sit on the sidelines, exerting yourself only to toss snark bombs of discouragement our way.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on July 02, 2023, 10:00:29 AM
"The PTB that ended the American Republic in 2020 via soft coup WILL NOT let themselves voluntarily be removed from power."

The fact we are in a Civil War 2.0
 is NOT new information .

thanks just the same ...    :-D

 :wink:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 02, 2023, 04:19:56 PM
Woof!
Title: 5 Senate Seats that could flip our way
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 03, 2023, 07:48:07 AM
https://resistthemainstream.com/five-senate-seats-most-likely-to-flip-in-2024/?utm_source=newsletter2
Title: SEALs in Congress increasing
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 04, 2023, 05:38:22 AM


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/3/warfighters-lawmakers-ranks-navy-seals-growing-con/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=6Bb8leJLlf3ZTcwNMYXPY%2Fkx4hMrU4V%2FKvdUXX0i57i6IRmErkbMASMnJmy4wMiN&bt_ts=1688465032763
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 04, 2023, 10:35:02 AM
https://www.theepochtimes.com/in-depth-the-11-senate-seats-most-likely-to-flip-in-2024-post_5372525.html?utm_source=News&src_src=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2023-07-04-1&src_cmp=breaking-2023-07-04-1&utm_medium=email
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on July 04, 2023, 01:23:29 PM
well lets win most of these this time not like '18, '20, '22
not have to accept only those who kiss Trump's feet again  thanks to him  :x



Title: Cat fight in the Freedom Caucus
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 06, 2023, 05:49:58 PM


https://www.nationalreview.com/news/house-freedom-caucus-ousts-marjorie-taylor-greene-after-clash-with-lauren-boebert/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=32006242
Title: Ga Dem ---> now Repub
Post by: ccp on July 11, 2023, 12:24:36 PM
 :-D

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/07/11/georgia-democrat-switches-parties-democrats-crucified-me-abuse-black-community/

of course, the entire state, national, and media-DNC complex will have their mobs go after her ,  her family, her race,  and the rest.

She will be Clarence "Thomased"
Title: Congressional races, Hung Cao for Virginia US Senate seat
Post by: DougMacG on July 19, 2023, 06:35:49 AM
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/07/hung-cao-makes-his-case.php

3 minutes, watch the video at the link.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 19, 2023, 02:44:34 PM
WOW!

Posted it on my FB page and a certain forum.
Title: Mitch suffers sudden staring spell
Post by: ccp on July 26, 2023, 12:56:19 PM
quite an impressive acute event:

https://nypost.com/2023/07/26/mitch-mcconnell-freezes-up-at-presser-returns-and-says-im-fine/

WHAT WILL BE QUITE INTERESTING IS HOW THE MSM COVERS THIS.

My guess it will broadcast all night long - THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THEM COVERING UP FOR BIDEN'S DEMENTIA RELATED PERFORMANCES DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 26, 2023, 02:48:32 PM
Reality is coming for the gerontocracy.
Title: Left wing media all over the McConnell story
Post by: ccp on July 28, 2023, 01:27:21 PM
2 days ago I posted this:

WHAT WILL BE QUITE INTERESTING IS HOW THE MSM COVERS THIS.

My guess it will broadcast all night long - THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THEM COVERING UP FOR BIDEN'S DEMENTIA RELATED PERFORMANCES DAY IN AND DAY OUT.


https://www.newsweek.com/who-will-succeed-mitch-mcconnell-likely-candidates-minority-leader-1815959

It is so disgusting how they cover this story and not a peep about the President's dementia

They will prop him up till they are 100% sure they have the replacement ready to go

maybe Gavin or someone else.



Title: The Woman in the Green Shirt
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 28, 2023, 01:45:48 PM
Notice how McConnell freezes when she touches his wrist.

As if a hypnotist anchor as played in "The Mentalist".
Title: From my Congressman
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 29, 2023, 12:03:35 PM


Rep. Dan Bishop
Dear  Marc,

 

This week, the House passed a bill funding Military Construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs for Fiscal Year 2024. This is the first step in Speaker McCarthy honoring our deal in January to pass all twelve total annual appropriations bills separately. It has been well over a decade since Congress passed and had all twelve bills signed into law separately.  In years past, when the appropriations process broke down, Swamp leadership would force its uniparty priorities through in a monstrous “omnibus” package, which happened last December.
Title: KY: Replacing McConnell
Post by: Crafty_Dog on July 30, 2023, 07:15:25 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ky-governor-has-set-the-stage-for-ignoring-law-banning-him-from-appointing-a-dem-if-mcconnell-steps-down-report/ar-AA1ewJWh?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=74cc5559570c4d6ea6fb4eba16d1f496&ei=15
Title: KY dem governor can defy law and appoint Dem to replace Mitch
Post by: ccp on July 30, 2023, 08:04:32 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ky-governor-has-set-the-stage-for-ignoring-law-banning-him-from-appointing-a-dem-if-mcconnell-steps-down-report/ar-AA1ewJWh?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=74cc5559570c4d6ea6fb4eba16d1f496&ei=15

**Mitch McConnell (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. He assumed office on January 3, 1985. His current term ends on January 3, 2027**

fallicies -

we are a nation of laws
Democrats must protect Demoracy
Title: Nursing home or US Senate?
Post by: DougMacG on July 30, 2023, 03:13:48 PM
https://babylonbee.com/news/are-you-at-a-nursing-home-or-the-us-senate-chamber-9-clues-to-look-for
Title: Congress'd Kabuke theater
Post by: Crafty_Dog on September 27, 2023, 09:49:57 AM
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/25/maria-bartiromo-attempts-cleanup-saying-democracy-is-messy-matt-gaetz-has-hit-a-nerve/
Title: Will he rot in jail like the J6 trespassers?
Post by: DougMacG on October 02, 2023, 05:30:04 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-rep-bowman-faces-investigation-124955466.html

"I thought the fire alarm was a door handle."

Really?

He tried to delay, disrupt a vote in Congress.  We have precedent for that.  600(?) people rotting in jail.  Join them.  Equal treatment under the law? 

Not for the ruling party.
Title: Gaetz vs. McCarthy
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 02, 2023, 06:15:37 AM


https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-ukraine-funds-mccarthy-throws-11th-hour-hail-mary-avert-shutdown?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1868


https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-gaetz-announces-motion-oust-mccarthy-speaker-after-secret-ukraine-deal?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1868
Title: Newsom's choice for Senate
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 02, 2023, 08:00:23 AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/newsom-taps-pro-abortion-fundraiser-to-fill-feinsteins-california-senate-seat/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=32894620
Title: NRO: Gaetz is a seriously unserious person
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 02, 2023, 05:14:53 PM


https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/10/kevin-mccarthy-and-his-enemy/?bypass_key=QlBhemxMa0RSYzArc21HeDFOSndnUT09OjpWMHhaT1hwSU9HRmhXRVYwYlRsR2R6bHNSWGh3ZHowOQ%3D%3D
Title: Gaetz
Post by: ccp on October 03, 2023, 09:34:57 AM
I read some hints somewhere Repubs are looking into Gaetz past alleged sex trafficking - again.

I like his warrior spirit, but at some point one has to wake up to reality and conclude burning down the barn will not save the animals.

He certainly is a narcissist who loves to hear his own voice.







Title: 2nd post : McCarthy
Post by: ccp on October 03, 2023, 10:13:14 AM
I think Kevin is doing a superb job!

Look at how he handles this interview:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cbs-anchor-cant-keep-straight-070516877.html

no comparison with him to losers like swampster's Paul Ryan and Boehner (the marijauna salesman only outdone by the relaxium king)

Kevin's Benghazi gaff now a distant almost forgotten memory  :-D

Title: Re: 2nd post : McCarthy
Post by: DougMacG on October 03, 2023, 02:35:06 PM
I don't know what to think.  The people making a protest have no message I can tell, and no strategy I can see.

As a Congressman you are one of 435 with zero power until you form coalitions.
The only coalition that matters is 218 or more to make a majority.

The optics of it matters.  The most conservative among us should be advocating for good and make reasonable demands.  If they are. I haven't heard it.

There is some responsibility on these people to persuade others, not bully them.  If you can't form a majority, you are by definition in the minority, and not making policy.

Being labeled a kook is especially bad if it's true.

Siding with Democrats to make Republicans look bad is beyond stupid.  cf. Liz Cheney.
Title: Kari Lake running for Senate (really Trump VP)
Post by: ccp on October 03, 2023, 10:06:41 PM
there was a time I liked her

now she strikes me as a blow hard narcissist

Matt Gaetz like

https://news.yahoo.com/kari-lake-jumps-arizona-senate-010958704.html
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 04, 2023, 03:16:43 AM
I too have come to doubt Kari Lake-- a lot of apparently "Release the Kraken" type promises of proof.  Will be a huge error if Trump picks her for VP.
Title: NRO: In Contempt of Congress
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 04, 2023, 04:15:45 AM
NR PLUS MEMBER FULL VIEW
The Real Problem with the People in Congress

On the menu today: My colleague Dan McLaughlin asked what’s wrong with Congress, and he offered a laundry list of senators and House members behaving badly in ways that seem well outside the norm — as if the halls of the chambers had been overrun by the latest batch of freaks on Big Brother or one of those other conflict-as-entertainment reality shows that, if watched in sufficient quantity, will turn your brain into oatmeal. But there’s a common thread that runs through almost all of the recent embarrassing congressional scandals: a strikingly deep-rooted attitude that once these idiots got elected to Congress, the rules, and even the laws, no longer applied to them. Why is populist anger spreading so quickly? Because members of Congress keep throwing gasoline on the fire. Ironically, self-identified populists are some of the worst offenders here.

I’ll Tell You What’s Wrong with the People in Congress, Dan!

Yesterday, my sharp-minded colleague Dan McLaughlin — superstar of C-SPAN — asked the question, “What Is Wrong with the People in Congress?” You are forgiven if you expected a 14-part series that will quickly be turned into a book — or perhaps a 30-book encyclopedia.

But I noticed there’s a common theme that runs through almost all the examples Dan gives. In case after case, we see members of Congress insisting that the rules that apply to everyone else shouldn’t apply to themselves. The word that keeps applying to these lawmakers’ decisions and behavior is contempt — contempt for the law, the rules, their colleagues, their constituents, and for the public at large. It’s as if these lawmakers see the rising smoke from a populist prairie fire and choose to irrigate the landscape with gasoline.*

Or perhaps they see themselves as the top beneficiaries of a system that is sputtering and about to collapse, and are grabbing all the perks and rewards they can before it does. They certainly aren’t acting like they’re the inheritors of a great tradition of self-government, the temporary stewards of a fragile system that must be preserved for the next generation to inherit.

New Jersey senator Bob Menendez has always left a trail of slime behind him wherever he went, but Dan observes, “Somehow, after the feds raided Menendez’s home and found all this incriminating evidence that pointed to him selling out his country, Chuck Schumer let Menendez keep on chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 15 months.”

Remember, the indictment against Menendez isn’t just for taking garden-variety bribes, it’s for acting as an agent of the Egyptian government:

Menendez provided sensitive, non-public U.S. government information to Egyptian officials and otherwise took steps to secretly aid the Government of Egypt. For example, in or about May 2018, Menendez provided Egyptian officials with non-public information regarding the number and nationality of persons serving at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or made public.

Later that same month, Menendez ghost-wrote a letter on behalf of Egypt to other U.S. Senators advocating for them to release a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. Menendez sent this ghost-written letter to Nadine Menendez, who forwarded it to Hana, who sent it to Egyptian officials.

That’s about one step away from espionage!

If you’re an ordinary government worker with a security clearance, you can lose that clearance for a whole bunch of reasons — failure to address financial issues, lying in any way on any official form or during a polygraph, or imbibing illegal substances. The FBI raided the Menendez home and found the $480,000 in cash, the gold bars, and the rest back in June 2022. If you were an ordinary government worker and the FBI raided your home and found a fortune that you couldn’t plausibly explain, do you think you would keep your access to classified information for the next 15 months? Me neither. They’d aim to revoke it in the next 15 minutes.

There’s one rule for senators like Menendez, and another rule for the little people. And hey, we’ve seen that attitude at work for non-Senate elected officials with giant stacks of classified documents in their bathrooms, as well as next to their Corvettes.

(By the way, did you know that Menendez’s daughter, Alicia Menendez, is a weekend anchor for MSNBC? She’s pledged to recuse herself from coverage of her father’s indictment.)

Then there’s New York congressman Jamaal Bowman, who began the weekend insisting that he didn’t know what a fire alarm would do, and yesterday insisted that his staff didn’t understand who the Nazis were. These are lies, of course, but if we take Bowman at his word, he and his staff are too dumb to have any role in shaping U.S. laws.

But falsely pulling a fire alarm is against the law, and whether Bowman is charged under D.C. law or federal law, he should be facing serious fines and jail time. Illegal obstruction of congressional proceedings — you know, the felony that a lot of the January 6 rioters are getting charged with — would get an ordinary person up to five years in prison. Bowman has yet to be charged with anything, even though the facts of his actions are not in dispute.

Dan’s third example is Colorado Republican representative Lauren Boebert. Look, congresswoman, leave the theater-going carnal exploration for the Alanis Morisette songs.

On September 13, Politico published a profile about how Boebert had “pivot[ed] away from nonstop combativeness” and was “moderating,” and how she claimed she worked well with Colorado’s Democratic senators. That rather generous profile about how Boebert had grown and changed was completed before the theater incident:

The incident report states that after receiving the intermission warning, about five minutes into the second act security officials received “another complaint about the patrons being loud and at the time (they) were recording.” Taking pictures or recording is not permitted at shows.

The report quotes one of the ushers: “They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theater and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would (be) going to get Denver Police. They said go get them.”

Boebert initially claimed the only thing she did was take a photo of the show with her cell phone and that she didn’t know that was against the theater rules. As you likely know, the video showed a lot more than that. No one else in that theater was doing what they were doing, and Boebert had been warned. Clearly, she didn’t think the rules applied to her.

If Boebert really wants to be a member of the House, she hides it well. She acts like she wants to be a social-media and reality-show star. There are about 734,000 people in Boebert’s district — which covers communities such as Durango, Aspen, and Pueblo — and they deserve somebody who actually wants the job of representing them.

As for Dan’s fourth example, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman, I’m glad he has agreed to wear a suit and tie when he’s presiding over the Senate or is on the floor of the chamber. As noted last month, Fetterman was briefly exempt from the Senate’s traditional dress code, but all the Senate staff, pages, and visitors around him were not. Fetterman apparently believed it made sense to require the Senate pages — juniors in high school — to wear “navy blue pants, white long-sleeve shirt, dark blue tie, and black shoes and socks,” even as he walked through the chamber in shorts, sneakers, and a hoodie.

Dan concludes with the late California senator Dianne Feinstein, and notes, “Whatever my political disagreements with her, she spoke, dressed, and carried herself with dignity so long as she was capable of doing so.”

But there are not a lot of jobs where you can continue to work, and refuse to retire, at age 90. And notice that Feinstein did not entrust anything in her personal life to a nonagenarian.

Feinstein’s doctors were not in their 90s. None of her staffers were in their 90s. Her office manager and driver for 20 years — you know, the one reporting to Chinese intelligence — was well below age 90. Senator Feinstein didn’t delegate anything important to anyone in their 90s because most people in their 90s are in a condition where just getting through the day vertically instead of horizontally is a victory. Feinstein understood that age 90 was too old for everybody else to do their job . . . but still believed she, at 90, wasn’t too old to remain in the Senate. In her mind, the rule that you should hang up your spurs and enjoy your golden years by, say, age 80 applied to other people, but not herself.

One more example Dan mentioned in passing: California governor Gavin Newsom is appointing Laphonza Butler, the head of EMILY’s List and a resident of Maryland for at least the past two years, to be the state’s next U.S. senator, serving out the rest of Feinstein’s term. (Notice the perfectly absurd headline on a Maryland news site, “California governor names Maryland resident Laphonza Butler to Feinstein Senate seat.”)

You and I can’t vote in a state where we don’t live. But apparently, Butler can represent a completely different state in the U.S. Senate. Newsom deemed Butler owning a house in California as a sufficient tie to the state. The AP reported, “She is expected to reregister to vote in California before being sworn in.” Yesterday, I noted the regular controversies over representatives who live outside their districts, usually as a result of redistricting changing the district lines, and the representative not moving to a new house when the lines changed. For at least the past two years, Butler has lived roughly 2,300 miles from the California state line.

We keep getting this message: “I’m an elected official, therefore, the rules don’t apply to me.”

Getting elected to Congress doesn’t make you royalty or an aristocrat or a Hollywood star or a CEO or a pro athlete. Your special privilege is the work, and a role in legislating the laws. Members of Congress get $174,000 per year; a $3,000 tax deduction for living expenses; eligibility for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; and an allowance for travel, office expenses, staff, and mail. That allowance is calculated using a formula that takes several factors into account, including the size of their state or district and its distance from Washington, and can range from about $1.3 million to about $4.8 million. They get free office space, furniture, and office equipment in the U.S. Capitol and in federal buildings. They get to go on codels — congressional member delegations — traveling on the taxpayers’ dime to foreign countries.

In other words, members of Congress already get plenty of compensation and perks. They don’t need any additional special privileges or exemptions from the law or the rules.

Former North Carolina Republican representative Madison Cawthorn is gone, but I’ll point to him as the Platonic ideal of an idiot who went to Congress wanting to be a star, not to do the actual job of representing his district. Once he lost his primary, Cawthorn stopped doing the work, but kept collecting his paycheck:

Cawthorn’s failure to turn over casework to his successor’s office is getting the most attention this morning, but judging from a report last November, he stopped doing anything related to casework long before his term ended. . . .

Republican Chuck Edwards, who succeeded Cawthorn, spent at least a month trying to get casework information from him. It sounds like the former congressman skipped town and let all his calls go to voice mail.

I remind you, Cawthorn’s last speech on the floor of the House bitterly complained that “America is weak,” and that no one took responsibility or was willing to work hard any more.

We keep saying it over and over and over again, but large swaths of the public don’t want to hear it: Government is not entertainment. It has real responsibilities and real duties. Some of these matters are life and death. You wouldn’t trust a bunch of circus clowns to run the bank where you have your savings account, watch over your child’s health, fix your car’s brakes, conduct your home repair, or investigate crimes in your community. So why do you entrust them with the federal government?

That cynical shrug of, “They all suck, so we might as well get some entertainment out of it all” is exactly the attitude they want you to have. If you lower your standards, the idiots win.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 04, 2023, 09:08:22 AM
Third

Do I hear correctly that Nancy was kicked out of her primo location office?

While she was eulogizing Feinstein?

The hag certainly deserves it, but if this is true the pettiness of it will have consequences is not what the country needs in this moment.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2023, 10:09:59 AM
CD, I am not able to discern who authored the NRO article you posted two posts ago



The Real Problem with the People in Congress

but agree with spectacle of Congress members thinking their poop does not have an odor.

He did not even mention George Santos  :-o  (maybe because he is in the Senate?)
Title: moved from another thread ; Laura confronted Gaetz
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2023, 10:11:17 AM
yes - Newt gave Gaetz a verbal ass kicking!

Did you see Laura interview Gaetz just after she televised Kevin's speech - she kicked his ass too.

I thought she was great - especially since she did not have much time to prepare (hrs?)

BTW , I see the interview is fully posted online so I post here, can skip the interruption showing Kevin's speech for the beginning and then end of interview with Matt.

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=gaetz+on+laura+ingraham&qpvt=gaetz+on+laura+ingraham&mid=D6A58FCF5DD7CABE7649D6A58FCF5DD7CABE7649&&FORM=VRDGAR
Title: WP as usual distorts what happened
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2023, 10:26:10 AM
reading this reminded me of Doug's point that there is NO MENTION in Left propaganda outlets
that ALL dems voted to oust McCarthy

only the 8 Repubs who did (another ruse to try to state Democracy is at risk entirely due to Repubs)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/vote-to-oust-mccarthy-is-a-warning-sign-for-democracy-scholars-say/ar-AA1hH9Yq?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2a968feee4d24356b19644c3e53ce9d4&ei=16

"“If you want to know what it looks like when democracy is in trouble, this is what it looks like,” said Daniel Ziblatt, professor of government at Harvard University. “It should set off alarm bells that something is not right.”

The vote reflected the enormous power that a small group of representatives camped on their party’s ideological fringe can wield over an entire institution, said Ziblatt, co-author of the book, “Tyranny of the Minority.”


Well wait just one second !  It was  not the minority that did this - it was a tiny Republican minority and COMPLETE Democrat MAJORITY  that did thi!

Oh the threat to Democracy is all from the "FAR RIGHT!"   :roll:

Again we can't let them control the narrative !!!!
Title: Wicked Witch of San Fran evicted PDQ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 04, 2023, 01:22:31 PM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/oct/4/temporary-speaker-patrick-mchenry-evicts-nancy-pel/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=newsalert&utm_term=newsalert&bt_ee=73OoJTARWQWv3uhfFDsgFCyONdldoWdK6a9pHxuKLRnQauUe4X4JXqoR0aV72zNF&bt_ts=1696439430004
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 04, 2023, 02:14:00 PM
NP evicted.  Bad taste to do during eulogy.  Otherwise my understanding is that she had agreed to not do this, turn on Kevin McCarthy.  I assume she kept the office as a courtesy of the no longer Speaker.  She vacated him, lost her deal.  For once, a consequence.
---------------------

The other side of Speaker story:
https://donsurber.substack.com/p/mccarthy-lied-buh-bye?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1115457&post_id=137639221&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=9bg2k&utm_medium=email

McCarthy made promises he didn't keep, and what evidence is there Republicans in the House weren't rubber stamping Biden governance?

"promised to allow congressmen to read an appropriations bill and wait 72 hours before holding a vote.  He broke that promise this weekend."

Besides reading it, that means the right to OPPOSE it and speak up.

We won't get a better Speaker, but ... the next one may have to keep promises.
-------------------------------------------

I have been railing against the term "DC uniparty", the allegation both parties are the same, and how demotivating that is to conservative voters.  My 'proof' that is wrong seems to be aging poorly. 

Remember debt hitting 30, 32, oops I mean 33 trillion?  USdebtclock.org now has debt at 33.445T and current deficit running over 1.9T.

All spending bills originate in the House?  Republican House?  How can that be?

Baseline budgeting?  No we need zero-based budgeting.  Prove the need for every dollar spent.  Prove no harmful intended or unintended consequences.  Or get zero dollars.

If any of that originated in the House and the Senate and President did not go along, they would get zero without House approval.  But no.  We govern their way, scared to death of being blamed.  Fine then who gets blamed for spending 40% over revenues??  In "good economic times"...

This is all nuts.  I oppose them burning down the House.  It didn't have to come to that.  And when they did, they could not send any clear or coherent message why, or how it would get better.

Why aren't the crazy spenders the radical ones and those incluined to show restraint the sane ones?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 04, 2023, 05:42:09 PM
Turns out The Hag had the office by virtue of being the previous Speaker.  When she voted to oust McCarthy, she also voted to evict herself to make room for  , , , McCarthy!!!  :evil: :evil: :evil: :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Title: why do we keep seeing "Republicans" going on enemy stations
Post by: ccp on October 04, 2023, 08:54:04 PM
to air their dirty laundry?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rep-mace-describes-backlash-she-has-received-since-voting-to-oust-mccarthy/vi-AA1hIkpY

do ever see the crats criticize each other in public ?

almost never!

I saw Mace on CNN this evening crying about the threats she has gotten.

not sure if this is because of her expectation she can raise money off this like the rest of the turncoats

rule #1 never speak bad a fellow Republican
 in public

rule #2 never go on any station , especially an enemy one to complain about a Reblican or the party

Title: Well, he is rather busy already , , ,
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 05, 2023, 02:07:19 AM
https://washingtontimes-dc.newsmemory.com/?token=b7d06cbf2db879f5ca9c3535cb68f150_651eb711_6d25b5f&selDate=20231005
Title: WSJ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 05, 2023, 02:21:06 AM
second

Kevin McCarthy’s Many Promises Set Stage for Dramatic Ouster
California lawmaker’s winning streak finally ran out, in fight with a small band of GOP dissidents
Kevin McCarthy, a political operator with no fixed ideology, empowered some of the populist candidates who would transform Congress.
Kevin McCarthy, a political operator with no fixed ideology, empowered some of the populist candidates who would transform Congress. JIM LO SCALZO/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
By Siobhan HughesFollow
Updated Oct. 4, 2023 2:44 pm ET

Kevin McCarthy has traced his successful run in life and politics to a lucky lottery ticket. This week, his luck ran out.

McCarthy rose through the ranks as a political operator with no fixed ideology, propelling himself to the House speakership through fundraising prowess and years of recruiting populist candidates who transformed Congress, starting with the 2010 tea party wave. His affable style—he developed relationships by having meals and working out at the gym with other members—was matched to a philosophy that his role was to elevate other members.

“I believe in bringing new blood up and helping them,” McCarthy said to reporters on Tuesday night.

That approach helped win McCarthy the speaker job, but ultimately helped take it from him after just nine months. GOP moderates and conservatives liked him but didn’t necessarily embrace him as one of their own. In his bid to help members, McCarthy stretched too far, lawmakers said, making promises that collided with other promises that he then couldn’t keep. And in the end, many Republicans—as well as Democrats who declined to rescue him—said they just didn’t trust the speaker.

McCarthy lost the vote to oust him as speaker 216-210, with eight Republicans siding with Democrats in seeking his removal. Hours later, he said he wouldn’t seek to be renominated as speaker, citing the headaches of working with GOP holdouts or having to rely on Democrats.


He gave what amounted to a farewell press conference on Tuesday night, running through his life story, from growing up in Bakersfield, Calif., winning a $5,000 lottery prize from a ticket bought in a grocery store, starting a sandwich business and then getting his first taste of politics. He quoted from Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, saying he considered himself the “luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

But he didn’t shy away from discussing the forces that pushed him out of office. After nine months as House speaker, the same populist forces that McCarthy had tapped into as he helped remake the House Republican conference overwhelmed him after he helped engineer a short-term spending deal to keep the government funded. He traced the pivot point to a House rules package under which a single lawmaker could bring a motion to vacate the chair—which in a narrowly divided 221-212 House meant that a small group could remove the speaker on a whim.

“My fear is the institution fell today, because you can’t do the job if eight people—you have 94%, or 96% of your entire conference—but eight people can partner with the whole other side. How do you govern?”


He said that he knew dissidents would seek to oust him after the spending deal. “I’m at peace with it,” he said.

He indicated that he was stung by what he saw as some colleagues’ disloyalty, after he empowered many rebels with plum committee assignments, sought-after floor votes, and the initiation of an impeachment inquiry aimed at President Biden.

“A lot of them I helped get elected, so I probably should have picked somebody else,” McCarthy joked to reporters when asked what he could have done differently to prevent his own ouster.

McCarthy had been dogged for months by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, the brash GOP dissident who repeatedly threatened to try to remove him from office. Gaetz finally pulled the trigger on Monday, leading to Tuesday’s vote.


Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday outside of the U.S. Capitol, after he successfully ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership role. PHOTO: BRANDEN CAMP/ZUMA PRESS
Gaetz alleged that McCarthy hadn’t kept his promises to conservatives, particularly regarding advancing all 12 annual appropriations bills individually. McCarthy said Gaetz had a personal vendetta, in part related to a continuing Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz, and that his attacks were about building his own brand, not about policy.

In comments to Fox News on Tuesday night, Gaetz said, “Speaker McCarthy’s time is over. I wish him well. I have no personal animus to him. I hope he finds fruitful pastures, and I’m certain he will.”

McCarthy’s job security was always going to be tenuous in a Republican conference that pushed out Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner less than a decade earlier, and he came into the job aware of the capricious nature of leadership.


“It’s Republican nature that they want to take down their leaders, it’s just what they do,” he said in an interview before the midterm elections.

As House minority leader when Democrats were in charge, he gave wide latitude to the most outspoken Republicans in the conference, including ones who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 elections, protested vaccine mandates and demonized the Justice Department, and he was the shoo-in for speaker if Republicans won the 2022 election.

The GOP did take back the majority, but earned fewer seats than anticipated, making McCarthy’s challenges more acute. He won the speakership after 15 ballots after finally winning over enough dissidents with a series of promises.

Many of the 20 Republicans lawmakers who voted against McCarthy wanted to focus on the country’s debt and deficit. In the end, it was the spending bills that sealed his fate—a deal with President Biden to raise the debt ceiling in June and another on Saturday to avoid a government shutdown. Both measures passed with more House Democrats than Republicans and fed a sense of grievance among the bloc of dissidents.


McCarthy and his allies said that dissidents had put him in a double bind—spending months blocking him from advancing individual spending bills aimed at imposing deep cuts, only to complain when those same bills hadn’t advanced. McCarthy said he was left with no choice but to put a surprise short-term spending bill on the House floor, one that Democrats first said they couldn’t trust but which they ultimately almost universally supported.

“I took a risk for the American public,” McCarthy said. “Regardless of what anybody says, no one knew whether that would pass.”
Title: WSJ: CA's new Senator
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 05, 2023, 02:25:41 AM
Laphonza Butler, Gavin Newsom and the SEIU
Dianne Feinstein’s Senate successor cleaned up a union local but isn’t popular among members.
By Michael Saltsman and Charlyce Bozzello
Oct. 4, 2023 5:51 pm ET


Joe Biden calls himself the most pro-union president, and California’s Gavin Newsom is determined to be the most pro-union governor.

This week Mr. Newsom appointed labor activist Laphonza Butler to fill the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Ms. Butler made a name for herself by cleaning up the Service Employees International Union’s messes in California. Now she’s poised to become its most vocal advocate in the Senate.

Her brand of leadership doesn’t exactly recommend her to federal office. Her controversial rise at the SEIU was a result of bitter infighting and power plays that left ordinary union members in the lurch.

She moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to take over SEIU Local 6434 after its president, Tyrone Freeman, was accused of enriching himself with member dues. (Mr. Freeman was convicted of federal charges in 2013.) The SEIU’s national office in Washington successfully pushed Ms. Butler as a leader despite the protests of local members who wanted a grassroots democratic approach to cleaning up the union.

Ms. Butler would soon find herself in a much larger intraunion fight. Early in 2009, the SEIU’s then President Andy Stern took control of a 150,000-member local in California through a controversial process called emergency trusteeship. He put in place a local union leader loyal to him, Dave Regan. Mr. Stern’s power play started a civil war within the California labor movement. Ms. Butler had to guard against a potential raid on her own members.

But Ms. Butler soon benefited from a union raid. After current SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry took power in 2010, reining in Mr. Regan’s power in California was one of Ms. Henry’s priorities. In 2015, following Mr. Stern’s playbook, she took 70,000 members from Mr. Regan’s local as well as members of several others and placed them under Ms. Butler in the newly formed SEIU Local 2015.

Again rank-and-file members weren’t consulted; they weren’t even given a heads-up about the restructuring until it was a done deal. Mr. Regan called it “a massive betrayal of our stated principles and values.” He accused Ms. Henry—and by extension, Ms. Butler—of sacrificing healthcare workers to her own “political needs.”

Ms. Butler’s tenure atop SEIU 2015 was short (she left in 2018 for a political consulting firm), but the state is still suffering the consequences of her actions. She is credited with securing passage of a $15 statewide minimum wage in California, which eliminated some 400,000 entry-level jobs, according to a 2017 report from economists at Miami and Trinity universities. According to the Freedom Foundation, she also raised dues payments for SEIU members while making it nearly impossible for them to opt out of membership.

The local she left behind has struggled to recover from its controversial beginnings. Earlier this year, the union was protested by its own employees who accused it of having a “culture of toxicity.”

Ms. Butler hasn’t said if she views her appointment as a short-term gig or as an audition for a longer-term job. But if she decides to run for a full Senate term, one thing is certain: SEIU leadership will have her back, and she will have theirs.

Mr. Saltsman is executive director of the Employment Policies Institute. Ms. Bozzello is communications director of the Center for Union Facts.
Title: why did Dems vote against Kevin
Post by: ccp on October 05, 2023, 06:39:00 AM
from major *leftist* yahoo newsman, but makes some sense:

https://news.yahoo.com/why-didnt-democrats-rescue-speaker-mccarthy-173157244.html

except of course he left out what Doug pointed out:

no mention Dems voted for chaos and political vindictiveness and the media as always takes their marching orders

Title: Van Drew on Maria
Post by: ccp on October 05, 2023, 07:53:25 AM
he is the ex Democrat Congressman from NJ who is now a Repub

so his take is of interest:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6338442723112

As an aside :

a bit of make up and hair styling and Maria is still hot!!
smart and hot ! and conservative !  :-D
Title: Gaetz speaks
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 05, 2023, 04:45:23 PM
Quietly stating his case:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1709400930482000060.html
Title: Re: Gaetz speaks
Post by: DougMacG on October 05, 2023, 05:41:32 PM
Quietly stating his case:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1709400930482000060.html

Sounds quite reasonable., but that doesn't mean the course they took was wise.

His arguments don't pass the bumper sticker test. Also if he's right, how come only 4% joined him and 96% opposed him?  Its  the money, he says.

Anyway, we'll see what comes of this.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 05, 2023, 07:43:57 PM
anytime you get 100% of the crats to vote your way it cannot be good for us.
no thanks
Title: 2nd post
Post by: ccp on October 05, 2023, 07:56:55 PM
Trump as speaker ?

I do not want to even imagine what a media and political circus this would be

 :cry:
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2023, 04:14:44 AM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gaetz-co-a-tale-as-old-as-time-house-speaker-mccarthy-elections-gop-22fcc1c3
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2023, 06:11:08 AM
anytime you get 100% of the crats to vote your way it cannot be good for us.
no thanks

If they don't believe the leader of the majority party should be Speaker, and that just maybe the leader of their party could, are they not election deniers?

The only other explanation is they voted for the chaos and disarray they criticize.  Quite cynical.

They backstabbed the Speaker who worked with them minutes earlier to avert a shutdown.

Most important is what it screams about our media, they won't be held accountable.
Title: The US Congress, next in line
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2023, 06:46:17 AM
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2023/10/congressman-jim-jordan-will-be-great.html

Do you know that while the Speakership is empty, the person who is next in line to the presidency — after Kamala Harris — is Patty Murray?
Title: A Democrat agrees with me about Democrats in Congress
Post by: DougMacG on October 06, 2023, 06:57:24 AM
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-10-05/michael-r-bloomberg-why-democrats-share-the-blame-for-mccarthy-s-fall
Title: Bloomberg
Post by: ccp on October 06, 2023, 07:23:54 AM
unusual to find a liberal crat billionaire point this out.
I have not heard or read anyone else do this.

yet of course he has to add things like:

I have strongly supported Democratic efforts to win the House, largely to save the country from the dysfunction and craziness of a party that has fallen captive to its extreme right wing. I disagree with McCarthy on virtually every issue, but in some critical moments this year, he showed that he was willing to stand up to his party’s right-wing extremists and take the heat.

or

Jeffries’ decision to let McCarthy hang himself   (why does he say hang "himself")
Title: WSJ: Trump cannot become Speaker of the House
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 06, 2023, 07:48:52 AM
If Trump Wants to Be Speaker, He’ll Need a House Seat
It’s a constitutional urban legend that anyone other than a current member can lead the chamber.
By Michael Ellis and Greg Dubinsky
Oct. 5, 2023 5:23 pm ET



After the ousting of Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, some observers have said the House should elect a new speaker from outside its own ranks. Anyone, they say, can be elected speaker. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene even floated the notion of drafting Donald Trump as speaker and claimed in a fundraising email that the former president “just confirmed he would do it.” But a close read of the Constitution shows that the speaker must be a member of the House.

The theory that anyone can be elected speaker relies on a seeming omission in the Constitution. Article I states that the House “shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers.” Because the clause doesn’t expressly state that the speaker must be a member, proponents infer that anyone could be speaker.

But textual silence in one clause is weak evidence. Settled practice, history and constitutional structure cut the other way. As a matter of longstanding practice, every speaker has been a member, a tradition that dates to the First Congress (1789-91). As the Congressional Research Service notes, the first recorded votes for nonmembers to be speaker were cast in 1997, and since then no nonmember has ever received more than a handful of votes in a speaker election.

This precedent bears heavily on the constitutionality of electing a nonmember as speaker. As the Supreme Court explained in NLRB v. Noel Canning (2014): “The longstanding ‘practice of the government’ . . . can inform [the] determination of what the law is.” That is in line with James Madison’s view that “a regular course of practice” can “liquidate and settle the meaning” of ambiguous constitutional provisions.

The practice of legislatures selecting their own speakers dates to at least 14th-century England, where Parliament wrestled with the crown to assert its independence by securing the right to choose its own speaker from its members. That power struggle extended to colonial America, where governors tried to select the speaker of provincial assemblies to control political debate. Against that backdrop, the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution declared that the state House would “choose their own Speaker.” The 1781 Articles of Confederation, predecessor to the U.S. Constitution, made clear that Congress had the power “to appoint one of their number to preside” over the body. Article I of the Constitution, while more concise, must be interpreted in light of the historical understanding of the role of a speaker at the time of America’s founding.

Constitutional structure also indicates that the speaker must be a member of the House. Article VI requires constitutional oaths of office only from senators, representatives, state legislators and all federal and state executive and judicial officers. It would make little sense to require an oath of office from these officials while exempting a nonmember speaker. Moreover, Article I vests all “legislative Powers” in the Senate and the House, and the House is “composed of Members” elected every two years. Unlike the “other Officers” elected by the House, like the clerk and the sergeant at arms, the speaker engages in legislative functions. By statute, the speaker must sign enrolled bills before they are presented to the president and administer the oath of office to other members. An enrolled bill signed by a nonlegislator could be vulnerable to legal challenge.

Other legal problems could arise if the speaker isn’t a member. What if the House decided to elect a member of another branch? That would seem to violate the spirit of Article I, Section 6, which prohibits any person “holding any Office under the United States”—meaning certain executive or judicial officers—from being “a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.” It would be strange to bar a Supreme Court justice from being a member of Congress, but then allow one to serve as the far more powerful speaker.

If the House ignored the Constitution and elected a nonmember speaker, could anything be done? Although federal courts require a plaintiff to show he has standing to bring a legal challenge and won’t adjudicate political disputes, anyone harmed by an enrolled bill signed by a nonmember speaker could challenge the statute’s validity. A business regulated by a new federal law, for instance, could argue that the participation of a speaker who is not a member of the House violates Article I.

The idea that anyone can be elected speaker may be amusing fodder for talk shows, but settled practice, centuries of history and the Constitution’s structure make clear that the speaker’s gavel must remain in the hands of a House member.

Mr. Ellis served as general counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 2016-17, and senior associate counsel to the president, 2017-20. Mr. Dubinsky is a partner in the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg and clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy, 2013-14.

Title: If Jordan was Speaker, then funding for Ukraine is done.
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 07, 2023, 01:01:18 AM
This could go in the Ukraine thread or the Russia-US-Europe thread, but I think this one most apt.
=================

U.S. House of Reps Meltdown Puts Ukraine's Future in Jeopardy
SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
OCT 7

 




READ IN APP
 
The things being set in motion right now could spell the abrupt end of the Ukrainian conflict. Of course, we’re not going to lean into that optimistic potential too heavily, because we all know how arduously the warmongering deepstate will work towards some continuation of their goals. But it’s still important to outline the details of how close to the precipice the situation has potentially gotten.

House Speaker Mccarthy was booted out. The two frontrunners to his position are now House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Republican, Louisiana) and Jim Jordan (Republican, Ohio). Trump himself has now endorsed Jordan which we can only assume means he’s a likely shoe-in.

Where does Jordan stand on Ukraine? It may seem an obvious answer to some, but in fact Steve Scalise is a big supporter of continuing to fund Ukraine.

Today’s Newsweek article delves into exactly this, as it’s the pressing question on everyone’s mind. It reports that Jordan is heavily against Ukrainian funding.

Jordan, a founding member of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, has voted against nearly all bills offering assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022

Earlier this week Jordan said the following:

Speaking to reporters in Washington D.C. earlier this week, Jordan said he won't move forward with an additional aid package for Ukraine if elected Speaker, commenting: "The most pressing issue on Americans' minds is not Ukraine. It is the border situation and crime on the streets."

And:

"Why should we be sending American tax dollars to Ukraine when we don't even know what the goal is?

As well as:

"No one can tell me what the objective is. Is it some kind of negotiated peace? Is it driving them out of eastern Ukraine? Is it driving them out of Crimea?... So until you can tell me the goal, I don't think we should continue to send money there particularly when we have the problems we have on our border so that's fundamental.

"And then, second, how is the money that's already been sent, how has it been spent? What kind of waste is going on? Those are two fundamental questions that I think the American taxpayers want to know the answers to before they send any more of their hard-earned money there."

However, it’s hard to say if Jordan will win as some odds-makers see Scalise as still ahead for the role, with Jordan in second place.

Now the major problem is that there are only a handful of calendar days left for the House of Reps this year, and experts believe this is not enough time to create any further aid packages for Ukraine, which would mean there cannot be any aid at all until well into next year. This will be a moot point anyway if an anti-Ukraine Speaker takes charge, particularly because of the Hastert rule, which allows a Republican House Speaker to not bring up any bills for voting unless a majority of their party agree with it. The rule works as follows, as per Wiki:

In the House, 218 votes are needed to pass a bill; if 200 Democrats are the minority and 235 Republicans are the majority, the Hastert Rule would not allow 200 Democrats and 100 Republicans together to pass a bill, because 100 Republican votes is short of a majority of the majority party, so the Speaker would not allow a vote to take place.

In short, since Republicans are a current majority in the House, a majority of Republicans would have to agree on a Ukraine funding bill in order for that to even be proposed for voting in the House. And depending on whose poll you use, the majority of Republicans seem to not support Ukraine any longer.

Yesterday Biden hinted at having another trick up his sleeve to potentially get funding, but this seems like a canard or face-saving tactic. His bag of tricks in reality is running low. For instance, the Lend Lease actually expired last month, and the presidential draw-down authority reportedly has a few billions left, but no where near as much as the full funding bill intended to give Ukraine. The Senate had reached a ‘continuing resolution’ deal for another $6B for Ukraine last week, but this was in humanitarian and government aid, not military assistance—i.e. money to simply keep Ukraine’s society running, paying their civil servants, etc.

MoA again did a thorough job covering the intricacies of the funding conundrum today. So if you want more details check out B’s article. Also, this Sputnik article gives a very thorough rundown of all the types of small funding loopholes that may be possible.


"If the funding isn't there, then unless less the president takes real drastic action and wants to basically declare martial law here in the United States, it's just not going to happen," Maloof said. "If Congress doesn't approve additional funding, it's not going to happen. Now, as I said, there may be a little bit, maybe for humanitarian purposes, but I think far less on the other side of military and more kinetic actions."

But we’ll move on to the next issue.

Ukraine and its allies are continuing to scramble for any form of hope to cling to. At a new conference at the EU Granada summit, Zelensky looked absolutely haggard and lost, mentally broken—you can really read the situation in his face:
Title: Steve Scalise
Post by: ccp on October 12, 2023, 09:55:53 AM
13 Repubs do not support

I recall vaguely he has some past problems with conservatism
I think Levin criticized him in past

that said I did not know he has multiple myeloma . That is incurable blood cancer though people can live for a decade with it.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/mtg-boebert-mace-republicans-stop-scalise-gavel

My best choice would be to simply bring back Kevin
Jordan is ok but he was doing good where he was in committee

PS: as an aside my inside source told me "no one really liked Kevin"
and the source , who is *anonymous* stated does not like any Repub candidate .

Title: WSJ on Kari Lake for Senate from AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 14, 2023, 02:53:18 AM
Kari Lake Quits Stopping the Steal
She’s running for Senate in 2024, but voters will recall her 2022 antics.
By
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Oct. 13, 2023 6:48 pm ET




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Three years after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Kari Lake has apparently decided it’s time to move on. This week Ms. Lake said she will run for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat in 2024. The most notable part of her 50-minute announcement speech was Ms. Lake’s pivot from her signature issue in last year’s failed gubernatorial campaign.

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To the bitter end, she claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump, who urged other Republicans to follow her lead. “Look at Kari,” Mr. Trump enthused. “If they say, ‘How is your family?’ she says, ‘The election was rigged and stolen.’” Yet this strategy alienated independents and even many Republicans. Ms. Lake lost 49.6% to 50.3%, even while other GOP candidates won, including state Treasurer Kimberly Yee’s 55.7% to 44.3% victory.

Hence the new Kari Lake, who is focusing on the issues, including the border crisis and rising prices. “There is not a gas pump out there for Republicans, and one for Democrats, right?” she said. “There’s not an inflation rate for Republicans, and then a separate one for Democrats. All Arizonans are feeling the stress of Biden’s reckless spending.”

Ms. Lake’s edge hasn’t been dulled: She told the crowd that she misses Mr. Trump’s mean tweets, poked the “fake news fools” covering her speech, and promised to “stop the push toward communism.” But her few nebulous lines about election integrity almost could have been uttered by any other Republican official, say, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“I am never going to walk away from the fight to restore honest elections,” Ms. Lake said. “I’m never going to stop until every voter feels confident that their one legal vote counts.”

The Arizona Senate race is difficult to handicap, since it’s likely to be a three-way contest. The incumbent, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, left the Democrats to become an independent. She’s being attacked from the left by Rep. Ruben Gallego, the probable Democratic nominee. Normally this split would redound to the GOP’s benefit, except that Ms. Lake is so polarizing. Ms. Sinema is probably hoping that she can run up the center if Ms. Lake gets the Republican nod.

The GOP should have a good shot at retaking the Senate in 2024, given a favorable map and an unpopular Democratic President. But Republicans have a history of picking unelectable candidates. Primary voters might be rolling the dice if they renominate figures that the general electorate has rejected previously.

That goes for Ms. Lake, but also Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale, who might seek a rematch against Sen. Jon Tester, after losing handily to him in 2018. As the current mess in choosing another House Speaker shows, never underestimate the ability of Republicans to commit electoral suicide.
Title: Real Clear Politics on Senate races so far
Post by: ccp on October 14, 2023, 07:18:09 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/senate/

none on Lake yet

agree with toning down the election rheteric (agree election rigged - but enough making it a stink)

none on Rosendale  yet - who needs to be replaced by R's in Montana - will he be challenged ?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Speaker Tom Emmer?
Post by: DougMacG on October 19, 2023, 06:58:17 AM
First, how did 'freedom caucus' become a political slur?  As the Jim Jordan idea fizzles, Republicans are running out of names.

Rep Tom Emmer R-MN is majority whip, 3rd in leadership before the overthrow. 

The mutineers apparently don't accept him because of his ties to McCarthy but they are crazy to think that.  He is the right amount of conservative for this time and for that body.

I'm conflicted on it because I hate to see a great, local guy become the next victim of the circular firing squad.  And he would become the next hate target for the Left.

In 2010 he was 1/2 a percent from being MN governor.  That would have been an incredible shift of direction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Emmer

Right now he has a safe district, representative for life if he wants it.  Two things suck in that job being one of 435.
Serving in the minority, and serving in this majority.

Too bad Republicans didn't win what they should have in 2022.  Looks like they want to do worse in 2024.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 19, 2023, 07:45:12 AM
Too bad Republicans didn't win what they should have in 2022.  Looks like they want to do worse in 2024.

Matt Gaetz - hero to the Democrats .

 :x

Why?   cry:

   
Title: US House Speaker, John Solomon, 4 paths, ends with Emmer
Post by: DougMacG on October 20, 2023, 06:22:49 AM
John Solomon at Just the News, famous people caught reading the forum:

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/four-possible-paths-breaking-house-gop-logjam-and-selecting-next-speaker
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 20, 2023, 11:23:27 AM
I am not clear how the Dems always succeed in getting the majority votes every time,

and we cannot do so.

   
I can't believe it was something so magical about Pelosi

something more about their party loyalty ideology I wonder.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 20, 2023, 11:59:29 AM
Gerrymandering has a lot to do with it.  As Pelosi said about AOC's district-- "A Dem glass of water could win there."
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 20, 2023, 12:22:53 PM
both sides gerrymander though

I did quick search and most of the comments come from LEFT wing outlets so hard to be sure of the truth

but this comes up

NC is # uno for most gerrymandered disctricts:

https://rantt.com/the-top-10-most-gerrymandered-states-in-america
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 20, 2023, 01:49:50 PM
Back when I was running for Congress for the Libertarian Party, the WSJ regularly reported that the incumbency rate was 998+%.

I used this to good effect in my campaigns.
Title: Re: US House Speaker, John Solomon, 4 paths, ends with Emmer
Post by: DougMacG on October 21, 2023, 07:00:36 AM
John Solomon at Just the News, famous people caught reading the forum:

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/four-possible-paths-breaking-house-gop-logjam-and-selecting-next-speaker


Oops, Trump and a number of Republican members of the House say no to Emmer.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/trump-opposes-gop-whip-emmer-speaker-report

I guess we get no speaker.

Emmer said Trump meddling in Congressional 2022 primaries was not helpful.  True. 

Loyalty over winning and governing.
---------------------------------------

ccp:  "I am not clear how the Dems always succeed in getting the majority votes every time,"

(Doug)  I don't know how but they did.

My (self described) 'moderate' Democrat Congressman, Dean Phillips, Jewish, and one of the richest members of Congress, has an identical voting record to Somalian American Ilhan Omar, Palestine supporter, Jew hater.  "It's the Benjamins Baby."  And both identical to Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats have their differences, big ones, but they all come together in their hatred of Republicans.

Only 8 Republicans voted to vacate McCarthy from the Speakership, but ALL Democrats supported it.  Why does a so clled 'no labels' guy, part of the 'problem solvers' caucus vote to oust Kevin McCarthy?  Because of the objections the 8 Republicans had?  No.  He prefers chaos to governance.  He prefers a vacated chair to the tradition of the Speaker going to majority leader of the majority.  He prefers helping Republicans look bad to government getting funded.  Mostly, he is not going to be the one to buck the party.  But now he tours the country preparing to be an alternative to Biden.  Will tell us how he works cross the aisle.  What utter BS.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/dean-phillips-new-hampshire-dems-00121555
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/20/democrat-dean-phillips-new-hampshire-00122821
Title: Re: The US Congress; Speaker, Byron Donalds
Post by: DougMacG on October 21, 2023, 07:09:51 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxoMFCxqNk

Byron Donalds a year ago.

He has a great presentation, "clean and articulate".

(I disagree with him on one technical point, "trickle down economics", but he is young, hopefully willing to learn.)

Elect someone.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 21, 2023, 07:57:00 AM
he is running for speaker

saw him on Newsmax last night

like his style but is he ready for speaker - don't know.

he seems a bit like a prodigy.......very talented

and lets face it - to have a black man lead Congress would be fantastic for the party and us
welcome to all who come to our side.  we are all Americans!
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 21, 2023, 01:54:20 PM
I have liked him every time I have seen him on FOX.
Title: every single word out of Trump's mouth leaked to MSM
Post by: ccp on October 22, 2023, 11:29:50 AM
Here is some of her own medicine.

Rare leak on a Democrat ->  Sheila Jackson Lee :

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrat-congresswoman-shows-how-peaceful-the-democratic-party-is-video/ar-AA1iD9Tf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=918e0e1bebec4e3eba9e38079e332a80&ei=17
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 22, 2023, 04:00:19 PM
Loathe her as I do, I cannot say this particular piece impresses me much at all.
Title: US Congress; House, Speaker, Bryon Donalds
Post by: DougMacG on October 23, 2023, 08:10:58 AM
https://tippinsights.com/byron-donalds-would-make-an-excellent-speaker/

After all the drama, it would be nice if they hit a home run.

Should have replaced McConnell, not McCarthy.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 23, 2023, 08:23:40 AM
That was well written with nuance that resonates with me.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 23, 2023, 08:26:06 AM
agree

my only question is his stance on Ukraine

I have been on the fence with Ukraine from the beginning but lean towards the benefit continued support outweighing risks.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 23, 2023, 09:32:18 AM
There isn't going to be a speaker who is 'right' on Ukraine when half the caucus want to fund it and have don't.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on October 23, 2023, 08:36:04 PM
Trump backs Tom Emmer (sort of).  Kevin McCarthy backs Emmer.  How many wings of the Republican Party are there?  Let's get this done.

https://youtu.be/XWZyLuhADL8?si=L8zDCmlped9rFI4j
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 23, 2023, 09:34:06 PM
retired Congressman King was on O'Reilly this evening.

he stated he has contacts with members and they report to him there is NO end in sight.

and they do not know how this will ever get this done.

he thought Gaetz was more or less clown when he knew him
and still cannot believe this guy single handedly (almost) took down a speaker for the first time in history

so here is where our party is.

 :x
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 24, 2023, 03:24:12 AM
"my only question is his stance on Ukraine"

Is that the job of the Speaker?

"I have been on the fence with Ukraine from the beginning but lean towards the benefit continued support outweighing risks."

Agree.
Title: Tom Emmer
Post by: ccp on October 24, 2023, 11:17:53 AM
https://libertyscore.conservativereview.com/tom-emmer/

Liberty score total is 69%

Something about Minnesota .........
Title: Kari Lake responds to WSJ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 24, 2023, 02:20:34 PM
Kari Lake Responds on Her New Campaign Theme


Kudos to the editorial board for recognizing my focus on fighting Bidenflation and the Democrats’ reckless border policies in my run for U.S. Senate, albeit in a backhanded manner (“Kari Lake Quits Stopping the Steal,” Oct. 14). Our campaign, which is unifying the Republican Party in Arizona and attracting independents sick of President Biden’s failures, provides a roadmap for U.S. Senate candidates around the country: Pair conservative outsider candidates with common-sense solutions for fixing our economy, securing the border and restoring energy independence.

I encourage the editorial board to focus on how Arizona is likely to be the difference between a Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and one that is controlled by Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Surely a Senate majority that believes in like-minded policies takes priority over disagreements we may have had in the past. The alternative, leaving Mr. Schumer in charge, is a gamble I am not willing to take.

Kari Lake

Phoenix

Ms. Lake is a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona. She was the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona in 2022.
Title: Speaker Mike Johnson
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 25, 2023, 12:05:01 PM


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/what-you-need-to-know-about-mike-johnson-the-latest-republican-speaker-nominee-5516388?utm_source=News&src_src=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2023-10-25-1&src_cmp=breaking-2023-10-25-1&utm_medium=email&cta_utm_source=News&est=EJ2wLQ%2Fhfzox%2BvMnomVowCBgvhJQFIiZjI35kRjTeOvN%2BHDumlSeyoCGdaKilPy8annr
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on October 25, 2023, 04:03:59 PM
word in Louisiana and DC is he is a great guy

the LEFT is already attacking him

Dana Bash already attacking him for being ELECTION DENIER !!! 

so he must be good.

liberty score 73%

Mccarthy was only 54%
Title: Re: why did Dems vote against Kevin
Post by: DougMacG on October 25, 2023, 04:20:25 PM
from major *leftist* yahoo newsman, but makes some sense:

https://news.yahoo.com/why-didnt-democrats-rescue-speaker-mccarthy-173157244.html

except of course he left out what Doug pointed out:

no mention Dems voted for chaos and political vindictiveness and the media as always takes their marching orders

Now how does it look.  They took out a Speaker who just made a budget spending bill with Democrats and now they get someone more conservative with unanimous party support.

Who is the stupid party now?    (Both?)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 25, 2023, 06:03:56 PM
Saw a Bloomberg piece (eye roll) on my phone that left me liking him.
Title: Speaker Mike Johnson
Post by: DougMacG on October 26, 2023, 10:53:30 AM
Saw a Bloomberg piece (eye roll) on my phone that left me liking him.

That time he put Eric Swalwwll in his place:

(https://static-assets-1.truthsocial.com/tmtg:prime-ts-assets/media_attachments/files/111/302/390/771/383/170/original/33bf329a480c5c82.jpg)

Title: Mike Johnson wants to cut Medicare/SS etc
Post by: ccp on October 26, 2023, 02:56:24 PM
so the LEFT hit mob is going at it:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/what-mike-johnson-has-said-about-cutting-social-security/ar-AA1iU4UG?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=aa1438fec9204fa8b2f3933d6589755f&ei=6


ME:
Instead of needed and necessary cuts to keep these programs solvent
and the country from going broker than it already is.



Title: Speaker Johnson's acceptance speech
Post by: Crafty_Dog on October 26, 2023, 02:58:45 PM
My liking for the new Speaker increases:

https://patriotpost.us/videos/101617-new-speaker-mike-johnson-delivers-first-official-remarks-2023-10-26?mailing_id=7867&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.7867&utm_campaign=digest&utm_content=body
Title: Republican leader Mike Johnson election denier
Post by: DougMacG on October 28, 2023, 08:52:15 AM
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/10/26/never-forget-hakeem-jeffries-is-an-election-denier-n1738240

Actually this is Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries election denier. But it is the answer to when you hear Mike Johnson is an election denier.  Jeffries was wrong. Dead wrong. Proven wrong. So he was lying when he kept on with it after the Mueller report was released. With johnson, it was never investigated. He spoke what he believed.
Title: Support Ilhan Omar's opponent
Post by: DougMacG on November 01, 2023, 07:25:26 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/media/muslim-immigrant-running-unseat-ilhan-omar-speaks-israel-like
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 01, 2023, 08:11:11 AM
GOOD!!!
Title: Jamie Raskin votes against expelling Santos
Post by: ccp on November 02, 2023, 08:04:13 AM
So naturally, on cue, HuffPost prints his reasoning:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jamie-raskin-explains-why-voted-130459763.html

I am glad he points out that he is a champion of "Due Process" because I would have never known this "Constitutional" guy had such integrity and firm ideals in applying laws rules to everyone equally.

Perhaps this is a clue for his real reason:

“I can think of four or five Democratic members the Republicans would like to expel without a conviction or adverse ethics findings,” he told Axios. “We can’t abandon due process and the rule of law in the House of Representatives.”

Title: Speaker Johnson continues to look good
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 03, 2023, 05:34:44 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=127&v=MlxUGuurjCM&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paragonpride.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

https://www.foxnews.com/media/claim-speaker-johnson-lives-paycheck-paycheck-makes-him-relatable-say-defenders
Title: WT: Senate Reps border bill
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 07, 2023, 04:08:33 AM
Good to see the Reps actually putting something down on paper.

============================= 
SENATE

GOP’s border plan would restart wall, restrict asylum claims

Bill shuts down ‘family loophole,’ changes Biden policies

BY STEPHEN DINAN THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Key Senate Republicans on Monday announced a road map for stiffening border security by restarting construction on the border wall, limiting the expansive asylum claims illegal immigrants use to get caught and released, and shutting down the “family loophole” that rewards migrants who bring children on the dangerous journey.

The legislation was written by Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, as well as Sens. Tom Cotton and James Lankford.

It comes as Republicans search for a package of proposals they can attach to President Biden’s request for billions of dollars in new immigration spending. The president’s request would speed up processing, but Republicans said major policy changes are needed if the government wants to stem the flow of people.

“President Biden’s border policies are not working and it’s time to change course,” said Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican. “Our proposal makes the necessary changes that our country needs at this critical time.”

The chief component of the border chaos that’s erupted under Mr. Biden is the number of illegal immigrants who are being caught and then released into the country. Analysts say that each of those serves as an invitation for more people to make the journey.

Many are lodging bogus asylum claims to get released. Others are being waved in through Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ expansive “parole” policies.

The GOP bill would increase the standard for initial asylum claims at the border, which the senators said would weed out weak claims at the start. And migrants who left their homes and traipsed through other countries to reach the U.S. would be presumed not to be authentic asylum-seekers, since they could have stopped in any of those intermediate locations if their goal was just to escape persecution at home. The Republicans’ legislation would also require asylum claims at the border to be made at offi cial border crossings, which the senators said would take pressure off Border Patrol agents who patrol between the crossings and who are missing tens of thousands of migrants each month because they are so overwhelmed with the asylum cases.

Other key elements include pushing for more DNA testing of migrants and ordering Mr. Mayorkas to restart wall construction.

Mr. Mayorkas would also be restricted in his use of parole, which would be returned to a case-by-case safety valve for exceptional instances. The bill would ban the broad new categorical programs that Mr. Mayorkas has created, which have approved roughly 95% of applicants, creating a pathway for hundreds of thousands of people to enter despite lacking any legal visa to do so.

“We have needed significant updates in border security law for years,” said Mr. Lankford, Oklahoma Republican.

Democrats said the plan was too harsh to illegal immigrants.

“Today’s proposal from my Republican colleagues is not a good starting point — it is not consistent with American values and it would not secure our border,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat and chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

He said he’s ready to “move past the partisan bickering on this issue.”
Title: Stand with Rashida Tlaib, wipe out Israel from the river to the sea
Post by: DougMacG on November 08, 2023, 06:25:10 AM
Yes Tlaib was censured but it wasn't four squad members who stood with her, it was 90% of Democrats. 22 out 215? turned in her and the rest went with the terrorists.

People aren't afraid of this party having one party rule here?

What happened to Israel is on its way here, if it hasn't arrived already.  The door is open.
Title: Newsweek quick to point out which Dems censured Tlaib
Post by: ccp on November 08, 2023, 06:47:50 AM
https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-democrats-who-voted-censure-rashida-tlaib-1841762

I am not sure but could this be the first time DW Schultz voted in agreement with me!

Why doesn't Newsweek list those who voted to NOT censor a virulent genocidal anti semite?

BTW what does "censure" mean - according to this quick search it only means that the censored congressperson has to stand in the "well" and have the speaker read the censure resolution - a form of humiliation.  Reminds me of the old days where someone is cuffed to a wooden bar in the public town square so people can mock them.

Censure requires simple majority.
While it does not in itself lead to any other penalties it lately is used to strip committee assignments.

Title: Manchin was leaving the Senate one way or the other
Post by: DougMacG on November 10, 2023, 06:48:18 AM
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23464862/senate-elections-2024-map-joe-manchin

Dem majority in the Senate required that they win seats in Republican states (and hold all their own).  2024 has Dem seats up for reelection in WV, MT and Ohio. ( it would be like us winning a seat in California.)

If Manchin runs for President he poses an even bigger problem for them.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2023, 07:32:57 AM
" Dem majority in the Senate required that they win seats in Republican states (and hold all their own).  2024 has Dem seats up for reelection in WV, MT and Ohio. ( it would be like us winning a seat in California.)"

Doug,

Do you think they should or must be Trump endorsed candidates?

Which MAGA heads (like the "dead heads" who worship the Grateful Dead) would insist on but at the same time has proven to be the kiss of death.

I am not sure in my own thinking - yes I want good strong candidates on our side, not RINOS, but not totally Trump sychophants either.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2023, 07:36:15 AM
" but not totally Trump sychophants either."

A key point-- Trump makes it hard to support him without becoming his bitch.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 10, 2023, 08:00:42 PM
My crush on the Speaker begins to cool.  Again we are seeing some real Christian anti-birth control batshit.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republican-spending-bill-implodes-over-embarrassing-birth-control-spat/ar-AA1jFscX?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=47c8b18c48e948258ae1fbbcfa1219b8&ei=6
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 10, 2023, 10:22:51 PM
"The law being targeted by the House GOP is a local Washington, D.C. ordinance that prevents any employer from discriminating against a worker who seeks contraception or family planning services. The GOP bill would block that from taking effect."


Me:  :-o
why God please why ?

the abortion topic is hard enough to deal with since most are in favor
but BC ?

yes our party can be the party of less freedom too in some cases

Title: Speaker Johnson
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 11, 2023, 06:19:02 AM
Gotta say I agree with the Dem criticism here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/completely-unacceptable-johnson-gavels-house-out-for-3-day-weekend-to-attend-far-right-event-in-paris/ar-AA1jIPNH?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=fb1a4a17bd2f45d6bdbd6258ee31b9b3&ei=10
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on November 11, 2023, 07:33:08 AM
Kevin McC would never have been so optically foolish.

I hate Matt Gaetz

Kevin was doing a good job.

CNN MSLSD NYT WP PBS will have images of him flying to Paris probably his entire trip



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on November 13, 2023, 06:43:03 PM
https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/gang-of-house-republicans-join-bidens-fight-for-more-abortion
Title: Newt on O'Reilly podcast few days ago
Post by: ccp on November 20, 2023, 07:52:56 AM
predicts R's will win 25 to 70 seats in the House and 4 to 7 in the Senate

 :-D

of course he predicted 40 seats in the House in '22 - way off the mark!

 :-o

Take nothing for granted.

Not clear if he thought Trump helps the down ballots or hurts or if this is independent of Trump.
O'Reilly did not ask.   
Title: Schiff may not wind Senate seat says author
Post by: ccp on November 23, 2023, 11:48:50 AM
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/02/17/why-adam-schiff-wont-be-the-next-senator-from-california/

https://www.newsweek.com/adam-schiff-chances-winning-dianne-feinstein-senate-seat-2024-run-california-1776903

Schiff -  > white man !

Fact - he is a minority but a Jewish one -  so that does not count.

IF HE HAD ANY INTEGRITY HE WOULD CANCEL HIS SENATE RUN A BACK A WOMAN PREFERRABLY ONE OF COLOR.

 :wink:

Title: Byron York : George Santos
Post by: ccp on December 02, 2023, 08:13:55 AM
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/30/china-defense-report-links-high-altitude-spy-ballo/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 02, 2023, 11:34:24 AM
That may not be the link you are looking for , , ,
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 02, 2023, 12:15:55 PM
no that was not the link

but Newt said

in the Senate since it is of a state a vacated seat can be filled by the governor.

in the Congress since it is a district a vacated seat can only be filled by special election and for Santos he is thinking around 4/23 and the Repubs have good chance of getting another repub on Long Island which along with part of upstate NY should try to break away from Albany and NYC.
Title: headline : MTG to blame for Kevin leaving Congress
Post by: ccp on December 07, 2023, 07:50:48 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/maga-troll-panics-after-mccarthy-quits-congress-you-can-all-blame-mtg/ar-AA1l6BXw?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=6bf764055ead415abe94393dec336af8&ei=13

I don't know if this is LEFT wing propaganda
or some dumb ass MAGAs are really this stupid

But it is totally not true.

MTG on Bill O'Reilly's podcast last night corrected Bill and reminded him she voted *FOR* Kevin which is true.
I even remember her getting into a cat fight with Boebert trying to get Lauren do the same.

It is that miserable dope Gaetz who is to blame.

Can anyone image we loss the House?
Or can't take the Senate?
Title: Congressional stock trading 2.0
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 09, 2023, 10:07:45 AM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12839125/congress-stock-market-nancy-pelosi.html
Title: Fetterman on immigration and Hamas
Post by: ccp on December 12, 2023, 06:50:03 AM
I must say his cognitive recovery is very impressive.
In this clip he sounds normal, and indeed even smarter since he is criticizing Democrats:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/exclusive-former-mar-a-lago-employee-turned-witness-repeatedly-contacted-by-trump-and-associates-before-documents-charges/ar-AA1lm1Ia

The stroke must have damaged the part of the brain that makes a person and nutjob DNC partisan.

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 12, 2023, 10:11:54 AM
Is that the link you intended?
Title: the intended link
Post by: ccp on December 12, 2023, 10:32:51 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fetterman-criticizes-fellow-dems-agrees-with-gop-on-border-security-it-s-astonishing/ar-AA1lm6Uj

Abby Phillips always has that look of her contemplating how to counter a guest she does not agree with......
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 12, 2023, 10:35:26 AM
The world retains its ability to surprise.  In this case it is a pleasant one.
Title: anyone see any polls for Congress '24?
Post by: ccp on December 12, 2023, 12:02:27 PM
we are only up by 3 now?

How could this happen?

Title: GOP rep sold Boeing stock
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2023, 06:40:34 AM
https://dnyuz.com/2023/12/13/gop-rep-mike-garcia-secretly-sold-boeing-stock-ahead-of-damning-report/

so, Nancy did the same and got a big yawn from MSM
Title: more DNC friendly NY Court allows for redistricting
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2023, 09:51:29 AM
this was halted when Dems tried to redistrict
and was struck down by NY Court of Appeals as unlawful partisan gerrymander by a 4–3 vote in 2022.

A few bribes later (I am guessing) the Court now by 4 -3 vote allow Dems another crack at it,
and after Hochul made the Court a more DNC friendly majority.

In time for '24 .

I cannot imagine if we lose the House.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-new-york-court-may-have-just-determined-control-of-the-house-in-2024/ar-AA1lqEuF?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=ff4222834447406b8c838f709bdadb61&ei=9

Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 13, 2023, 10:26:57 AM
BTW, note the confusing naming of NY courts.  The "Supreme Court" is NOT supreme.  The Court of Appeals is.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 13, 2023, 12:42:01 PM
 I am thinking Trump should stay the hell away from swing district races

he only makes it harder to win.....

but of course he won't irregardless

Title: Bannon unhappy with Speaker Johnson's Defense Budget
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 14, 2023, 05:46:05 PM
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2023/12/14/bannon-blasts-mike-johnson-over-passage-of-demonic-defense-bill-dont-tell-me-youre-a-christian-1420035/?utm_campaign=bizpac&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=Get%20Response&utm_term=EMAIL
Title: Re: Bannon unhappy with Speaker Johnson's Defense Budget
Post by: DougMacG on December 15, 2023, 04:33:15 AM
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2023/12/14/bannon-blasts-mike-johnson-over-passage-of-demonic-defense-bill-dont-tell-me-youre-a-christian-1420035/?utm_campaign=bizpac&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=Get%20Response&utm_term=EMAIL

My first reaction, Bannon hasn't won an election since 2016 and the country needs a defense budget passed now by the people who did win.  If Trump hadn't f'd up Georgia 5 times for example  Schumer wouldn't be negotiating the bill and Biden wouldn't be signing it.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 15, 2023, 05:02:27 AM
Concur.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on December 15, 2023, 07:37:07 AM
https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Congress_elections,_2024

numerous toss ups

about a third of these lean or tilt R

I don't see a wave.

Title: MTG: Speaker Johnson "no better"
Post by: ccp on December 15, 2023, 08:35:55 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/no-better-than-mccarthy-mike-johnson-faces-backlash-after-marjorie-taylor-greene-claims-speaker-negotiated-her-vote-against-ndaa/ar-AA1lwVuh?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=870ff760aedd4ba5b666aa6db74c66ba&ei=13

That's it, keep banging your concrete MAGA head in the wall while we keep losing elections.

Title: sex tape in the Senate
Post by: ccp on December 15, 2023, 03:06:20 PM
since it is gay tape the Senate approval will likely go up in the polls.

how far decency has gone down  :cry:

Title: Not insurrectionists but rather erectionists
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 16, 2023, 03:38:44 PM
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/12/15/new-senate-staffer-caught-making-porn-in-the-capitol-building-n2167601

https://twitchy.com/coucy/2023/12/15/senate-staffer-sex-tape-n2390866

https://twitchy.com/samj/2023/12/16/bro-its-not-who-its-where-staffer-filmed-having-sex-in-senate-hearing-room-plays-the-victim-card-n2390879


Title: Turley: Eric Swalwell's role in contempt
Post by: DougMacG on December 17, 2023, 07:17:55 AM
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4363154-eric-swalwell-and-the-politics-of-contempt/
Title: McConnell - Chao corruption
Post by: ccp on December 27, 2023, 07:59:07 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/mitch-mcconnell-is-out-of-step-with-the-majority-of-americans-he-must-go/ar-AA1m5KAC?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=09ff57ab34a34877a0b6322b535b6f05&ei=16
Title: second post
Post by: ccp on December 27, 2023, 08:13:33 AM
Could this be the second Jewish representative who is also a Republican?

Would replace George Santos:

https://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/2023/12/27/mazi-melesa-pilip-a-fantastic-republican-to-replace-george-santos-n2632861
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on December 27, 2023, 08:39:29 AM
Definitely an inconvenient story line for the Dems/Progs  :-D :-D :-D
Title: Congresswoman Boebert
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 01, 2024, 08:02:58 AM
Not a fan!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIcqkzVN6Dw
Title: Re: Congresswoman Boebert
Post by: DougMacG on January 01, 2024, 08:15:56 AM
Not a fan!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIcqkzVN6Dw

We have some wasted opportunities out there.  She is moving to the most conservative district in Colorado where we should be able to elect someone we are very proud to hear from. Our most conservative voices should be our best ones.  But no.
Title: Dan Crenshaw vs. Jesse Waters
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 05, 2024, 07:34:49 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republican-goes-scorched-earth-on-fox-news-jesse-watters/ar-AA1mqql8?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=dca5346301c84fb5b1634b63b335ba52&ei=20
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on January 05, 2024, 07:41:11 AM
Sometimes Jesse has good points

Most of his show is right off the Drudge Report.

There is something about his personality that is smug and demeaning sense of humor though.



Title: Fetterman continues to surprise
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 07, 2024, 02:35:01 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/john-fetterman-praised-by-conservatives-better-than-oz/ar-A A1myJHz?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=b46565adabc245d1b3b33eff049778df&ei=83
Title: With increase in brain function look what happens
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 07, 2024, 04:18:26 PM
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1743456680501768210
Title: boebert
Post by: ccp on January 10, 2024, 02:09:50 PM
Again for the 10th time:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/colorado-congresswoman-lauren-boeberts-ex-055400619.html

 :roll:
Title: Rasmussen, generic Ballot, Republicans open 9 point lead
Post by: DougMacG on January 10, 2024, 08:26:23 PM
Let's call this an outlier but it means they're finding some support out there.  538 says it's tied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
REPUBLICANS OPEN BIG LEAD ON GENERIC BALLOT

Ten months ahead of the 2024 election, Republicans have a nine-point lead as they seek to maintain their narrow House majority.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/01/republicans-open-big-lead-on-generic-ballot.php
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/gop_begins_2024_with_lead_on_generic_congressional_ballot
--------------------------------
Warning, the big trounce predicted did not happen in 2022.
Title: Fetterman's coherence gathers momentum
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 12, 2024, 01:31:27 PM


https://www.oann.com/newsroom/sen-fetterman-blasts-south-africa-for-suing-israel/
Title: CA Senate seat
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 13, 2024, 06:09:41 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/new-poll-shows-california-senate-contest-still-in-flux/ar-AA1mSAKj?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=113d25aea2514d908a602a7f45b08f94&ei=51
Title: Ms Colorado/America for governor
Post by: ccp on January 15, 2024, 06:19:41 AM
https://nypost.com/2024/01/10/news/miss-colorado-madison-marsh-is-first-active-duty-officer-at-miss-american-pageant/

 :wink:

she is master's student at Harvard Public Policy !

what a catch for some lucky stud.......and maybe for us.
Wait, I am assuming she is a Republican - maybe not  :-o
oh vey...

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/us-air-force-officer-crowned-035616828.html
Title: Another Rep Congressman retiring
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 18, 2024, 05:28:28 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-gop-hit-with-another-retirement-announcement/ar-AA1n8Tps?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=b38e5f012e3c46e2b63c6978c3ae174a&ei=8
Title: Republican majority gets smaller
Post by: ccp on January 23, 2024, 05:34:05 AM
https://www.dailywire.com/news/slim-house-gop-majority-gets-narrower

at this rate Dems could win majority by the end of the year without even one vote ever being casted.

 :-o
Title: Steve Garvey hits home run
Post by: ccp on January 24, 2024, 07:05:12 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ex-mlb-great-longshot-senate-candidate-steve-garvey-roasts-adam-schiff-over-house-censure/ar-BB1h8QlX?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=4e859469d25a42ce8cac77f8675f8e19&ei=16
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 24, 2024, 07:46:40 AM
 8-) 8-) 8-)
Title: Hold the House, Take the Senate
Post by: DougMacG on January 26, 2024, 09:41:10 AM
Hold the House, Take the Senate. (The Presidential race is going to be whatever it will be.)

How do we help that happen from our quiet armchair positions other than send small amounts of money to various key players?  (And we better start doing that!)
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 26, 2024, 10:33:43 AM
Well, I like to look at the number of reads that our threads have.  Seems to me like we have a lot of people who like to be a fly on the wall, finding value in what might be called our curation/aggregation and our analysis.

Also, I have taken to making little feedback calls to my Congressman and my Senators.

That, and the small donations.

Perhaps vain and delusional, perhaps not.  :-D :-D :-D
Title: Kar Lake vs Lamb vs Independent Sinema vs Demorat Gallego
Post by: ccp on January 26, 2024, 12:22:29 PM
looks bad in 3 way race for R's

Sinema and Lake are are in 30% and the [c]rat is in lead :

https://www.azfamily.com/2023/11/16/poll-kari-lake-leads-gop-primary-arizona-voters-split-2024-senate-race/

As for the bribe for Lake to stay out of the race - me -> no  big deal

so what.

not illegal.

of course if she was in office then a problem
Title: Sen. Budd: Citizenship question for Census
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 27, 2024, 04:33:11 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGSdCFykZhU
Title: US Senate and House, Where can WE make a difference? Part 1, Target Tammy, D-WI
Post by: DougMacG on January 30, 2024, 10:27:36 AM
Get ready to support Eric Hovda (or anyone who can knockout Tammy.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/2825013/why-senate-republicans-hopeful-taking-out-big-name-democrat-key-battleground-state/

Last year great conservative Senator Ron Johnson was reelected in divided state Wisconsin.  The other seat is one of Washington's most-Leftist liberals, Tammy Baldwin.

It doesn't need to be that way.

Americans for Democratic Action, which describes itself as a home for liberal activists, gave Baldwin a 100% rating for votes that senators took in 2021.

https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/04/is-wisconsins-tammy-baldwin-rated-one-of-the-most-liberal-members-of-the-us-senate/#:~:text=Americans%20for%20Democratic%20Action%2C%20which,that%20senators%20took%20in%202021.


20 million means 1 million people (out of 330 million) send $20.  Jump in and spread the word.  Or get set on losing.
Title: Another MAGA mess
Post by: Crafty_Dog on January 30, 2024, 12:37:40 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/so-ridiculous-maga-candidate-already-giving-gop-operatives-heartburn-report/ar-BB1htP4N?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=c87285cefcc04bbd8523a4fb14d6f615&ei=21
Title: Senate Dems block border invasion resolution
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 07, 2024, 01:29:29 PM
https://dailycaller.com/2024/02/06/senate-democrats-block-resolution-border-crisis-invasion/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=29912&pnespid=p7U9AShOP60f06iZ.Tm4EYiTsUu.S5hqJOGlkelirgxmBhcNyNEVUJzXHeHUrkbM4Ol79ORE
Title: Schumer pushing Plan B
Post by: ccp on February 08, 2024, 11:34:54 AM
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/senate-ukraine-israel/2024/02/08/id/1152851/


95.34 bill

total package

let us see:

   61 for Ukraine
   14 for Israel
+   4.83 for Taiwan/Asia
----------------------------------

= 79.83 billion

which leaves 15.54 bill for undisclosed, I assume pork, and other shyster shenanigans.
(no one would notice this  :wink:)
Title: it like the Dems have our credit card
Post by: ccp on February 08, 2024, 02:17:51 PM
they simply charge everything to the taxpayers credit card.

we have to watch the charges like we would our own credit card accounts to be sure they don't slip in unwanted charges
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 08, 2024, 03:04:11 PM
Well, Hamas is getting several billion, , , Seriously!
Title: Congresscritters Somehow Curiously Beat the Market
Post by: Body-by-Guinness on February 08, 2024, 04:07:24 PM
I am shocked, shocked I tell you! Do you think perhaps they were aware of some pending legislation that would impact their stock portfolio? Oh, and those noble, nattering, Dems did better than those awful, venal, money grubbing Repubs, go figure.


Stock Traders in Congress Beat the Market Again

The Beacon / by Craig Eyermann / February 08, 2024 at 04:53PM

2023 was a good year for the stock market. CNN reported the year’s performance stats for the three most well-known U.S. stock market indices.

S&P 500: While the broadest measure of the US stock market closed 0.28% lower on Friday, leaving it just under 30 points away from a record-high close, it gained 24% this year, ending 2023 with a bang. It also notched its ninth-straight weekly gain—the longest streak since January 2004. This year has been much kinder to the market than last: The benchmark index fell by about 20% in 2022.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow reached multiple record highs in December, including notching records in each of the past five trading sessions. It was down 0.05% Friday, closing at 37,689. In 2023, the Dow gained 14%.

Nasdaq Composite: The tech-heavy Nasdaq index was the year’s biggest star, however. Although it was down 0.56% Friday, closing at around 4769, it rose by 43% in 2023—its best performance since 2020. It remains about 1,000 points below the all-time high it reached in November 2021, demonstrating what a horrendous year tech had in 2022—and how much room it still has left to recover.

Of all these, the return for the S&P 500 represents a benchmark that 92% of professional investment managers can’t beat. Certainly not with any regularity.

But, according to the market analytics firm Unusual Whales, for the members of the U.S. Congress who actively traded stocks during 2023, no fewer than 32 beat the S&P’s 24 percent return. Here’s a summary of what they found:

1. Congress beat the market, once again. Of 100 trading members, 33% beat SPY with their portfolios.
2. Democrats beat their Republican colleagues by a massive margin.
3. Members are once again trading options, after not trading them in 2022.
4. The overall number of transactions by Congress is down. They are also reducing time to disclosure, as well as using the note feature, because people now watch them vigorously.
5. There were many unusual trades and conflicts.

The report names several members of Congress who had some unusually well-timed trades and whose committee assignments may be giving them an insider edge over the general public and professional investment managers. Seeing a name like the options trading former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in that group may not be surprising. Still, lesser-known members like Tommy Tuberville, Kevin Hern, and Lois Frankel deserve attention for their 2023 trades.

Within the Congress, efforts in the last two years to pass legislation to curtail such unusual trading activities by elected officials have either stalled or died. There is little sign their backers have enough sway with their colleagues to even get them to a vote.

That’s not as bad as it sounds because those legislative proposals don’t go far enough. Restrictions on congressional insider trading must also extend to congressional staff and their family members. They also shouldn’t be limited to just the Congress. The same trading restrictions should apply to employees of the executive and judicial branches of the government as well.

The post Stock Traders in Congress Beat the Market Again appeared first on The Beacon.

https://blog.independent.org/2024/02/08/stock-trader-congress-beat-market/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stock-trader-congress-beat-market
Title: Hogan to run for Md. Senate seat
Post by: ccp on February 09, 2024, 09:34:15 AM
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/02/09/new-hogan-to-run-for-senate-in-maryland-n3782649

we don't need another rino in the Senate
probably already kissed McConnel's ring.
Title: Another Rep Cong critter calls it quits
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 10, 2024, 04:28:02 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/4-term-house-republican-announces-retirement-joining-growing-gop-congressional-exodus/ar-BB1i5rV7?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=a9a884ba64384bea9ee84f6e285dc9ef&ei=65
Title: Re: Another Rep Cong critter calls it quits
Post by: DougMacG on February 10, 2024, 06:08:52 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/4-term-house-republican-announces-retirement-joining-growing-gop-congressional-exodus/ar-BB1i5rV7?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=a9a884ba64384bea9ee84f6e285dc9ef&ei=65

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin)
Title: WSJ: A good one bites the dust
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 12, 2024, 05:47:26 AM

Rep. Michael Gallagher’s decision not to seek re-election this year is understandable from a personal point of view. But it’s also another dispiriting sign of the decline of Congress as a place where people of intelligence and principle believe they can solve national problems.


The 39-year-old Republican said Saturday that he wants to devote more time to his young family. He believes in term limits for Congress and says he never ran for office with a goal of making it a lifetime career. He was first elected to his northeastern Wisconsin seat in 2016.

Yet Mr. Gallagher will be missed as a rare Member these days who wants to do something other than promote his social-media brand. As a former Marine intelligence officer who served in Iraq under Centcom Commander David Petraeus, Mr. Gallagher has focused on America’s fading ability to deter its enemies.

In this Congress he has chaired the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, a rare corner of the House that has done something useful. He and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois have worked together to investigate the growing threat from China.

This includes U.S. vulnerability to Chinese espionage, cyber-attacks and influence schemes. The committee has been helpful in drawing attention to U.S. defense vulnerabilities, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Mr. Gallagher has argued in particular for urgently buying and deploying more long-range missiles in the Pacific theater that are crucial to deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

This military expertise is especially important given the Republican Party’s drift in the Trump era toward isolationism. The House GOP is increasingly dominated by Members who don’t support a military buildup despite the growing cooperation of U.S. adversaries China, Russia and Iran. The Senate still has some traditional hawks, but Mr. Trump’s influence is eroding support for peace-through-strength and long-time alliances even in the upper Chamber.

It’s hard to believe Mr. Gallagher’s decision to retire wasn’t influenced by the continuing dysfunction of the current House. The select China committee may not last past the current Congress, and he’s too junior to become Chairman of Armed Services. His principled stand against the GOP impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas suggests his lack of patience with his party’s resort to stunts that accomplish nothing.

Congress is increasingly a body for unserious people in both parties. The Adam Schiffs and Marjorie Taylor Greenes play to the cable TV and Twitter (now X) crowds and feed the partisan poison that makes legislative compromise more difficult.

This would matter less if this were the 1990s, a time of peace and prosperity. But the world is more dangerous than it’s been since the 1970s, and probably the 1930s, with rogue nations on the march. The U.S. needs leaders who understand these challenges, and too many talented men and women have concluded that Congress isn’t a body for people who want to make a difference.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 12, 2024, 05:55:57 AM
I am always suspicious of WSJ and all those who tell us we need Congress to "solve problems" and "compromise".

Like Bloomberg.

Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems most times we have compromise the Dems win an advantage.



Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 12, 2024, 06:00:28 AM
Agree. 
Title: Senate bill Assistance to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Gaza
Post by: DougMacG on February 13, 2024, 06:25:03 AM
What, wait, 9.5 Billion to "civilians in" Gaza?  That on a par with Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and ahead of left out border security? I wasn't the one who paired foreign war money with our border security.  It was Joe Biden (his strategists) who did that.

Sorry, how do we get to the "civilians in Gaza" without going through Hamas and when did our third world cash aid ever not get diverted to the autocrats in the kleptocracies?  Joe Biden and Barack Obama already financed the war against Israel and for some reason want to keep that going, paying both sides?

Sen Tom Cotton:  The Gaza money has inadequate guardrails.  Understatement.  Don't we know 70% of "civilians in Gaza" support the terror?  Sen Tom Cotton again, "we didn't send money to Germany and Japan during WWII", did we?

Because the last bill lacked a wall and legalized the invasion, they've dropped security of our border entirely?  I thought that was needed to get conservative support.  Or do conservatives just cave?

Meanwhile Ukraine's prospects only look bleaker (good money after bad?) and Israel never said it needed our money. President Biden doesn't support what they are doing but wants to send money?  With strings attached?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13078043/senate-passes-ukraine-israel-aid-bill-uncertain-house.html
Title: Pilip NY Post
Post by: ccp on February 13, 2024, 06:30:50 AM
https://nypost.com/2024/02/11/opinion/im-a-34-year-nypd-member-and-mazi-pilip-can-help-solve-our-crises-elections-matter/

Supported by police and retired Congressman Peter King of Long Island.

keep our fingers crossed .   We can't afford to lose this seat to a "career" crat.
Title: One more Mayorkas impeachment vote?
Post by: DougMacG on February 13, 2024, 06:58:08 AM
Rep Mike Gallagher said impeachment for 'mal-administration' lacked "high crimes" and would lead to [Democrats impeaching Republican cabinet members].  One could certainly envision Democrats impeaching the next Republican EPA administrator for policy differences, for example.

But does it lack a high crime?

Even the AP noticed the articles of impeachment include lying to congress, testifying that "the border is secure".

Question:  Does that rise to the threshold of "high crimes and misdemeanors"?

https://apnews.com/article/house-mayorkas-impeachment-vote-border-security-80cbd5bbb8f512c6814f155f825a1214

I say yes.  It is a crime, a high crime.  It is blatantly false and it matter of extreme relevance and importance.  It interferes with the role of Congress in oversight, budgeting and policy making. 

Some others lied to Congress without charges, former CIA Director John Brennan comes to mind.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/31/cia-director-john-brennan-lied-senate

FBI Director Christopher Wray's refusal to answer regarding federal agents on Jan 6 is contempt on a par with lying to Congress, IMHO.  Congress investigated this event for two years and still doesn't know what our own government was doing that day because of Wray's refusal to submit to Congressional oversight.
Title: Santos seat back to where it came from
Post by: ccp on February 14, 2024, 04:54:07 AM
to the Democrat who he beat.

I think this was a district that voted for Trump so I am not sure what this means.

Perhaps the R , Pilip was not up to the job.

Amazing.  The Dem tied everything bad to Trump and the R tied everything bad to Biden.

Since both have had 4 yrs this could be done instead of one side having an incumbent .
Title: WSJ: The Senate Rejects American Retreat
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 14, 2024, 01:54:28 PM
The Senate Rejects American Retreat
Twenty-two Republicans vote to help allies and rebuild U.S. defenses. Will Speaker Mike Johnson now let the House work its will?
By The Editorial Board
Feb. 13, 2024 6:34 pm ET

The Senate’s 70-29 predawn vote Tuesday approving U.S. aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was a rare bipartisan accomplishment in Washington. This is a victory for American security that would buttress U.S. defenses and hold the line against compounding dangers abroad.

Some 22 Republicans voted for the bill, up from 17 who supported starting work on the bill last week, and the converts include Jim Risch of Idaho and John Boozman of Arkansas. A yes vote took political courage. Donald Trump and his new GOP establishment are campaigning against Ukraine, and President Biden is incapable of pressing a public case for his own policies abroad.

But China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are mounting an increasingly aggressive and coordinated challenge to U.S. power. Some Republicans grasp the stakes and are acting as a backbone to a weak President, in the best Republican tradition since World War II. Arthur Vandenberg helped Truman establish NATO, and Bob Dole supported Bill Clinton in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Deserving particular credit: GOP Senators Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. All shaped the bill for the better and repeatedly explained the U.S. interest in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan—over angry barrages from the bill’s opponents.

Sen. Sullivan was right when he said on the floor that the measure isn’t so much a foreign aid bill as a down payment on a badly needed American rearmament. About 60% of the bill’s $95 billion in funding will flow to a brittle U.S. industrial base that is straining to produce enough artillery shells, missiles and air defenses for the U.S. and its allies.

Yet the vote was instructive about some Republicans who portray themselves as defense hawks, not least Sen. Lindsey Graham, who voted no, demanding Congress focus first on the border. The South Carolinian is now ducking this weekend’s Munich Security Conference, where he’s been a regular, perhaps to spare himself the embarrassment. But the country needs him in a role more useful than Mr. Trump’s political spokesman.

Sen. Tom Cotton also voted no, and on the floor he said the bill offered too much economic and budget support for Ukraine. Yet Republicans managed to cut President Biden’s financial aid request by nearly $4 billion, to $7.9 billion. Europe is stepping up to offer more cash, and Republicans have a strong hand to continue trimming this account.

But much of the rest of the $95 billion is for U.S. arsenals and Red Sea operations, and a no vote heralds weakness against China and Iran as much as it does Russia. Anyone who thinks a fight over Taiwan is coming should be rushing to pass $2 billion in weapons sales and training for Pacific partners. The bill also includes billions to produce 100,000 155mm artillery rounds per month. Ukraine is voraciously consuming shells, but 155mm is important to Israel, Taiwan and U.S. forces on the Korean peninsula.

Wherever the U.S. fights, troops need air cover, and the measure helps grow Patriot missile production to 650 a year, from 550 now. The U.S. is expending Tomahawk missiles in the Middle East and needs more of its best weapons in the Pacific. The bill devotes $133 million to expanding production of rocket motors that feed cruise missiles.

***
Next up is the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson said this week the body will “continue to work its own will on these important matters.” If he means it, he won’t let the GOP’s isolationist wing block the will of the House majority that supports Ukraine. The supporters include half the Republicans, and critics can offer amendments. Mr. Johnson ascended to power as an affable patriot, and he can’t dodge this test of his leadership and convictions.

If Mr. Johnson blocks a vote, he and Republicans will bear responsibility for what comes next—in Ukraine and elsewhere. The world will absorb the lesson that the U.S. is unprepared to provide weapons for allies willing to fight in their own defense against a marauding dictator, as the Ukrainians have done with valor and at great cost.

Seventy Senators are on record opposing a diminished America in a world that is more dangerous than it’s been in decades. House Republicans now face a test of what they believe, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Title: Re: WSJ: The Senate Rejects American Retreat
Post by: DougMacG on February 15, 2024, 06:10:56 AM
I am generally a big fan of the wsj editorial board and also generally hawkish on military preparedness but this piece is very unfair IMHO.

If it is so important to get the good parts of this done why is so much objectionable BS thrown in with it and such important things left out, then all the blame thrown on those left out of the negotiations?

Funding Hamas negates the good part with Israel, the Ukraine part is without oversight and strategy, and It was Biden who tied foreign military aid to our border security, then they go ahead wit no border security and expect full support, like our memory is as short as his. Not so. The otherwise good opinionators skip over the defects and put all blame on one side.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 15, 2024, 06:16:23 AM
Doug:

I agree with you and probably should have specified the points you make when I posted it.
Title: US Congress; Congressional races, That NY-3 Race
Post by: DougMacG on February 16, 2024, 12:18:39 PM
Let's see the candidate who was pro tax cut and for securing the border won.

I wish the whole Dem party was that way!

https://news.yahoo.com/democrats-themselves-victory-york-problem-161624581.html

Not so much for recent Dem races down ballot in NY-3:

"In just the last three years, Republicans have swept every major office in the county, filling high-profile posts and hundreds of patronage jobs with party regulars..."
 - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/nyregion/republicans-nassau-pilip-santos.html
Title: Sen. Rand Paul: Impeachment time bomb in Uke spending bill
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 19, 2024, 04:33:51 PM
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1757060091625296325
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: ccp on February 20, 2024, 02:40:40 AM
Don't know if this means much but real clear politics on 2024 Congress:

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/2024/generic-congressional-vote

Does Trump help hurt or make no difference?
Same can be asked about Biden.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on February 27, 2024, 01:35:03 PM
House Backbenchers to Ukraine’s Rescue
A bipartisan group offers an alternative bill to force a floor vote.
By The Editorial Board
Feb. 26, 2024 6:36 pm ET



The war in Ukraine has entered its third year, and the most crucial front for Kyiv may be in the U.S. House of Representatives. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has rolled out a fresh attempt at a compromise bill to send military aid to Ukraine, and Speaker Mike Johnson can’t duck this test of his leadership and beliefs.


Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jared Golden (D., Maine), Don Bacon (R., Neb.) and others have introduced the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act that combines border security with weapons to allies. Among other border-control measures, the bill stipulates that migrants coming over the southern border stay in Mexico while their asylum claims are assessed. This is a version of Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy.

Those provisions will send some Democrats running from the bill, so lawmakers will need substantial GOP support for its provisions providing military aid for Ukraine. To that end the drafters focused their bill on providing lethal aid—weapons and ammo—to Ukraine, Israel and the Pacific.

The bill includes roughly $47 billion for Ukraine priorities, down from about $60 billion in the bill that passed the Senate this month. The House lawmakers excluded the Senate’s $7.8 billion in government budget aid to Kyiv, which Ukraine’s critics portray as paying salaries for bureaucrats. Europe has been picking up more of this tab in any case.

The bill from the backbenchers includes such essential needs as refilling U.S. weapons arsenals; expanding production of munitions; funding U.S. military operations in the Red Sea; and spending $3 billion to help America build more submarines. The measure would spend $4 billion refilling Israel’s stocks of air defense interceptors, a critical need if Iran orders Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch its missiles.

One oddity is that the bill doesn’t appear to increase what’s called Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the Commander in Chief to hand over weapons to Ukraine quickly from U.S. arsenals. That would hamstring the U.S. effort to arm Ukraine with the urgency required by Russia’s advances.

The bill also excludes billions in loans and grants for Ukraine, Israel and Pacific partners to purchase U.S. military equipment. This is a mistake. Another provision worth restoring is the Senate’s requirement that the Biden Administration articulate a strategy in Ukraine. House Republicans have complained for two years that the Biden Team has no plan. Here’s an opportunity to force a change.

But the House bill is far preferable to consigning Ukraine to defeat, and Mr. Fitzpatrick and his colleagues deserve credit for attempting to overcome the blockade by the GOP’s isolationist wing at the urging of Donald Trump. Most Members would support aid for Ukraine if it reaches the floor—our sources say perhaps two-thirds.

Speaker Johnson will have to reckon with this reality sooner or later, and bringing up this bill or something else on his prerogative is better than the alternatives. If he doesn’t, Republicans may join Democrats in signing a discharge petition, which allows 218 Members to go around a Speaker to bring a measure to the floor. That would make Mr. Johnson look weak and probably wouldn’t help him with his isolationist wing in any case.

Ukraine’s recent retreat from the city of Avdiivka shows that Kyiv is slowly losing territory, and don’t rule out a Russian military breakthrough as the House dawdles. Meanwhile, the murder of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an arctic gulag is a reminder of the brutal nature of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The Ukraine vote is shaping up as the most consequential for U.S. interests and the defense of Europe since the decision to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in the 1980s. Mr. Johnson and House leaders owe the Members the chance to vote their conscience rather than using a procedural blockade. Credit to the backbenchers for keeping the pressure on.
Title: the most 3 likely to replace McConnell
Post by: ccp on February 28, 2024, 01:14:26 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/who-will-replace-mitch-mcconnell-the-3-republicans-who-are-likeliest-to-succeed-him/ar-BB1j3SKj

Baraso has best Liberty score at 76%

other 2 ~ 50 %.

McConnell was only 44%.
Title: Cocaine Mitch Retiring
Post by: Body-by-Guinness on February 28, 2024, 08:36:26 PM
There are congresscritters I dislike more, but I’m not gonna cry when he leaves:

https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/02/mitch-mcconnell-stepping-down-as-senate-republican-leader-in-november/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mitch-mcconnell-stepping-down-as-senate-republican-leader-in-november
Title: Trump convinces Cong. Mark Green to stay on
Post by: ccp on March 01, 2024, 08:43:09 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-house-republican-reverses-retirement-plans-after-urging-from-trump/ar-BB1jaLGW?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=54da17cc648f44429d98ac15d4a1d43a&ei=19

thumbs up!
Title: From Ken Buck to Lauren Boebart
Post by: ccp on March 03, 2024, 07:42:15 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-endorses-boebert-a-trusted-america-first-fighter/ar-BB1jeH3Q


Is this the best we can do?
Title: Senate and House elections 2024
Post by: DougMacG on March 05, 2024, 08:28:19 AM
I heard Tom Cotton this morning discuss the Senate possibilities.  If R's hold all theirs and take WV (Manchin's seat) that makes 50. Next there are at least 3 good pick up opportunities in Trump won or competitive states, Montana, Ohio, Arizona. The next tier where Democrats are currently favored are Dem seats in Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. All winnable. That makes 57-43 possible and 55-45 well within reach - if we start communicating well and stop making unforced errors.

(I noticed Trump took a magnanimous tone on the 9-0 Supreme Court ballot decision, speaking of at least reducing unforced errors.)

Cook Political Report: https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings

Doug's law: margin of victory matters. That means every vote matters, primary and general election. We don't need just 51 in the Senate. We need to win ALL the seats in states where the majority embrace our principles (The American Creed).

The House seems to be trickier and hard to be optimistic after the big GOP underperformance in 2022. There are so many races that it's hard to discuss nationally. Obviously we need another Newt-like national campaign (as we say every two years).

The point of the day: this is SUPER TUESDAY TODAY, pick good candidates in your primaries.  Pick people who can win AND govern well.
Title: Sinema out
Post by: DougMacG on March 05, 2024, 05:04:10 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/senator-kyrsten-sinema-announces-she-wont-run-for-reelection/
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2024, 06:23:16 AM
This is too bad.  She defended the filibuster, blocked Build Back Better, and some other things worthy of appelation "reasonable Democrat".
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on March 06, 2024, 08:02:54 AM
This is too bad.  She defended the filibuster, blocked Build Back Better, and some other things worthy of appelation "reasonable Democrat".

Yes, along with Manchin at times, she became the most reasonable Democrat.  She actually had a conscience and a backbone.

I was thinking this is great news for the chance to win back the seat, but maybe a 3 way race would have been better.

Now swing state Arizona has a clear choice, a liberal Democrat versus a conservative Republican.  Trump will be spending lots of time there (when he's not in court).  Maybe both Trump and Kari Lake can read VDH's latest column on how to win (stay on message).

It will all come down to ... vote harvesting.
Title: AZ
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 06, 2024, 09:32:48 AM
) SINEMA DROPS OUT OF SENATE RACE, HELPING DEMS HOLD SEAT: Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) announced that she will not seek reelection in November.
According to polling, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is leading Republican opponent Kari Lake, and his lead is likely to grow after Sinema dropped out.
Why It Matters: Polling shows Sinema would very likely have been a spoiler candidate for Democrats, and Gallego is very likely to pick up Sinema voters. Democrats are likely to keep the Arizona Senate seat, shrinking a possible Republican Senate majority in 2025. – R.C.
Title: FWIW
Post by: ccp on March 06, 2024, 10:53:48 AM
Business Insider article suggest this will help Lake and not the crat
Title: Hatching a Plot to Replace Romney
Post by: Body-by-Guinness on March 06, 2024, 05:42:26 PM
One could hardly do worse than Mittens:

[Steven Calabresi] The Late Senator Orrin Hatch's Utah Senate Seat has been vacated by Mitt Romney
The Volokh Conspiracy / by Steven Calabresi / Mar 5, 2024 at 7:58 PM
[Brent Hatch, the Senator's oldest son is running for the job and would be superb.]

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, 1977 to 2019, was a stalwart supporter of originalist, rule of law judges through many a slugfest Senate confirmation fight. Senator Hatch fought for traditional American values, and, like Donald Trump, he always wanted to Make America Great Again. Sadly, when Hatch retired due to old age, the feckless RINO Mitt Romney, was elected to replace him. Romney voted twice to impeach President Donald Trump, and he was a longtime loser. Romney lost a winnable U.S. Senate race to Ted Kennedy in 1994 in Massachusetts by promising to be more pro-gay rights than Kennedy, and by being unable to defend his outsourcing of American jobs to China when he was a businessman. And, he lost the U.S. Presidency to Barack Obama, in 2012, again because of his outsourcing of American jobs to China as a businessman and because he implausibly claimed to be the leading social conservative in the race never bothering to explain his change of mind from 1994. Mitt Romney always was, and always will be remembered as a big time loser. Now is the perfect time to consider the candidacy of Senator Hatch's oldest and most conservative son, Brent Hatch.

Brent is a first rate lawyer who graduated from Columbia Law School and who was my co-clerk for Judge Robert H. Bork in 1984-1985 on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. After clerking we both had the great privilege of working as political appointees in senior jobs in Ed Meese's Justice Department under President Ronald Reagan. Brent went on to serve as an associate White House Counsel under the senior President Bush. He became one of my closest friends and was a groomsman at my wedding in 1995.

Brent loves to hunt and has many proud trophies including of a huge stuffed Wild Boar that he shot himself. He is as ardent as it gets when it comes to Second Amendment rights. Brent is also a former Bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he is as socially conservative as was Judge Bork.  Brent is a brilliant trial lawyer who started his own law firm and who built up a fortune in the process of doing so.  He has lived in Utah continuously for the last thirty years in a hill top mansion that overlooks Salt Lake City.  But, what Brent really loves doing is driving his motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, and working in his yard.  When my daughter went out to visit him a few years ago, he signed her up for an axe-throwing contest where you got a prize if you hit the bullseye.   With Brent's coaching, my daughter hit the bullseye and won the prize.  She also had a blast practicing law with Brent at his firm.

Brent has served for three decades as a member of the 12 person Board of Directors of the Federalist Society—a hot shot legal conservative organization. Brent has been an invaluable member of the Board of Directors, especially when financial matters arise. He is a great and good friend.

Like his Dad, Brent wants to see more lawyers like Judge Robert H. Bork and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. Brent is a staunch and committed originalist. If he is elected, Senate Republicans should give him back his father's seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Like his father, Brent is a real fighter, but unlike his father Brent cracks jokes all the time and can talk with everyday Americans.  Brent was the first person who told me that he thought Donald Trump was going to win the presidency in 2016. Brent is actually much more conservative than his father, and he is a real populist to boot. The people of Utah have a chance this year to send the best possible Republican Senator to Washington, D.C.  I certainly hope they take advantage of this opportunity to reward talent and conservative principles by electing a man I have known very well and have admired for almost forty years.

The post The Late Senator Orrin Hatch's Utah Senate Seat has been vacated by Mitt Romney appeared first on Reason.com.

https://reason.com/volokh/2024/03/05/the-late-senator-orrin-hatchs-utah-senate-seat-has-been-vacated-by-mitt-romney/
Title: Kari Lake doing the dumb Trump stuff
Post by: ccp on March 07, 2024, 05:23:34 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/conservatives-roast-kari-lake-for-racist-attack-on-nikki-haley-after-attempted-rebrand-unchristian-and-unamerican/ar-BB1jrB6E?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=f08a04b54fc44812be53369e03ea1eff&ei=13

She, like Trump does not understand this kind of crap costs them 5 to 10 % in approval ratings.
Or most likely so impulsive they can't help it.
Same personality flaw.


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 07, 2024, 07:28:23 AM
Concur.

I liked her a lot, but she sure played into looking like a sore loser.
Title: WSJ: The stakes with the filibuster
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 08, 2024, 04:22:35 AM
Does Kyrsten Sinema’s Exit Doom the Senate Filibuster?
Democrats want to kill the 60-vote rule so that one party can pass, well, everything it wants without compromise.
By The Editorial Board
March 7, 2024 5:31 pm ET


Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said this week she won’t run for re-election, and a question for voters to ponder before she departs is whether the Senate filibuster will probably go with her. If Democrats keep control under President Biden after November, there’s a real prospect the answer is yes. Then comes the progressive deluge.


Ms. Sinema was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but had an Arizona maverick streak. When Bernie Sanders tried to more than double the national minimum wage as part of a Covid relief bill, Ms. Sinema voted no. She resisted raising tax rates, arguing it would harm competitiveness. In 2022 she left the Democratic Party and re-registered as an independent.

Winning re-election this fall could have been a challenge, though three-way races can be unpredictable, and Ms. Sinema might have tried to run up the middle. The presumptive Democratic nominee, Rep. Ruben Gallego, supports Medicare for All and is nobody’s idea of a moderate. The Republican front-runner, Kari Lake, is a Stop the Steal enthusiast who lost the 2022 governor’s race. She recently got the state GOP chairman to quit, after the press was provided with audio of him in an unflattering conversation that she had secretly taped.

Mr. Gallego supported “filibuster reform” in 2021, urging Democrats not to “let a Jim-Crow era Senate procedure stop us from passing legislation to protect our democracy.” He has company: California Rep. Adam Schiff, who won his Senate primary this week, is campaigning on ending the filibuster to pass “a national right to abortion,” a 35% corporate tax, union favoritism, and more. With Ms. Sinema gone, and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin also retiring, there isn’t another certain Democratic vote against killing the 60-vote filibuster rule.

Ending the need for Senate compromise, so that one party acting by itself could pass everything it wants, would raise the political stakes dangerously high. If Democrats could guarantee abortion and mail voting nationwide, Republicans could abolish them the next time they control Congress and the White House.

Preventing such extreme swings could be accomplished only by never losing an election. Is that what Americans want? The filibuster is on the ballot in Arizona, as well as Montana, Ohio and beyond.
Title: Steve Garvey win planned by Schiff?
Post by: ccp on March 08, 2024, 11:35:42 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-steve-garvey-s-strange-win-is-a-loss-for-california-election-reform-here-s-the-solution/ar-BB1jzEsu?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=60bb32904e0843bea7e055433b931a49&ei=14

or just playing on our minds?
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 09, 2024, 08:35:10 AM
This is correctly posted here (the Calfironia thread would have been an appropriate choice as well)  AND though I completely disagree with the proffered idea here (witness what happened in Alaska not too long ago) is really interesting from a structural issue for electoral politics POV so I will be posting it there as well.
Title: Ken Buck leaving early
Post by: ccp on March 12, 2024, 05:14:32 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ken-buck-announces-leaving-congress-185941234.html

lets see if he shows up on CNN  :wink:

which would be happy to have him and pay him leave Congress and narrow the gap even more.

Title: The three Senate seats most likely to flip
Post by: DougMacG on March 15, 2024, 09:52:46 AM
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/03/12/the_10_senate_seats_most_likely_to_flip_150638.html

Nobody knows but Sean Trende is very good at reading past and current polls. Looks like he is only predicting these three to flip. If we only win two of the three, that makes a 51 to 49 senate.

I hate to go further because in his top five is Ted Cruz losing Texas.

Trump has a chance to win. Republicans have a chance to take the senate, barely. That leaves the House which for some reason people think Democrats are about to take over. Republicans need to win all three or this will only be a pause on the road to destruction.

7 months out is too early to give up!
Title: Does Trump have coat tails
Post by: ccp on March 15, 2024, 10:13:23 AM
time and again - NO

I keep reading we are gaining with Blacks Latinos Gen Z
etc Trump has the highest approval among Blacks in history blah blah blah

I just don't see what these people are talking about
if we can't even win the Senate with more than one vote majority or even Congress

with an administration at record lows.

no we cannot give up
but very dejected in Jersey


Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 15, 2024, 10:33:55 AM
90% of life is a matter of showing up!!!

Remember, polls normally skew Dem by several points.
Title: Re: The US Congress; Congressional races
Post by: DougMacG on March 21, 2024, 04:55:27 AM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/larry-hogan-leads-democratic-senate-hopefuls-by-double-digits-in-maryland/ar-BB1kePfg

This will be as helpful to Republicans as Joe Manchin was to the Democrats.
Title: MTG to hold up bill
Post by: ccp on March 22, 2024, 09:41:20 AM
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/22/majorie-taylor-greene-mike-johnson-vacate-motion

I don't know how this helps are side.
Title: after 4/19 the Repub majority down to 1
Post by: ccp on March 23, 2024, 11:05:40 AM
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/03/23/rep-mike-gallagher-will-resigned-from-congress-in-april-n4927577

for God's sake he can't wait 6 more months till Nov?

We will be in big trouble if we lose only one more.

Trump better not screw us over again with the down races....!
Title: senate outlook 1 to 9 seat pickup
Post by: ccp on March 24, 2024, 12:25:21 PM
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/105439-the-road-to-a-republican-senate-2024-03-23?utm_campaign=read_more&utm_content=read_more&utm_medium=web&utm_source=patriotpost.us
Title: WSJ: Honey, we shrunk the GOP majority
Post by: Crafty_Dog on March 25, 2024, 04:32:03 AM

Honey, We Shrunk the GOP Majority
Too many House Republicans would prefer to be in the minority.
By The Editorial Board
March 24, 2024 4:44 pm ET



Democrats are lapping Republicans in this year’s election fund-raising, and could that be because GOP donors are wondering what they get for their money? Donors, both small-dollar and large, helped Republicans retake the House in 2022, and all they’ve received in return is a majority that revels in operating like a functional minority.


Soon it may not even be a majority at all. Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, one of the GOP’s best Members, announced on Friday that he’s resigning from the House on April 19. Colorado Rep. Ken Buck’s last day was Friday. You can criticize both for leaving early, but who can blame anyone sane for wanting to do something more useful with his life than serving in this House of horribles?

Their departures take the GOP majority down to 217-213, which means the party is a heart attack and absences or flipped votes away from putting Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in charge. In some sense Mr. Jeffries already is in charge. Speaker Mike Johnson can’t pass legislation the usual way through the Rules Committee and then onto the floor with a simple majority. Every sensible majority that wants to govern packs the Rules Committee with Speaker loyalists. Not this crowd.

The anti-governing wing of the House GOP insisted on three of their own for Rules as one price of voting for Kevin McCarthy as Speaker in January 2023. They refuse to vote for Mr. Johnson’s inevitable compromises with Senate Democrats, so Mr. Johnson has to move legislation via the suspension calendar, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass anything. This means he needs Democratic votes, and a lot of them, because Republicans prefer to make futile gestures of opposition rather than vote to fund the government.

The practical effect is to reduce Republican leverage in a divided government and make it harder to achieve conservative policy victories. But then the same Members who undercut the majority boast on the House floor and social media that they are the only honest conservatives in Washington. They’re posers masquerading as principled, and they’re treating the voters at home like rubes.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion Friday to oust Mr. Johnson as Speaker exposes the deception behind the coup against Mr. McCarthy. After we criticized that October coup as destructive and self-serving, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote us a letter saying that in electing Mr. Johnson the GOP now had a real conservative as leader.

So what’s wrong with Mr. Johnson now? Apparently because he’s not willing to indulge kamikaze acts like shutting down the government, Mr. Johnson is a sellout too.

Conservatives have long had a strong anti-Washington impulse, which is useful given the federal government’s relentless drive to expand its own power. But breaking that drive, and rolling back that power, requires calculation and often incremental gains. All the more so in a divided government.


The posers of the House GOP remind us of a comment by former Sen. Jim DeMint that he’d rather have 30 Senators who agreed with him than a Republican majority. Congratulations to Mr. DeMint. The current House GOP is close to realizing his ambition.