Today saw widespread outrage that Senate Republicans sank the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) bill—a bill they had already agreed to by a strong margin—out of spite over the resurrection of a reconciliation package that would make drugs cheaper, plug tax loopholes for corporations and the extremely wealthy, and invest in switching the economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. The PACT bill would provide medical benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their military service.
Thank you, Heather, for this superb conclusion; it allows me to bypass my rant about the Republicans!
“Vox correspondent Ian Millhiser, who is a keen observer of American politics, commented tonight: ‘This was a good week for the United States of America and I may be coming down with a case of The Hope.’”
I would love to “come down with a case of The Hope,” too!
As an aside, I am especially proud today to be represented by Senator Amy Klobuchar who authored bills on reducing the price of insulin, Medicare negotiation of drug prices, the PACT bill, and several others. She has never reduced her efforts to pass these and many others bills, and I know she will not stop working on PACT until it is enacted into law. She has is a shining example of how to work long, hard, and across the aisle. She reminds me of the Harry Truman quote, "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who takes credit for it." I have two specific symptoms of The Hope tonight: First, that other younger women in Congress take careful note of her skill and how she exercises it. And second, that another Hope that "Cousin Amy" has proposed is realized--repeal of Citizens United through a comprehensive Election Finance Reform Bill.
I am in Turkey right now, handling some personal stuff (I was born and raised here). I get to have lots of lunches and dinners with friends who all seem to be concerned with President Biden's age. They are not sure if he can handle the pressures of governance as an old man and may run the country down! As a proud naturalized citizen of USA for 26 years I give some civic lessons, proudly might I add. Turkey is run by a parliamentary system that has been thwarted into a fake American presidential system by a religious dictator posing as a democratic man! Don't get me started there! It's all about sound bites and the bad press poor President Biden is getting. Seriously, he is the best president we had in a very long time, and the press in the United states and around the world is slamming him down! He can't win for nothing, nobody is looking at his heart, how hard he tries and how the effing republicans keep finding ways cancel out all these wonderful legislations that could help so many. We need to sell these programs to the public better and get the press on our side and how can that be done? I am in Istanbul contemplating how to sell President Biden's thoughts and actions to the Turks and some foreigners living here. Slowly and calmly I've been getting through as I break bread with them and it's really hard to break that Anti-American sentiment. Why can't we have more press on our side that is honest and lays the facts instead of some editorialized version of the truth?
“Trying to demonstrate a party’s power to kill popular legislation is an interesting approach to governance.”
Indeed it is, and it’s another talking point for the Democrats. If only their/our outrage can be externalized in ads. Acting like spiteful children certainly is a poor way to present themselves.
"Rats fleeing a sinking ship" seems an all too apt metaphor for what seems to be happening. Sooner or later we'll get to the bottom of this and it will all be laid out there in all its ugliness. I can't wait. It is a sweet thing to see Republicans squirm for a change--and they're outraged, OUTRAGED I TELLS YA that Democrats pulled a fast one on them. I had to laugh. WTF have they been doing to Democrats since, like, oh, FOREVER?!? Chickens coming home to roost...the metaphors are coming fast and furious! And I'm off to bed...dreaming and hoping for the future.
It's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And compared to Watergate, from which the saying sprang, the cover-up involving text messages around Jan. 6 makes Nixon and his taping system seem like jaywalking.
Secret Service agents are one thing, but the top officials in DHS? And their excuse is an agency-wide replacement of mobile phones? When everyone in the federal government knows the law requires preservation of all records? Were they all convinced that Trump would remain in office, despite polls indicating otherwise?
None of this is a coincidence, obviously, or even merely the ineptness that pervaded the Trump Administration. They appear to have destroyed evidence they knew would be critical to investigations of the coup.
Are there enough lawyers in DC to defend yet another likely wave of criminal suspects?
The spiteful about face on the PACT bill is incredible. This action is THE message that should be repeated early, long, and often. It is simple, and telling.
I suspect that by the time Trump and his principal enablers are all safely behind bars awaiting the rest of their miserable lives, we will have discovered that what they have done is larger and worse than most of us ever imagined.
In our gratitude for Apocalypse avoided, I hope we Americans will clean up our acts in historically progressive ways, as there may yet be time to save our species from impending extinction. The World is still watching us.
I can't think of a better way for the Party of No to shoot themselves in the foot than to torpedo a bill to support veterans regarding toxic exposure. It's purely expedient; a knee-jerk reaction to being outplayed on other political points using whatever they could pick up in front of them. There's dread on the mall; senators and representatives are beginning to do the gut check on their chances of riding that MAGA wave versus abandoning a sinking ship with the rest of the non-MAGA conservative/moderate/independent sectors of the electorate. Even with a short public memory, we're close enough to the midterms now that electorate will recall recent votes that evoked emotions of betrayal of principle when their representatives act out of spite or political posturing rather than based on what their voters are telling them. They're just opening up a hornets nest on the very issues that they are supposed to own. It's now becoming the democrats mid-term election to lose with so many issues that are popular with a broad section of the electorate either rejected by the Party of No, or passing with increasing numbers of moderate republican defections from the party leadership.
It's hard to understand what is happening with the two Democratic senator hold-outs other than to wonder if their voters are making themselves heard as well. Perhaps their donors are talking. I can't think of any more powerful influences that would move Manchin and Sinema out of the spoiler role they have played with the Dems. I am no daring to hope that we may see a broad turning of the tide; popular opinion(that means the mainstream press) moving in favor of the party in power, a breakdown of solidarity amongst the republicans and the unraveling of the MAGA grip on conservatives. I can't imagine it will be a smooth ride into the mid-terms, more like a major cat fight, but all that matters are the final tallies when the voting is over.
I would be so relieved of this horrible burden of distrust and fear of Thuglicans if we can actually get some real demonstration the insurrectionist enablers in the WH will wear orange!
I 've been telling people these things take time...and once they get to critical mass all hell breaks loose. "A case of the hope." I love it. With a mid term so close many Republicans are crazy to oppose popular measures. Those negative campaign commercials aren't going to be pretty. The guy who came out against gay marriage...and then happily goes to his son's wedding...he looses on both sides. That's just plain stupid. Even Dick Cheney understood that one.
The Pro-Rape Party came through again, didn’t they? They didn’t screw Democratic veterans. They messed with their base too. To me, that was haphazard and boy, I imagine the tides will turn! McTurtleneck sure rules with an iron fist but 24 Repubs did vote against him. That’s significant.
I love the fact that the guys from the old regime are scrambling about what to do for their inquiries from the J6 committee. Like the scum rats they are, they huddle together. I just hope the traps are set. Thank you, Heather for holding steady and giving us your apron strings to hold onto. Gave a peaceful night.
It will be interesting to see if the chicken hawks on the Dem side squeal because their Rethuglican buddies are being mean to them--because they actually did something that could potentially benefit normal people in the USA. I have to say I'm not feeling "the Hope": I will need to see a whole lot more initiative and activity, as well as SUCCESS, on the part of the Dems before I allow myself to see this tiny spark as a real glimmer. My hope is that the Ghastly Ones keep on vilifying veterans--especially those desperate for healthcare--because that is such a good look for them. Even playing the homophobia and misogyny cards in the hopes that military types will go along with those attitudes won't help them as much if they turn their backs on sick vets.
My one bright place is watching the growing ridicule of Li'l Joshy Hawley as he made the absurd decision to start flogging his new "book," the hilariously mistitled "Manhood" (which yes: leads to all kind of bodice-ripper romance novel memes happening), because of all the amusing uses to which the video of him scampering like a fwightened wabbit are being employed. When John Danforth--Hawley was his own little boy toy after all, groomed by him to be the perfect spineless wonder--stated in public that he regrets having "supported" (read: created) him, you know that poor little Joshy is gonna have to do something drastic to reposition his, um, "manhood" so that people don't just laugh at it/him.
Up to today, the Republicans seemed to be paying no price for their obstructionist extremism. If anything they seemed to enjoy the same immunity TFG had claimed when he said he could shoot someone and not lose support. Like Mr. Millhiser, I too dare to hope for a reckoning.
Thank you, Heather, for this superb conclusion; it allows me to bypass my rant about the Republicans!
“Vox correspondent Ian Millhiser, who is a keen observer of American politics, commented tonight: ‘This was a good week for the United States of America and I may be coming down with a case of The Hope.’”
I would love to “come down with a case of The Hope,” too!
As an aside, I am especially proud today to be represented by Senator Amy Klobuchar who authored bills on reducing the price of insulin, Medicare negotiation of drug prices, the PACT bill, and several others. She has never reduced her efforts to pass these and many others bills, and I know she will not stop working on PACT until it is enacted into law. She has is a shining example of how to work long, hard, and across the aisle. She reminds me of the Harry Truman quote, "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who takes credit for it." I have two specific symptoms of The Hope tonight: First, that other younger women in Congress take careful note of her skill and how she exercises it. And second, that another Hope that "Cousin Amy" has proposed is realized--repeal of Citizens United through a comprehensive Election Finance Reform Bill.
I am in Turkey right now, handling some personal stuff (I was born and raised here). I get to have lots of lunches and dinners with friends who all seem to be concerned with President Biden's age. They are not sure if he can handle the pressures of governance as an old man and may run the country down! As a proud naturalized citizen of USA for 26 years I give some civic lessons, proudly might I add. Turkey is run by a parliamentary system that has been thwarted into a fake American presidential system by a religious dictator posing as a democratic man! Don't get me started there! It's all about sound bites and the bad press poor President Biden is getting. Seriously, he is the best president we had in a very long time, and the press in the United states and around the world is slamming him down! He can't win for nothing, nobody is looking at his heart, how hard he tries and how the effing republicans keep finding ways cancel out all these wonderful legislations that could help so many. We need to sell these programs to the public better and get the press on our side and how can that be done? I am in Istanbul contemplating how to sell President Biden's thoughts and actions to the Turks and some foreigners living here. Slowly and calmly I've been getting through as I break bread with them and it's really hard to break that Anti-American sentiment. Why can't we have more press on our side that is honest and lays the facts instead of some editorialized version of the truth?
“Trying to demonstrate a party’s power to kill popular legislation is an interesting approach to governance.”
Indeed it is, and it’s another talking point for the Democrats. If only their/our outrage can be externalized in ads. Acting like spiteful children certainly is a poor way to present themselves.
"Rats fleeing a sinking ship" seems an all too apt metaphor for what seems to be happening. Sooner or later we'll get to the bottom of this and it will all be laid out there in all its ugliness. I can't wait. It is a sweet thing to see Republicans squirm for a change--and they're outraged, OUTRAGED I TELLS YA that Democrats pulled a fast one on them. I had to laugh. WTF have they been doing to Democrats since, like, oh, FOREVER?!? Chickens coming home to roost...the metaphors are coming fast and furious! And I'm off to bed...dreaming and hoping for the future.
It's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And compared to Watergate, from which the saying sprang, the cover-up involving text messages around Jan. 6 makes Nixon and his taping system seem like jaywalking.
Secret Service agents are one thing, but the top officials in DHS? And their excuse is an agency-wide replacement of mobile phones? When everyone in the federal government knows the law requires preservation of all records? Were they all convinced that Trump would remain in office, despite polls indicating otherwise?
None of this is a coincidence, obviously, or even merely the ineptness that pervaded the Trump Administration. They appear to have destroyed evidence they knew would be critical to investigations of the coup.
Are there enough lawyers in DC to defend yet another likely wave of criminal suspects?
The spiteful about face on the PACT bill is incredible. This action is THE message that should be repeated early, long, and often. It is simple, and telling.
Republicans will continue to screw over the country until those who keep voting for them stop doing so. It really is that simple.
I suspect that by the time Trump and his principal enablers are all safely behind bars awaiting the rest of their miserable lives, we will have discovered that what they have done is larger and worse than most of us ever imagined.
In our gratitude for Apocalypse avoided, I hope we Americans will clean up our acts in historically progressive ways, as there may yet be time to save our species from impending extinction. The World is still watching us.
I can't think of a better way for the Party of No to shoot themselves in the foot than to torpedo a bill to support veterans regarding toxic exposure. It's purely expedient; a knee-jerk reaction to being outplayed on other political points using whatever they could pick up in front of them. There's dread on the mall; senators and representatives are beginning to do the gut check on their chances of riding that MAGA wave versus abandoning a sinking ship with the rest of the non-MAGA conservative/moderate/independent sectors of the electorate. Even with a short public memory, we're close enough to the midterms now that electorate will recall recent votes that evoked emotions of betrayal of principle when their representatives act out of spite or political posturing rather than based on what their voters are telling them. They're just opening up a hornets nest on the very issues that they are supposed to own. It's now becoming the democrats mid-term election to lose with so many issues that are popular with a broad section of the electorate either rejected by the Party of No, or passing with increasing numbers of moderate republican defections from the party leadership.
It's hard to understand what is happening with the two Democratic senator hold-outs other than to wonder if their voters are making themselves heard as well. Perhaps their donors are talking. I can't think of any more powerful influences that would move Manchin and Sinema out of the spoiler role they have played with the Dems. I am no daring to hope that we may see a broad turning of the tide; popular opinion(that means the mainstream press) moving in favor of the party in power, a breakdown of solidarity amongst the republicans and the unraveling of the MAGA grip on conservatives. I can't imagine it will be a smooth ride into the mid-terms, more like a major cat fight, but all that matters are the final tallies when the voting is over.
Republican unity breaking in favor of country over party is definitely a good sign! It only takes a few examples to other Republicans.
I would be so relieved of this horrible burden of distrust and fear of Thuglicans if we can actually get some real demonstration the insurrectionist enablers in the WH will wear orange!
I 've been telling people these things take time...and once they get to critical mass all hell breaks loose. "A case of the hope." I love it. With a mid term so close many Republicans are crazy to oppose popular measures. Those negative campaign commercials aren't going to be pretty. The guy who came out against gay marriage...and then happily goes to his son's wedding...he looses on both sides. That's just plain stupid. Even Dick Cheney understood that one.
The Pro-Rape Party came through again, didn’t they? They didn’t screw Democratic veterans. They messed with their base too. To me, that was haphazard and boy, I imagine the tides will turn! McTurtleneck sure rules with an iron fist but 24 Repubs did vote against him. That’s significant.
I love the fact that the guys from the old regime are scrambling about what to do for their inquiries from the J6 committee. Like the scum rats they are, they huddle together. I just hope the traps are set. Thank you, Heather for holding steady and giving us your apron strings to hold onto. Gave a peaceful night.
It will be interesting to see if the chicken hawks on the Dem side squeal because their Rethuglican buddies are being mean to them--because they actually did something that could potentially benefit normal people in the USA. I have to say I'm not feeling "the Hope": I will need to see a whole lot more initiative and activity, as well as SUCCESS, on the part of the Dems before I allow myself to see this tiny spark as a real glimmer. My hope is that the Ghastly Ones keep on vilifying veterans--especially those desperate for healthcare--because that is such a good look for them. Even playing the homophobia and misogyny cards in the hopes that military types will go along with those attitudes won't help them as much if they turn their backs on sick vets.
My one bright place is watching the growing ridicule of Li'l Joshy Hawley as he made the absurd decision to start flogging his new "book," the hilariously mistitled "Manhood" (which yes: leads to all kind of bodice-ripper romance novel memes happening), because of all the amusing uses to which the video of him scampering like a fwightened wabbit are being employed. When John Danforth--Hawley was his own little boy toy after all, groomed by him to be the perfect spineless wonder--stated in public that he regrets having "supported" (read: created) him, you know that poor little Joshy is gonna have to do something drastic to reposition his, um, "manhood" so that people don't just laugh at it/him.
Up to today, the Republicans seemed to be paying no price for their obstructionist extremism. If anything they seemed to enjoy the same immunity TFG had claimed when he said he could shoot someone and not lose support. Like Mr. Millhiser, I too dare to hope for a reckoning.