Category: US Senate

Ron Johnson’s unscientific take on the coronavirus vaccine

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Reporter: “Did you get the vaccine or are you planning to get vaccinated?”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.): “No, I had covid, so I don’t believe, you know, I think that probably provides me the best immunity possible, actually having had the disease.”

— Interview on CBS 58 Milwaukee, March 10

Doctors, public health experts, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are clear: Get the coronavirus vaccine even if you had covid-19.

Yes, people who had the disease produce antibodies that provide immunity from the coronavirus. But that immunity fades over time, and the body’s natural response may not be enough to prevent a repeat infection 90 days after the first one, the CDC says.

Reinfections, both mild and severe, have been well documented since the coronavirus emerged in late 2019. For example, a nursing intern in the Netherlands with no issues in her immune system contracted covid-19 in the spring and again in the summer of 2020, with stronger symptoms the second time. A nurse in Ohio got the disease twice, seven months apart. Hundreds more cases have been reported worldwide, although experts say they are widely undercounted. Continue reading.

Police Shrugged Off the Proud Boys, Until They Attacked the Capitol

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Two Proud Boys accused of leading a mob to Congress followed a bloody path to get there. Law enforcement did little to stop them.

A protester was burning an American flag outside the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland when Joseph Biggs rushed to attack. Jumping a police line, he ripped the man’s shirt off and “started pounding,” he boasted that night in an online video.

But the local police charged the flag burner with assaulting Mr. Biggs. The city later paid $225,000 to settle accusations that the police had falsified their reports out of sympathy with Mr. Biggs, who went on to become a leader of the far-right Proud Boys.

Two years later, in Portland, Ore., something similar occurred. A Proud Boy named Ethan Nordean was caught on video pushing his way through a crowd of counterprotesters, punching one of them, then slamming him to the ground, unconscious. Once again, the police charged only the other man in the skirmish, accusing him of swinging a baton at Mr. Nordean. Continue reading.

GOP goes on the attack against Biden relief bill

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Republicans are going on the attack against the newly signed $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill as they scramble to find a messaging foothold against Democrats’ first big win heading into 2022.

GOP lawmakers, who voted in unison against the legislation, are gambling that they’ll be able to tamp down the bill’s popularity in the long run, even as polls have shown it garners broad approval, including from their own voters.

The focus among congressional Republicans is twofold: highlighting provisions they hope will be damaging to Democrats and accusing their political opponents of trying to take credit for an economic recovery Republicans say was set in motion by the Trump administration. Continue reading.

GOP senator: If insurrectionists had been Black instead of MAGA I would have been ‘concerned’

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Embattled U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), a top Trump supporter, admitted that he felt safe during the January 6 insurrection because he trusted the MAGA crowd, thousands of whom were breaking not only the law but government property and causing physical harm.

But he also admits that if those rioters had been Black Lives Matter protestors he would not have felt safe – he would he felt “concerned.”

His remarks are causing anger and accusations of racism. Continue reading.

‘Pure stupidity’: GOP’s John Cornyn busted for lying about Biden’s vaccination timeline

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Friday got called out by many of his own Twitter followers for shamelessly lying about President Joe Biden’s proposed timeline for getting Americans vaccinated.

Writing on Twitter, Cornyn falsely claimed that Biden said that every American would be “vaccinated by May,” and used this to attack the president for asking Americans to hold out until July to attend large gatherings.

“If every willing person in America is vaccinated for COVID-19 by May, as POTUS has said, why put our lives on hold till July the 4th?” he asked. Continue reading.

Companies are scaling back layoffs because of Biden’s stimulus package

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Airlines, Amtrak, New York’s MTA cancel or delay thousands of layoffs after passage

Two airline giants said that they would cancel tens of thousands of planned layoffs because of aid earmarked for them in the $1.9 trillion stimulus measure passed by Congress this week, an early sign of job losses averted by the landmark package.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, which had warned employees about 14,000 layoffs last month, said in a social media post that Congress’s new funding for airlines would allow the workers to receive their paychecks and health care through September.

American Airlines said it planned to rescind notices it sent last month to 13,000 employees about coming layoffs. Continue reading.

While Republicans Vote No, Their States Win Big In Rescue Plan

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As President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law Thursday afternoon, Republicans falsely claimed the bill only serves to bail out “blue states” at the expense of “red states” — but the landmark legislation will deliver massive funding and relief to many deep-red states in need during the pandemic.

The American Rescue Plan will send more than $195 billion in aid to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., as well as $130.2 billion in aid to local governments throughout the country, benefiting red and blue states alike. In fact, according to a recent Reuters analysis, traditionally Republican states will receive a slightly disproportionate amount of federal aid from the package as compared to traditionally Democratic states — $3,192 per state resident as opposed to $3,160. And the bill levies no extra taxes on red states.

But on Thursday afternoon, Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) took to social media to criticize the legislation, tweeting, “It’s red states like Georgia who will have to bail out the deep blue states who recklessly spent taxpayer $ on irresponsible decisions over the past year. They need to face the consequences of their actions rather than lean on the red states & the stimulus to bail them out!” Continue reading.

Schumer puts gun control on Senate agenda

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Announcement comes as House debates background checks bill

Senate Democrats on Thursday announced plans for a floor vote on legislation to expand background checks for private gun sales, which would force Republicans to choose between their party’s traditional gun rights positions and a policy that is broadly popular with the public.

Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer told reporters there will be hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee and at least a procedural vote on a bill the House passed Thursday on a 227-203 bipartisan vote.

“HR 8 will be on the floor of the Senate and we will see where everybody stands,” the New York Democrat said at a press conference ahead of the House floor vote. “No more hopes and prayers, thoughts and prayers — a vote is what we need.” Continue reading.

GOP Sen. Tim Scott faces Twitter firestorm over gaslighting remarks about the severity of white supremacy

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Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) found himself at the center of controversy with his recent remarks arguing that “woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy.” For the last two days, he has been slammed on social media and the critical reactions are still coming.

On Tuesday, March 9, the South Carolina lawmaker appeared on Fox News where he responded to MSNBC’s Joy Reid’s remarks suggesting Scott only served as “the patina of diversity” at the Republican Party’s recent press conference. Scott claimed, “Woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy. We need to take that seriously.”

Scott’s remarks quickly became a point of contention on and off social media. As the reactions poured in, CNN’s Don Lemon fired back at him. The CNN news anchor began his argument with a recollection of the United States’ long, odious history of slavery as he noted how people “can be so ignorant.” Continue reading.

MAGA rioter demands Texas trial because DC jurors would be too eager to ‘cancel’ her for ‘white supremacy’

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MAGA rioter Jenny Cudd, who infamously boasted on video about breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, is now demanding that her trial be held in her home state of Texas due to concerns about bias of jurors in Washington D.C.

Reuters legal reporter Jan Wolfe flags a new filing made by Cudd’s attorneys that claims D.C. jurors would be far more likely to unjustly “cancel” Cudd because they’d believe that she’s a racist.

“There is a social expectation of punishment for anyone accused of being a ‘white supremacist,'” the filing states. “In Washington, D.C., people have been readily ‘canceled’ for being politically conservative and for their public support of Donald Trump.” Continue reading.