Category: House

Report: House Members Nearly Come To Blows As Congress Preaches Unity To America

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Two House members nearly came to blows and had to be separated by a Capitol staffer after several lawmakers had preached about coming together as Americans.

The wild scene took place as lawmakers debated certifying the Electoral votes from Pennsylvania.

An altercation reportedly took place between Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), though what prompted it remains unclear.

Reporters in attendance, according to Fox News, suggest Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb’s characterization of the violence earlier in the day may have prompted the scuffle.

“It didn’t materialize out of nowhere,” Lamb said of the violence. “It was inspired by lies. The same lies that you’re hearing in this room tonight.”

Republicans objected, to which Lamb responded, “The truth hurts!”

C-Span video captured Lamb speaking and a commotion behind him.

Harris is a 63-year-old U.S. Navy veteran while Allred is a 37-year-old former college football player at Baylor.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar, Squad Members Call For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers

House Members Andy Harris and Colin Allred Almost Comes to Blows

Remarkably, this near-fight took place late into the night where lawmakers spent countless minutes preaching to the American people about unity and coming together.

After witnessing the violence at the Capitol, numerous Republicans backed down from contesting the election and defending the Constitution as some sort of olive branch to Democrats who have been fomenting discord for months.

Republican Sens. Steve Daines and James Lankford, CNN notes, said: “We must stand together as Americans. We must defend our Constitution and the rule of law.”

Yet Lamb accused lawmakers in the chamber of being liars for defending the Constitution. That doesn’t sound like coming together.

RELATED: Mitch McConnell Blasts Republican Senators Who Challenge Electoral College Results

The House Literally Preached Unity

House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy received a standing ovation for a speech that stated while Democrats and Republicans might not agree on everything, “now is the moment to show America that we work best together.”

“Mobs don’t rule America. Laws rule America,” he added. “It was true when our cities were burning this summer and it is true now.”

And to symbolize that ‘unity,’ Mass Live reports:

The comment got loud applause from Republicans. Democrats in the chamber sat silently.

Just like they did for years’ worth of State of the Union speeches when President Trump repeatedly urged unity between the two parties.

The New York Times revealed that after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory had been certified by lawmakers, the Senate chaplain delivered “a powerful prayer calling for unity.”

“Use us to bring healing and unity to our hurting and divided nation and world,” chaplain Barry C. Black said. “Thank you for what you have blessed our lawmakers to accomplish in spite of threats to liberty.”

What a great example Lamb, Allred, and Harris have set.

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Report: Trump To Award Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan With Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

President Trump will reportedly award two of his staunchest allies – Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (D-OH) – with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The prestigious award is the Nation’s highest civilian honor.

The Washington Post, citing a source familiar with the plans, claimed the President “is using his final days in the White House in part to reward friends and allies with pardons and other decorations.”

They describe Nunes as “one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in his quest to undermine the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.”

The President is expected to award Nunes with the medal on Monday, and Jordan next week.

RELATED: Report: Durham Investigation Into Origins Of The Russian Probe Are Moving ‘Full Steam Ahead’

Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan to Get the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Of course, describing Nunes’ efforts as “undermin(ing) the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election” is an incredibly biased way of saying ‘revealing corruption during the Special Counsel’s probe.’

And Nunes did that in spades.

If not for the California Republican, America might never have known about the deep-seated corruption that took place behind closed doors during the Russia probe.

Nunes authored a memo that was released by the House Intelligence Committee in February, 2018, which alleged abuses of power by the FBI during its investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

Nunes, according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), would ultimately be “proven correct” by the Mueller report, while House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who provided a counter-memo and repeatedly leaked information to the media, would ultimately be proven a liar.

Schiff repeatedly stated through left-wing media outlets that there was “direct evidence” of collusion even as he knew that Obama officials testified time and again that there was no such evidence.

Nunes suggested Schiff was so adept at lying that he might be in need of rehabilitation.

“After publishing false conclusions of such enormity on a topic directly within this committee’s oversight responsibilities, it is clear you are in need of rehabilitation,” Nunes wrote in a letter, “and I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process.”

More recently, Nunes announced plans to submit a criminal referral to the Department of Justice following the release of newly declassified messages from former FBI agent Peter Strzok. 

The California Republican suggested the DOJ and FBI misled Congress regarding documents that had been requested during an investigation of potential FISA abuses. 

RELATED: Jim Jordan Hammers Adam Schiff at Impeachment Hearing: ‘Nobody Believes You’

Jim Jordan, like Devin Nunes, has also been a vocal supporter of the President and will receive the Medal of Freedom.

Jordan repeatedly made a fool of Schiff during impeachment inquiry meetings, pointing out that the Democrat had a reputation for lying.

Fox News host Sean Hannity told Nunes that he deserved the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a segment on his show in August of 2018.

Hannity said Nunes “frankly, deserves the medal of freedom for really showing, sadly, the biggest abuse of power corruption scandal.”

President Trump would later laud Nunes during an interview on Fox & Friends.

“He is really, what he has gone through and his bravery. He should get a very important medal,” Trump said. “Maybe we’ll call it medal of freedom because we actually give them, they’re high awards for civilians.”

The post Report: Trump To Award Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan With Presidential Medal Of Freedom appeared first on The Political Insider.

Pelosi Goes Off On Republicans As Trump Refuses To Concede – ‘Stop The Circus And Get To Work’

Posted on by LifeZette

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke out on Thursday to scold Republicans who have stood by President Donald Trump as he continues to not concede the election.

Pelosi Has The Nerve To Tell Republicans To ‘Stop The Circus’

“Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people,” Pelosi said in a press conference, according to Yahoo News. “It is most unfortunate that Republicans have decided that they will not respect the will of the people.”

Pelosi is perhaps the last person who should be telling anyone to “stop the circus,” given the fact that she was the one who led the impeachment charge against Trump in the House earlier this year, despite knowing that it would never pass through the Republican-led Senate.

Her impeachment push was an enormous waste of time that distracted the entire nation while COVID-19 was simultaneously making it’s way into the U.S. for the first time.

RELATED: Pelosi Speaks Out To Say Biden Has ‘Tremendous Mandate’ To Push Democratic Agenda

Schumer Chimes In

Pelosi was joined at her press conference today by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who begged Republicans to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect.

“The election is over,” Schumer said. “Senate Republicans, stop denying reality.”

Schumer went on to say that Biden’s election was a mandate for Democrats, calling on Republicans to accept this by caving to the left’s demands in coronavirus relief bill negotiations.

“This election was maybe more a referendum on who can handle COVID well than anything else,” Schumer said. “The Donald Trump approach was repudiated. The Joe Biden approach was embraced.”

“And that’s why we feel there’s a better chance to get a bill in the lame duck [period] if only the Republicans would stop embracing the ridiculous shenanigans that Trump is forcing them to in the election and focus on what people need,” he added. 

RELATED: Schumer Unloads On Feinstein For Acting Like An Adult In Amy Coney Barrett Hearings

Schumer might want to watch how much he throws around the word “referendum” when it comes to this election, given the fact that Democrats’ majority in the House shrunk considerably, and it looks like Republicans will be keeping the Senate. If the election was a referendum on anyone, it was most certainly on Democrats.

This piece was written by James Samson on November 12, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Melania Trump Refuses To Offer To Meet With Jill Biden
Possible Biden Administration Figures May Not Be Able To Get Security Clearances
Democrats Are Tactically Vulnerable On A Number of Fronts

The post Pelosi Goes Off On Republicans As Trump Refuses To Concede – ‘Stop The Circus And Get To Work’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Pelosi and team are preparing for the eventuality that the House has to decide the election

Posted on (Updated by Joan McCarter

The putrid heap of orange-tinted lard in the White House will do everything in his power to stay there after Jan. 20, 2021. That includes installing a Supreme Court justice with experience in stealing presidential elections. While the Senate Democrats are still grappling with that particular issue, House Democrats are working on how they're respond to various scenarios, including the scariest: a for-real, legitimate tied electoral vote should that happen.

This is about being prepared for the worst, so don't panic or anything because Trump's polling is still very, very bad for him. But with minority rule being the norm in American governance, it's not impossible that we end up with a tied electoral college. That's what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to start mobilizing her team with a letter sent Sunday reminding them of the House's responsibility and what they need to do now. Which is basically make sure Democrats win House races in hopes of flipping a few delegations.

It hasn't happened since 1876, but here's how it works in the event of a tie: Each state's delegation gets a single vote. That means holding a majority of state delegations in the chamber. Despite the fact that there are 232 Democrats and 198 Republicans, Republicans still have the delegation edge—all those at-large and one to three member rural red states represented by Republicans have given them a 26-22 edge. So here we go again, the popular vote loser, the candidate that is in opposition to the ruling majority in the House, could still get the majority of votes in the warped Congress and take it all.

"The Constitution says that a candidate must receive a majority of the state delegations to win," Pelosi wrote. "We must achieve that majority of delegations or keep the Republicans from doing so." There are some very close states. Pennsylvania is tied, with nine Democratic seats and nine Republican. Michigan is barely Democratic, seven to six with independent Justin Amash holding the 14th seat there. He's retiring and is likely to be replaced by a Republican. Every single seat matters more than ever this cycle, even though Democrats will easily retain the House.

They need seats to flip, but they need seats where they also get the state delegation. Two they're eyeing right now are Montana's and Alaska's. They're at-large seats, where there's just one seat for the entire state. Our Daily Kos elections team just moved Montana from Likely R to Lean R, with Democratic challenger Kathleen Williams holding a 46-44 edge in the polling average. In Alaska, Democrats are looking the Alyse Galvin to unseat the longest serving member of Congress, Don Young. Galvin is a registered independent, but gained the challenger's spot in the state, which allows independents to contest in party primaries. In 2018, she gave Young the toughest challenge he's had in three decades, getting 46.5% of the vote.

Other than those flips, it's about consolidating seats in close delegations and defending swing state seats. Democrats have a one- or two-vote seat advantage in seven states where they have to make sure vulnerable members stay safe: Arizona (Democratic edge 5-4), Iowa (Democratic edge 3-1), Maine (2 Democrats), Minnesota (4-3 Democratic edge), Nevada (3-1 Democratic edge), and New Hampshire (2 Democrats). Florida has a one-seat Republican advantage, 14 to Democrats' 13. The Alaska and Montana at-large seats are held by Republicans, meaning a Democrat would change the delegation’s vote in a presidential tally.

"We're trying to win every seat in America, but there are obviously some places where a congressional district is even more important than just getting the member into the U.S. House of Representatives," Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and constitutional lawyer, told Politico. This means that Democrats are not just focusing on protecting vulnerable Democrats, but expanding the map.

If House Democrats are preparing for this eventuality, you can be sure that they are gaming out other possible challenges Trump will bring. It’s a balancing act for Pelosi, realizing she has to both combat Trump—she even obliquely threatened a potential second impeachment effort to gum up Senate works and prevent a rushed Supreme Court appointment—and not rocking the boat so much she could tip vulnerable Democrats in those key delegations overboard.

Pelosi doesn’t rule out new impeachment inquiries to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee

Posted on (Updated by Marissa Higgins

Appearing on ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi honored the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by aptly describing her as a “brilliant brain” on the Supreme Court, reminded people that it’s absolutely imperative to get out and vote this November, and the ongoing importance of battling the novel coronavirus pandemic. On the subject of the vacant Supreme Court seat, the Democrat from California didn’t rule out launching an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump (for the second time) or Attorney General Bill Barr, which would delay the Senate’s ability to confirm a Supreme Court nominee of Trump’s, either. 

When host George Stephanopoulos hypothesized a major concern of progressives—that even if former vice president Joe Biden wins the election, Republicans and the White House might try to push through a nominee anyway in a lame-duck session—Pelosi replied: "We have our options.” The speaker continued, “We have arrows in our quiver that I'm not about to discuss right now but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country. This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election.”

She stressed that the “main goal” is ultimately to “protect the integrity of the election as we protect the people from the coronavirus." The speaker noted that she believed the late Ginsburg would want that same goal. Pelosi also clarified that “None of us has any interest in shutting down the government,” saying it would be too harmful to so many people in the nation.

“When people say, what can I do? You can vote,” the speaker stressed. “You can get out the vote, and you can do so as soon as possible.” She added that the same day we lost Ginsburg, ten states started early voting.

Stephanopoulos circled back to a potential impeachment inquiry and asked if the House would “rule anything out.” Pelosi drove home the basic tenant of public service: responsibility to the people. 

"We have a responsibility,” she stated. “We take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States." (If only Trump saw it that way.) Pelosi continued: “We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. When we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy, requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.”

Here is that clip.

“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Speaker Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos when pressed on what Democrats would do if Pres. Trump and Republicans push a SCOTUS nomination ahead of the Nov. 3 election. https://t.co/JhU93KY3iQ pic.twitter.com/HOmI8AxREN

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 20, 2020

Lastly, Stephanopoulos asked about another big topic among progressives: expanding the court. To that, Pelosi said, “Well, let's just win the election,” adding that she hopes the president will “see the light.” The speaker then used her final talking time to home in on the importance of the Affordable Care Act, and how much the average American has at stake in this election cycle. 

House Democrats ponder throwing in the towel on Trump oversight, letting voters bail out the nation

Posted on by Joan McCarter

House Democrats are not exactly presenting profiles in courage these days, generally putting the impetus for stopping Donald Trump on voters. Well, gang, we're all exhausted. But you can't just count on voters to bail you out. There's real impetus against Trump right now, yes, but motivating people to vote for something is just as important.

It's important because it sets up the momentum for a Joe Biden/Kamala Harris administration to jump in full throttle in January. It's also important because they're letting Team Trump get away with murder, literally and figuratively. Some investigations into the cozy deals Clown Prince Jared has been making using taxpayers’ dollars to fight the coronavirus would be one place to start. Attorney General William Barr's systematic dismantling of the rule of law is a pretty important one, too. So is enforcing the House's own subpoena power over Trump officials who aren't even legally officials! But House Democrats are projecting an entirely bad attitude.

Daily Beast reporter Sam Brodey says a question posed to Rep. Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, about Trump administration efforts to paper over Russian interference in the election lead to a "disbelieving chuckle. Which then morphed into a full-on fake sob, played up for effect." And then this statement: “Impeachment is the tool the Constitution gives us to deal with serious abuse of power in between elections. […] When you're two months from an election […] the American people are going to have their say very, very soon.” So you don't raise holy hell about Russian interference in an election that's very, very soon because that election is so soon? Bullshit, not to put too fine a point on it.

At the suggestion that the House has reached the limits of its oversight powers, Michigan Democratic Rep. Dale Kildee said that “It feels that way sometimes,” then gave this contradictory explanation: “but I obviously think we still have to pursue every avenue, turn over every rock […] I mean, right now, it's pretty much in the hands of the American people.” Which is it? Turning over the rocks and exposing what we all need to see, or handing it over to voters? The House is the only institution we've got right now that can put Trump's malfeasance on display every single day until the election and prove to voters that 1) he's got to go; and 2) we need a Democratic Senate as well as House to tackle the enormous destruction he's wrought.

An unnamed Democratic aide was less careful about expressing the attitude in the caucus. They told The Daily Beast that Democrats are "finally confident" Trump will be voted out, and thus are mostly trying to "avoid Trump shit." Apart from trying to get further COVID-19 relief passed, doing much else is not on their radar, "even among members of the key committees that have led oversight for the past two years. 'The election is a month out. […] Most members are focused on putting their heads down and getting reelected.'"

The exhaustion is certainly understandable, but the certainty that Trump will be voted out is taking a little too much for granted and maybe, just maybe, the Democratic base needs to see Democrats keeping up the fight. For one thing, exposing Trump's corruption and keeping it in the spotlight could act as a deterrent for Trump to fight the election results, one thing that House Democrats are increasingly alarmed about. Maryland's Jamie Raskin is one of them. “In the age of Donald Trump, if we have learned nothing else it is that we must be prepared for the worst,” said Raskin. “We have to just go out and fight. We need to create a landslide election that cannot be stolen, and then we need to counter all of the propaganda and disinformation, and then we need to put all of our best lawyers in a position to block the efforts to obstruct the election.”

Both of those things are necessary. Preparing for that is necessary. Putting all of Trump's wrongdoing out in front of the public before, during, and after Nov. 3 is a key way of doing it. It's also giving a head start on what has to happen next year: prosecutions of Trump officials who have misused public funds and betrayed the public trust.

There's also the part about how the people's branch of government has to become that again, reassert its coequal power, and start fighting an out-of-control executive branch. It failed to do that with the Bush/Cheney regime and look where we ended up. There is going to have to be a reckoning and there's no time like the present to start preparing for it.

House Democrats summon Trump Postmaster General to explain sabotages, may return from recess early

Posted on by Hunter

The sudden collapse of the United States Postal Service's ability to do their core job—deliver mail—is now so widespread a problem as to be stoking widespread public outrage. This may finally result in substantive congressional action—sort of. Perhaps.

House Democrats are now asking (but not subpoenaing) Trump Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on August 24th to explain his actions. DeJoy, who remains heavily invested in for-profit competitors to the USPS even as he guts federal mail delivery capabilities, was previously scheduled to appear on September 17; moving his appearance up by several weeks is an indication that Congress no longer thinks waiting until mid-September is defendable. Democrats ask that DeJoy confirm his plan to appear by tomorrow; DeJoy has also been asked to deliver requested documents by Friday, August 21.

The House is putting off the "urgent" hearing until August 24 "to give Committee Members adequate notice to prepare for your testimony" but also "to avoid conflicting with the Republican convention" beginning later that evening." Which is nice, given that DeJoy is a Republican megadonor who no doubt needs to (virtually) mingle at the now-virtual gathering.

While House Democrats' non-subpoena-based request for DeJoy's testimony gives mixed signals as to just how "urgent" Congress believes the intentional pandemic sabotage of the USPS truly is, there are other signs Congress may begin to move more rapidly. CNN reports that House Democrats are "seriously" considering calling the House back into session "as early as" this week to take actions to protect post offices. "Members are getting heavily criticized in their districts during this recess period for not coming back and trying to do something," notes CNN.

It is not clear what remedies may be plausibly available to the House. The Republican-held Senate is likely to continue to back Trump's sabotages of the USPS, moves he has explicitly said are meant to harm mail-in voting efforts, for the same reason the Senate refused to examine impeachment charges against Trump for using federal funds to extort a foreign nation into providing election help: to assist their own re-elections.

But that's becoming a more and more dangerous move to make. The United States Postal Service is one of the government services Americans most interact with, and the sabotage is creating nationwide problems that Americans are now witnessing in large numbers. Urgently needed medication taking weeks to arrive; "overnight" deliveries of live animals being delayed by over a week; checks, bills, and packages that once took mere days to ship now delayed for a month, or longer; it is untenable for both businesses and individuals. And people are getting furious.

Republican estimations that restricting vote-by-mail will prevent more Americans from casting ballots than are spurred in anger to vote against Republican incumbents come hell or high water or pandemic—it is certainly an all-or-nothing play.

Democrats are also requesting Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, currently engaged in an intentional effort to pipeline Russian election disinformation to benefit Trump, to summon DeJoy to testify about USPS sabotage to his own controlling Senate committee. Johnson, however, is a traitor to this nation, and is therefore certain to refuse.

Trump House sycophants now concerned about being Trump sycophants

Posted on by kos

Next year’s collective Republican amnesia will be something to behold. Forget “I didn’t read this tweet” responses to the latest outrage from America’s buffoon “leader” Donald Trump. They’re all going to pretend that he never existed as they rediscover their supposed “values” like not surrendering to Russia, family values (for thee, not me), and concern over budget deficits. 

But for now, Republicans are still marching in lockstep toward that November cliff called “Election Day.” At least they’re doing so publicly. Privately? They’re being extra ridiculous. 

“Discontent with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is on the rise in the House, as Republicans increasingly fearful of a loss by President Trump on Election Day gear up for an intraparty war over the future of the GOP,” reports The Washington Post. “A cluster of GOP lawmakers is starting to privately question whether the California Republican is putting loyalty to the president over the good of the conference. And a small group of members is discussing whether someone should challenge him for minority leader if Trump is defeated Nov. 3.”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. 

[Deep breath]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. 

This is rich. 

Every single Republican in the House voted against articles of impeachment against Trump. The lone conservative who voted yes, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, had to leave the party and become an independent to do so. 

And now, as House Republicans face further decimation in the House, two years after they got body slammed into the minority, they’re wondering if someone else has been too close to Trump? 

Oh, and these profiles in courage still can’t talk on the record, “[T]he frustration with McCarthy had already been brewing for weeks as Trump’s polling has sagged behind presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. According to interviews with more than 10 House Republicans — all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank — some GOP lawmakers are worried that McCarthy has tied the conference too much to Trump, refusing to stand up to the president or act as a buffer to distinguish the conference from him.” [Emphasis mine.]

Those 10 “worried” Republicans sure didn’t vote to impeach, that’s for sure. And when it came time to vote for the now-stalled coronavirus relief measure in May, only one voted yes—New York Rep. Peter King. And we know he’s not one of the 10 fretting GOPers. How do we know? Because he already announced his retirement.

That’s not Kevin McCarthy casting those votes. 

Of course, all Republicans have every reason to worry about November. Democrats maintain a healthy 8-10 point lead in the Civiqs generic congressional ballot daily tracker. (The same tracker spotted Democrats a 6-point 50-44 lead in 2018, an election in which the Democrats won the House popular vote by 8.6 points, 53.4-44.8.) 

And for sure, being tied to Trump has been an electoral disaster for the GOP. Look at college-educated white women, the lone demographic to have significantly moved in the past four years:   

National vote,

college white women

Vote Margin 2016 exit polls (Prez) 2018 exit polls (House)
51-44 Dem +7 Dem
59-39 Dem +20 Dem

Polling this year has consistently shown continuing trouble among all college-educated whites, and especially women. (Trump and his party are even losing ground among non-college whites, but I don’t trust them to deliver Democratic votes just yet. They’ve been shown to be susceptible to racist appeals in the past.)

Trump is going down. He’s taking down his party’s Senate majority, and another chunk of House Republicans in mostly suburban districts. All that is clear. 

But anonymously whining that some guy is too pro-Trump, while every one of your public actions are explicitly and proudly pro-Trump, is a new level of ridiculous. 

Everyone who has enabled Trump, and that’s a near-unanimous calculation when it comes to Republican elected officials, deserves to be wiped out electorally. That entire QAnon-fueled party needs to be burned to the ground. And if a science- and reason-based conservative party emerges from its ashes? Fine. Let’s have debates on the future of our country based on observable reality. 

But unless your name is Mitt Romney, you don’t get to complain about the sorry, sad state of the modern GOP.

With Trump’s Re-Election Almost Assured, Conservatives Need To Be Focused On The House And Senate

Posted on by Wayne Dupree

The Dems aren’t playing 3–D chess while the Republicans play checkers. Dems are ruthless and power-mad, but they’re malevolently intelligent, not smart in any normal sense of the word. They know the system front, back, and sideways. They have a script and stick to it, mostly.

They have a strategy (such as it is) driven by a rancid ideology, so they don’t have to “think,” really. Dems are emoting machines, not thinking machines. Dems perform, they do not work, as in “work for a living.”

The Dem strategy for impeachment runs parallel with other strategies with the shared goal of Fundamental Transformation – of this country, the dominant culture, contemporary society, norms, rules, conventions.

Impeachment is simply more chaos, more uncertainty, more unhappiness. These are all desirable outcomes, as far as today’s Democrats are concerned. Spread the misery far and wide. It’s what the white patriarchy deserves.

MORE NEWS: Rahm Emanuel: Athletes Who Kneel During Anthem Just Like People Kneeling During “Religious Services”

By my estimation, four Republican seats might swing but only two Democrats. So unless there is something really big in October, the Senate is about even. I would hate to lose those judges and hopefully a new budget deal.

IT IS ALL EXTREMELY DIABOLICAL

The television news, talk, and late-night shows are all highlighting how righteous the DemocRATs are and how evil, vindictive, and revengeful Trump is. The media is a powerful weapon against Trump. This goes on 24/7. Senators listen to the TV and the polls, and they continue to hear that Trump is bad and must go.

Clever sound-bites are burying the truth.

The Dems and their media partners are extremely skilled in their psychological propaganda. Now secret recordings are being paraded to boost their case. The media is not covering the Trump defense like they did the prosecution, of course. It does not see the light of day, on purpose. And even though Trump’s lawyers are confident they have the truth, he could still lose (see last paragraph).

People need to prepare themselves because God forbid, Trump could lose.

That’s exactly what George Soros and other billionaire globalists (communists) are striving for. I have said it again and again that merely reelecting Trump is not enough. Look what the House has already done with their majority. If the Dems win in the Senate and keep the House, Trump will hardly be able to move.

It’s high time to put that popcorn aside that Trump is going to win in a landslide and concentrate heavily on the House and the Senate. Other than the heavy election and ballot fraud, Trump’s reelection is pretty much assured.

MORE NEWS: Senator Tom Cotton: Nadler Denying Existence Of Portland Antifa Rioters Like Denying Americans Tanks Were In Baghdad

DEMS ARE LOSING THE BLACK VOTE AND ARE DESPERATE

The left knows that they are losing the Black vote (and probably the Hispanic too), so they are desperately trying to get the white moderates and independent votes thru blaming President Trump for all the staged civil unrest.

The false compassion, white demonization strategy is very risky and deadly for Democrats because it relies on violent anarchists committing criminal acts to create fear and uncertainty. At the same time, the Democrats do nothing (and enable the chaos).

Eventually, reasonable people will be looking for who can control and reverse all the damage done. How can the Democrats be the solution to the problem they created?

The most frustrating thing about politics isn’t the rabid anti-American left; it is the gutlessness of our pro-American Republicans, who, with almost no exception, I don’t doubt that they love this country. I don’t understand how they can’t understand that millions of people would cheerfully support them if they stood up to this garbage.

THE MORE I THINK ABOUT THINGS ARE COOL

No one is enthusiastic about Biden. Most Trump supporters can’t wait to vote for Trump and I would rather Trump poll a little behind as it will be a reminder to go and vote for him. At the same time, the sleepy Joe voters will hopefully repeat 2016 and just stay home thinking that Joe has it in the bag and there is no reason to waste time voting for him, and they aren’t all that excited to vote for him anyway.

MORE NEWS: Suspect Taunts Cops In Viral Video, Saying ‘Come And Get Me B***h’ – Then They Do

I don’t think the Democrats are focusing on the “anybody, but Trump” vote is a winning strategy.

THAT’S WHY WE MUST DO THIS

Everyone here needs to get off of their ass and vote. We need people to do more than type about their beliefs. Vote. Get your friends and family to vote. This is one of the critical moments in history. If you don’t vote, you should be too ashamed to ever chat in forums like this again.

WAYNE RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

The post With Trump’s Re-Election Almost Assured, Conservatives Need To Be Focused On The House And Senate appeared first on The Political Insider.

It’s time for Lisa Murkowski to leave the GOP

Posted on by kos

The Republican Party and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski have always had a rocky relationship. The daughter of Senate giant Frank Murkowski, she has always seemed an odd fit for a party that has evolved ever right. 

She was appointed to her seat in 2002, and cruised easily with a primary victory in 2004 before squeaking out a general election win 49-46. But in 2010, during the apex of the frothy tea party-movement, Murkowski was ousted in the Republican primary against Sarah Palin-backed Joe Wilson (remember her?). She is a senator today because during her write-in campaign, Alaska Democrats rallied around the lesser-of-two-evils. Yet as we saw Thursday, Alaska is shifting leftward while Senate Republicans are headed into the minority. Republicans back home hate her. So why fight it? It’ll soon be time for her to ditch the GOP, become an independent, and caucus with the Democrats. 

Yesterday’s Alaska poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP) confirmed what we have been seeing in our own Civiqs data, and what I’ve been hearing from insiders—that Alaska is a battleground state this year—at the presidential, Senate, and House levels.

According to PPP, impeached racist Donald Trump has a narrow 48-45 lead against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the presidential contest. In the Senate race, incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan leads by a woeful 39-34 against independent (and de facto Democrat) Al Gross, despite the latter having a name ID of almost zero. And in the House race (Alaska only has one), Democrat Alyse Galvin leads long-time Republican incumbent and crank Don Young 43-41. 

But here’s something else that is really interesting: only 29% of poll respondents approved of Murkowski when asked about her job approvals, compared to 55% who disapproved. That’s not a base upon which one builds a successful reelection campaign, which she will in 2022.

Amazingly, among Republicans, those job approval numbers are an eye-popping 17-71%! She is loathed inside her own party. Meanwhile, Democrats’ approvals of her are at 41-41%!

Of course, Democrats like her because she’s become a thorn on the GOP’s side. While she voted to acquit Trump during his impeachment trial, she has legislatively bucked the GOP in key moments—the vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the only Republican “no” vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation vote, a rare “no” on George W. Bush’s PATRIOT Act, a vocal critic of Trump’s racist border wall, the list goes on. She has needled her caucus leader, Mitch McConnell, for his unwavering focus on judges. “It’s unfortunate that we’re kind of viewing [judicial nominees] as this is the one thing we can do,” she said. “We’re not focusing on [legislation] as much as I think we should or we could.” Republican Senate whip John Cornyn, in charge of getting his colleagues to vote however leadership wants them to vote, said, “I would say she’s the most independent.” 

There is definitely no love lost between her and Trump. After her Kavanaugh vote, he did what Trump does and lashed out on Twitter: 

Few people know where they�ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski. She voted against HealthCare, Justice Kavanaugh, and much else...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020

Trump was joined by Alaska’s most famous grifter: 

Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...

— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) October 5, 2018

Murkowski hasn’t backed down, by any measure. Where Maine Sen. Susan Collins pretends to be oh-so-concerned before caving to Trump and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Murkowski just doesn’t give a damn. When former Trump defense secretary Gen. James Mattis unloaded on Trump, Murkowski singularly stood out among her cowardly caucus by underscoring the important of that criticism.

“I was really thankful. I thought General Mattis’ words were true and honest and necessary and overdue,” she told reporters. “When I saw General Mattis’ comments yesterday I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally. And have the courage of our own convictions to speak up.” 

She added that she was “struggling” over whether she could support Trump.

So it’s obvious, Republicans hate her and are gunning for her. Murkowski isn’t stupid, and she sees the dangers she faces in a Republican primary. That’s why her crew is pushing a ballot initiative that would replace party primaries with a “jungle primary,” in which all candidates run on the same line. The top four finishers (regardless of party) would advance to a runoff to determine the ultimate winner. 

That could certainly save her hide, but why bother? What is keeping her a Republican, at this point, besides fealty to the legacy of her father? She can strike out and build her own legacy. 

Alaska has a rich tradition of Democratic-caucusing independents. She doesn’t need to become a Democrat, just caucus with them. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, I’m sure, would be happy to let her keep her committee assignments, and in particular, her chairmanship of the Energy and Natural Resources committee—of obvious importance to Alaska. 

Obviously, it would be stupid of her to do this before November, while Republicans still control the chamber. But she’ll have to decide, if Democrats take the Senate (which is likely at this point), whether she wants to live in the hapless minority in a new, filibuster-free Senate, or whether she wants to keep her chairmanship, her influence, and—perhaps most importantly—the ability to vote her conscience without having to deal with the likes of McConnell, Cornyn, and the rest of the male-dominant Republican Party.

It would also be the ultimate “fuck you” to Trump and Palin, and you know Murkowski wants to deliver that message. The disdain is visceral. 

Ultimately, she won’t win reelection on the strength of Republican voters. Her base is now Alaska Democrats. They are the reason she is in the Senate today, and they will be the reason she keeps her job, even if the jungle-primary ballot initiative is enacted. So why not own it? 

Given Alaska’s shift leftward in recent cycles, it’s also the smart political-electoral play. 

Alaska presidential elections Republican vote % 2016-Trump 2012-Romney 2008-McCain 2004-Bush
51.3
54.8
59.4
61

Civiqs Results