The following article by @LOLGOP was posted on the National Memo website March 6, 2017:
House Republicans are now busily working to repeal the Affordable Care Act in secret.
Even when the GOP plan is done and made public, the secrecy will continue. The potential impact will still be hidden from the public, as it’s likely to not have any score from the Congressional Budget Office before the House votes on it. This means members of the House will not have any real idea of how many people they’re voting to uninsure, how much this plan will increase the deficit, and just how big a giveaway it will be to the rich.
AP/J. Scott Applewhite House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) arrive for a Republican strategy session on Capitol Hill, November 13, 2014.
Less than one decade ago, during the final two years of the George W. Bush administration, the United States went through what was in absolute terms the worst financial crisis it has ever experienced. When President Barack Obama entered office, the United States was losing close to 700,000 jobs each month.1 By the end of the crisis, more than $19 trillion in wealth had been lost, unemployment had reached a peak of 10 percent, home prices had declined an average of 35 percent, and more than 10 million homes had been lost due to foreclosure or distressed sales.2 This was a tsunami of economic devastation by any measure, and many Americans are still recovering today. Yet, even before Americans have fully cleared the wreckage from this past crisis, congressional Republicans are trying to roll back large portions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act—the signature financial protections put in place to prevent another such crisis from occurring.3Continue reading “For Congressional Republicans, Wall Street Trumps Main Street”
The following article by Mark Berman was posted on the Washington Post website February 23, 2017:
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiles as she raises a fist pump to the crowd as she, her husband Mark Kelly, and a number of other Tucson mass shooting victims returned to the site of a shooting that left her critically wounded to urge key senators to support expanded background checks for gun purchases, Wednesday, March 6, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
As Republican lawmakers across the country have faced raucous, chaotic town halls in recent days, a number have refused to have these events. Some cited safety as a reason, while others said they didn’t want their events “hijacked” by the confrontations seen elsewhere.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), in a statement released this week, blamed his decision not to hold these events in person on “the threat of violence at town hall meetings.” He also pointed to a specific violent event to bolster his case, invoking the 2011 shooting that severely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed six others.
The former congresswoman responded Thursday, and she made clear that she does not agree with lawmakers shying away from meeting with members of the public.
The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website February 23, 2017:
President Trump, accompanied by Vice President Pence, center, shakes hands with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday at a Republican congressional retreat. (Matt Rourke/AP)
The House leadership has signaled that they intend to bury a Resolution of Inquiry introduced by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House Judiciary Committee so it can’t come to a vote in the full House. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will likely let the resolution die. The relevant facts are:
The Resolution Of Inquiry directs “the Department of Justice to provide the House of Representatives with any and all information relevant to an inquiry into President Trump and his associates’ conflicts of interest, ethical violations—including the Emoluments Clause—and Russia ties.”
While these kinds of resolutions are rare, Nadler and his Democratic colleagues feel that the unprecedented conflicts of interest surrounding the administration demand greater scrutiny and the House Oversight Committee has not exerted much effort to investigate issues that many Americans are concerned about. “Republicans have shown zero willingness to follow through on their duty to conduct oversight,” according to Nadler, “and they must be held accountable if they are truly willing to abdicate this constitutional obligation and must be made to answer to the American people for that failure.”
Make no mistake: “accountable to the American people” is an enormous issue. By sending the Resolution of Inquiry to committee to die members of the House will not have to go on record and won’t be accountable for lax oversight of Trump’s actions and conflicts.
The following article by Jacob Sugarman was posted on the AlterNet website Feburary 18, 2017:
Jason Chaffetz isn’t even masking his villainy anymore.
(Credit: AP/Rick Bowmer)
Each day in Donald Trump’s America is seemingly dumber, crueler and more exhausting than the one that preceded it. This week alone saw the president’s pick for labor secretary withdraw his name from consideration, a story that was all but eclipsed by the greater scandal of Michael Flynn’s resignation from the National Security Council amid charges of collusion with the Russian government.
While it’s tempting to believe the centrifugal force of Trump’s cracked brand of authoritarianism will pull his presidency apart, the reality is that he remains enormously popular with Republican voters, and the party’s craven politicians are unlikely to take any kind of action that could alienate them. Even if he were miraculously impeached or removed from office through the 25th Amendment, America would be left with Mike Pence, arguably an even darker fate than our present dystopia. Continue reading “5 Republican Disgraces You Missed This Week”
The following article by Colby Itkowitz was posted on the Washington Post website February 17, 2017:
Nathan Williams, a founder of the Town Hall Project. (Courtesy of Nathan Williams)
Nathan Williams is no novice to the political process. But suddenly there’s a crop of people newly engaged and eager to participate, and since the November election, he’s been looking for ways to help those people channel their desired activism.
He just didn’t know one idea would turn into a full-time endeavor.
The 36-year-old freelance filmmaker, who has worked on political campaigns off and on since Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential run, was talking to a friend, Jimmy Dahman, another campaign veteran, about the lack of easily accessible information for people who want to meet their members of Congress. So, with a handful of other volunteers, they started compiling schedules of congressional town halls, both in-person meetings and over the phone, and shared it through a Google document in late January, updating the spreadsheet with new information as they got it. Continue reading “Have something to say to your member of Congress? These guys are making it easier to find them.”
The following article by Lisa Mascaro of the Tribune Washington Bureau was posted on the National Memo website February 18, 2017:
The relationship between President Donald Trump and GOP leaders in Congress started as a marriage of convenience, thrown together by necessity and sustained on the promise of pushing a Republican agenda into law.
Until recently, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tolerated Trump’s turbulent debut because they agreed with the direction the White House was heading — or were confident they could nudge it in the desired one. Continue reading “In Congress, Republicans Are Starting To Fret”
After weeks of expectations — actually, nearly seven years of expectations — House Republicans on Monday released their proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
