FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A legislative panel took no action on impeachment petitions pending against Kentucky's governor and attorney general after meeting behind closed doors for more than an hour Monday.
Republican Rep. Jason Nemes, the committee chairman, said the petitions were discussed during the executive session but the panel ...
As the Biden administration and Democratic Congress release plans for the massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, otherwise known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” the Republican Study Committee (RSC) last week warned about some of items in the bill.
Some of the generalities that President Biden has made no secret of wanting in the bill, such as raising the minimum wage and financial aid to illegal immigrants are of course included, but what are some of the other tidbits conservatives are warning about?
Here’s what the RSC is opposing in the bill – the one that was pushed aside so Democrats could pursue a second impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Republicans are struggling to derail Biden's increasingly popular relief package.
More than 7 in 10 Americans now back Biden's aid package. That includes support from three-quarters of independent voters, 2 in 5 Republicans and nearly all Democrats.https://t.co/FjPljyKeXL
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 20, 2021
RELATED: Trump Set To Deliver Speech Claiming ‘I’m Still In Charge’ Of GOP
As previously stated, some of the items in the bill are no surprise. They have been part of a liberal Democrat wish list for quite a while, and have nothing to do with relief for those hardest hit by the pandemic or economic shutdowns.
One of the top items – a new federal mandatory minimum wage – instead has everything to do with essentially paying people to be a new voting bloc.
According to the RSC and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the result could be 1.4 million jobs lost, or even more. Most of those effected would be younger people with less formal education.
The irony is clearly lost on Democrats for this one. There is an entire section, “TITLE VI COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS” in this 591 page behemoth, that covers such things as modifications to the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), support for restaurants, and something entitled “direct appropriations.”
Yet the best way to help these struggling businesses is to allow them to first open for business if they haven’t already, and allow them to pay their employees what they can afford to pay and still operate.
Anyone who knows anything about economics knows that if you cannot afford to pay all of your employees that brand new federal minimum wage, somebody’s got to go.
Unemployment would come with an extra $400 per week in addition to regular payments. This would last up to a year and a half.
In the words of the RSC, “Under this plan, 53% of Americans would effectively receive a raise for being unemployed.”
And it would not just be Americans who would be paid to sit and watch Netflix all day. If you enter the U.S. illegally, it is payday for you as well, my friend.
The $1,400 stimulus checks that are still being debated would also go to those families in which at least one parent is an illegal immigrant.
Nancy Pelosi’s “stimulus” plan still contains:
Stimulus Checks for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Her plan is for illegal immigrants NOT the American People
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) October 23, 2020
RELATED: Dr. Fauci Says ‘Possible’ Americans Might Have To Wear Masks Into 2020
America’s school children are not faring much better than America’s small businesses. Many parents do not feel as though their kids are getting a quality education sitting in front of a computer screen all day.
But the Biden administration’s priority seems to be not with American kids getting a proper education, but making sure that America’s teachers unions keep donating to the Democrat Party.
Apparently hidden in the section entitled, “PART 1 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION”, is the additional provision of $130 billion, on top of the $110 billion they already receive, even if they remain closed.
If large numbers of American parents whose children are not included in a special classification feel their child’s education is suffering permanent consequences, imagine the feeling if your child is deemed “at risk,” “low income,” or “special needs.”
Teacher’s unions are holding public education hostage and @POTUS is helping them do it. Notice how they’re all saying they need to pass stimulus so schools can open …
Mere weeks after CDC said they could open without waiting for vaccinations.
This isn’t about a virus anymore.
— The
FOO (@PolitiBunny) February 14, 2021
RELATED: Psaki Refuses To Answer If Biden Still Thinks Gov. Cuomo Is ‘Gold Standard For Leadership’
The bill would crowd out those who need PPP funding the most and expand the qualifications to large nonprofits, labor unions, country clubs, fraternities and sororities, and publicly-traded internet news organizations.
In other words, to already wealthy, well-positioned firms.
With the majority of large donations going to the Democrat Party, is that why Joe Biden and the Democrats want to keep their country club buddies happy?
Social justice is absolutely included in the Democrats’ handouts. There is a $50 million funding provision for EPA “environmental justice grants.”
Has anyone ever figured out just what exactly environmental justice is?
The RSC report calls this “a thinly-veiled kickback to leftist environmental groups.” Also included, $800 million in foreign food aid.
Americans are going hungry right now. How about keeping that $800 million for American food aid?
And what Democrat stimulus package would be complete without a little identity politics thrown in? The bill allows for loan forgiveness worth 120% of debt to farmers and ranchers on the basis of race and ethnicity.
In a report in “Successful Farming”, Georgia Republican Austin Scott said that the debt relief proposal “has no requirement of any proof of discrimination.” He also said that “payments of 120% could easily be challenged as reverse discrimination and unconstitutional.”
Biden's $1.9T coronavirus stimulus package gives $1B to 'root out systemic racism' for farmers https://t.co/5kjZ6cEukr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 22, 2021
As was expected, Joe Biden, his administration, and a Democrat Congress is attempting to pander to every group they think they can turn into permanent Democrat voters by funding their pet causes.
Too bad the American people are not a pet cause.
The post What’s Actually In the Biden-Democrat $1.9 Trillion ‘COVID Relief’ Bill appeared first on The Political Insider.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota lawmakers are considering impeaching the state's attorney general as he faces misdemeanor charges for striking and killing a man with his car, Republican legislative leaders said Monday.
Jason Ravnsborg, the state's top law enforcement officer, said last week he will not step down before ...
Donald Trump will reportedly deliver a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida this weekend in which he will claim the mantle of power in the GOP by saying he is “still in charge.”
A longtime adviser to the former President tells Axios that the speech will be a “show of force” in which he will announce, “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.”
Going a step further, Trump is expected to argue that he is still the man to drain the Washington swamp as the Republican “presumptive 2024 nominee.”
Trump will be making his speech on Sunday, the final day of the conference.
During the week, Axios adds, “advisers will meet with him at Mar-a-Lago” where they will “plan his next political moves” and “set up the machinery for kingmaking in the 2022 midterms.”
— Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) February 22, 2021
RELATED: Majority of Trump Voters Say They Will Follow Him to Another Party and Abandon the GOP
Donald Trump certainly seems to have the numbers to back up his claims of being in charge of the Republican party.
A poll released this past weekend indicates nearly 50 percent of Trump voters would follow the former President to a new party and abandon the GOP altogether.
A vast majority of GOP voters want to see him play a big role in the future of the party, including running again in 2024.
Trump is strategically leaving that option open to give him leverage within the party and with voters.
– Trump’s looking to assert himself as top 2024 contender via CPAC speech, sources tell @mikeallen
– His leadership PAC has $75 million on hand & database of tens of millions of names
– Even if he doesn’t run, these stunts give him powerhttps://t.co/HcnsTXEYBj— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) February 22, 2021
“Trump effectively is the Republican Party,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Axios. “The only chasm is between Beltway insiders and grassroots Republicans around the country.”
He added, “When you attack President Trump, you’re attacking the Republican grassroots.”
A longtime adviser called Trump’s speech a “show of force,” and said the message will be: “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.” Payback is his chief obsession. https://t.co/ohQpzSBabd
— Axios (@axios) February 22, 2021
RELATED: ‘Never-Trump’ Republicans Looking To Form Their Own Party
Miller’s point is one of the more important ones that establishment Republicans don’t seem to understand.
When they attack Trump, they don’t just do so as a matter of principle. They do so with disdain and a personal vendetta which reflects poorly to and upon his supporters.
As an example, a group led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin announced recently that they are considering forming their own political party.
In his statement regarding the anti-Trump party, McMullin portrayed supporters of the former President as extremists who are a threat to the country.
“Large portions of the Republican Party are radicalizing and threatening American democracy,” McMullin told Reuters. “The party needs to recommit to truth, reason and founding ideals or there clearly needs to be something new.”
The biggest threat to American democracy has been, and always will be, the Democrat party – McMullin and the anti-Trumpers good friends.
The Zoom was co-hosted by @EvanMcMullin, who ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election. Participants included Trump Homeland Security officials @JohnMitnick and @NeuSummits, and former congressman @RepCharlieDent https://t.co/8pQBUlXMBw 3/6 pic.twitter.com/geSHnkKHMO
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 11, 2021
Axios notes that Trump stands ready to support candidates who share his vision for America in the 2022 midterms and has the backing of state-level officials, many of whom censured Republicans who voted in lockstep with Democrats on impeachment.
The former president’s speech will claim “many of his predictions about President Biden have already come true” and that “much like 2016, we’re taking on Washington again.”
That includes everybody in Washington on both sides of the political aisle.
The post Report: Trump Set To Deliver Speech Claiming ‘I’m Still In Charge’ Of GOP appeared first on The Political Insider.
The development is a brutal defeat for the former president. Trump has dismissed the Manhattan prosecutors' investigation as a political "witch hunt."
A poll released this past weekend indicates a majority – nearly 50 percent – of Trump voters would follow the former President to a new party and abandon the GOP.
The Suffolk University/USA TODAY survey indicates 46 percent of those who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 would join the third party if he were to go that route.
“If there’s a civil war in the Republican Party, the voters who backed Donald Trump in November’s election are ready to choose sides,” USA Today writes. “Behind Trump.”
By contrast, 27 percent of Trump voters said they would stick with the GOP while another 27 percent said they were, as of yet, undecided.
The polling represents another in a series of findings that indicate voters are more in line with the vision of the former President than they are with the Mitch McConnells and Liz Cheneys of the world.
USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll of 1,000 Trump voters:
46%-27%, those surveyed say they would abandon the GOP and join the Trump party if the former president decided to create one. https://t.co/7kdlTKeKiJ
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 21, 2021
RELATED: Polls: Majority Of Republicans Want Trump In 2024, Prefer He Play Big Role In GOP’s Future
Poll after poll seems to indicate Donald Trump continues to be popular with Republican voters, a terrible sign for those trying to instigate an in-party civil war with the former president.
A vast majority of GOP voters want to see him play a big role in the future of the party, including running again in 2024.
A Rasmussen survey in late December indicated 72 percent of Republican voters want their legislators to be more like Trump and less like establishment politicians like McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader.
Brandon Keidl, 27, a Republican and small-business owner from Milwaukee, told USA Today following their survey why he supports Trump.
“We feel like Republicans don’t fight enough for us, and we all see Donald Trump fighting for us as hard as he can, every single day,” Keidl explained.
“But then you have establishment Republicans who just agree with establishment Democrats and everything, and they don’t ever push back.”
It really is that simple. Trump remains popular because he fights for the American people. It was true in 2016, and it will remain true even as we barrel toward 2024.
Former President Donald Trump surprised supporters during a Presidents Day rally held in West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday. Right Side Broadcasting Network captured the hundreds of loyal supporters cheering on the 45th President as his motorcade rolls down the street. pic.twitter.com/zjNdhNnobQ
— VINnews (@VINNews) February 15, 2021
RELATED: Poll: The Republican Party Is More Marjorie Taylor Greene Than It Is Liz Cheney
To Keidl’s point, it seems that establishment Republicans of late are willing to fight harder against Donald Trump and his supporters than they ever were against Democrats.
Earlier this month, for example, a group of “anti-Trump” Republicans led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin announced that they are considering forming a political party of their own.
Republican Adam Kinzinger (IL), one of only 10 Republicans in the House to have voted in favor of impeachment earlier this year, formed a new PAC which he claims is fighting to “take back” the Republican Party from Trump.
Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida.
We will always appreciate & honor his service.
Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name.
My response:
Fucking bring it.
Adam needs PACs to win elections.
I don’t. https://t.co/TE9TPt6QJv
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 11, 2021
Speculation of Trump forming a third party has been ongoing since the election, though those rumors have subsided a bit.
Perhaps more frightening for the establishment GOP?
The Guardian reports that Trump, in a speech he will deliver later this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida, is expected to argue that he is still the man to drain the Washington swamp as the Republican “presumptive 2024 nominee.”
This civil war isn’t going to end well for the party.
The post Majority Of Trump Voters Say They Will Follow Him To Another Party And Abandon The GOP appeared first on The Political Insider.
Former Trump White House aide Max Miller is expected to wage a primary challenge against GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, the latest opponent to take on a House Republican who supported the former president’s impeachment.
Miller, who hails from northeastern Ohio, has been in talks with top Republican donors in the state and other party leaders since leaving the White House last month, according to a person familiar with the plans. He recently purchased a house in Rocky River, inside Gonzalez’s 16th District.
The 10 House GOP members who supported impeachment in January are facing a barrage of criticism and primary threats from fellow Republicans. Gonzalez has been rebuked by several local GOP organizations, including the Medina County Republican Party, which censured the congressman, and the Strongsville GOP, which rescinded its endorsement of Gonzalez and has called on him to resign.
Former President Donald Trump and his orbit of political advisers and supporters are eager to oust the impeachment backers in 2022. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken impeachment supporter, has already drawn several primary opponents, as has Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
Gonzalez, 36, was elected to Congress in 2018 with support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups after the district’s former representative, Republican Jim Renacci, ran for Senate. The runner-up in the Republican primary that year, Christina Hagan, painted herself as more closely aligned with the former president and won endorsements from the likes of pro-Trump Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, but Gonzalez prevailed by a healthy margin.
But the intensity on the pro-Trump side could be higher in 2022 in the wake of the January impeachment vote. The 32-year-old Miller is a Trump loyalist, having served on his 2016 campaign before entering the White House. He became director of advance after serving in the office of presidential personnel. Miller, a Marine reservist, then joined the 2020 reelection campaign, where he served as deputy campaign manager for presidential operations.
The former Trump aide is from a prominent Cleveland family: Miller’s grandfather is the late real estate executive and philanthropist Sam Miller, who was a benefactor of an array of northeastern Ohio organizations and Jewish groups.
A person familiar with the planning for Miller’s expected campaign said that he’s received six figures in commitments from donors, but that he would have the personal resources to provide self-financing if necessary.
Gonzalez has stood by his impeachment vote, saying in a recent appearance on a conservative podcast that he had a “whole mountain of problems” with Trump’s effort to overturn the election results and that during the Jan. 6 storming of the capitol by pro-Trump rioters, “the president didn’t step up in my opinion in nearly the right way, to stop it.”
But Gonzalez, a former football player for Ohio State University and the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, acknowledged that he could have jeopardized his reelection hopes.
“You have to love your country and you have to adhere to your oath more strongly than you do your job, and I don't know what political fate will play out,” Gonzalez said. “If my fate is ultimately that I don't get to come back, I will do that at peace.”
Miller would join an increasingly long list of former Trump administration officials who may run in 2022 races. Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has jumped into the race for Arkansas governor and has received Trump’s endorsement.
Lynda Blanchard, a former Trump administration ambassador to Slovenia, is running for Alabama’s open Senate seat, and former White House official Cliff Sims is also considering getting into the contest. Carla Sands, who was ambassador to Denmark, is considering entering the race for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat.
Trump’s interest in ousting GOP critics extends to the Senate. His advisers have discussed supporting a challenge to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment and is facing reelection in 2022. But Alaska’s new open primary system may protect Murkowski, who has strong cross-party appeal in her state.
