Tag: GOP

Five biggest surprises in midterm fight

The following article by Lisa Hagen, Max Greenwood and Reid Wilson was posted on the Hill website September 7, 2018:

Two months before voters head to the polls in a midterm election increasingly shaped by President Trump, the political landscape is far different than it was when he took office.

Democrats are showing up to vote in record numbers, but so are Republicans. Trump’s approval rating has remained dismal, but consistent. And the states and districts in which the two parties are fighting for control of Congress are markedly different than what strategists on both sides expected.

Here are the five biggest surprises defining the 2018 midterm elections:

View the complete article here.

Another GOP congressman caught using campaign cash to buy himself goodies

The following article by Tommy Christopher was posted on the ShareBlue.com website August 30, 2018:

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) is accused of raiding campaign funds for personal use, including a purchase of fossils to allegedly help him “understand climate science.”

Rep. John Culberson, R-TX Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) is the subject of complaints to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) questioning almost $50,000 in campaign spending on items like civil war memorabilia, coins, and other collectibles.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the complaint says Culberson spent the funds on items reported as “books,” “research materials,” and “gifts” that were in reality antiques, military collectibles, Civil War memorabilia, and even “a $309 purchase at the Black Hills Institute, which sells and rents fossils.”

View the complete article here.

No self-respecting member of Congress should fear Democrats’ investigative requests

The following commentary by the Washington Post Editorial Board was posted on their website September 1, 2018:

President Trump meets with members of Congress and administration officials at the White House on Aug. 23. Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images)

NEWS WEBSITE Axios reported Aug. 26 that Republicans are “getting ready for hell” in the form of wide-ranging congressional investigations of President Trump should the Democrats take the House in November. That is one way to describe the legislative branch finally taking its oversight responsibilities seriously.

According to the article, a senior House Republican’s office compiled a spreadsheet of more than 100 investigative requests Democrats have made, a document that has circulated on Capitol Hill and “churned Republican stomachs.” Highlights include Mr. Trump’s tax returns; his family’s businesses and whether foreign governments are doing them untoward favors; the president’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin; likely illegal hush money paid to an adult-film star and Playboy model alleging affairs with Mr. Trump; the sudden firing of then-FBI Director James B. Comey; the president’s transgender military ban; the purging of scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency; Cabinet secretary abuse of government perks; the lackadaisical (and deadly) response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico; Mr. Trump’s travel ban; election security; and the administration’s policy of ripping migrant children from their parents. The litany goes on. Continue reading “No self-respecting member of Congress should fear Democrats’ investigative requests”

The writer with ties to white nationalists who resigned from DHS donated to the RNC, Donald Trump, Kris Kobach, and Dave Brat

The following article by Eric Hananoki was posted on the Media Matters website August 31, 2018:

Update: Ian Smith also donated to Corey Stewart’s 2017 gubernatorial campaign

Ian Smith, a writer who recently resigned from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over his ties to white nationalists, donated thousands of dollars combined to the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Republican campaigns of President Donald Trump, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and Rep. Dave Brat from Virginia..

The Atlantic’s Rosie Gray reported on August 28 that Smith, who had recently worked at DHS as a policy analyst on immigration issues, “had in the past been in contact with a group that included known white nationalists as they planned various events.” She added that the messages “provide a glimpse into how a group that included hard-core white nationalists was able to operate relatively incognito in the wider world, particularly in conservative circles.”

The Washington Post’s Nick Miroff reported on August 30 that “Smith, a Department of Homeland Security analyst who resigned this week after he was confronted about his ties to white nationalist groups, attended multiple immigration policy meetings at the White House, according to government officials familiar with his work.”

View the complete article here.

The Republican Party Keeps Convincing Me I Was Right To Leave It

The following commentary was posted on the Huffington Post website September 1, 2018:

House Speaker Ryan speaks with Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Majority Leader  McCarthy and Senate Majotiy Whip Cornyn before a meeting with Trump. Credit Nicholas Kamm, AFP, Getty Images

In 2016, the Republican Party declared internet pornography a “public health crisis” and voted to insert that phrase into the official party platform. Republican delegates ratified that document at the very convention they would nominate Donald J. Trump, a man who allegedly had an affair with an actual porn star and paid her $130,000 to be quiet about it, to be their candidate for president of the United States.

That contradiction and moral flexibility pretty much defines today’s Republican Party. Which is a big reason why, last winter, I made the decision to leave the party after more than 15 years to become a member of the Democratic Party.

Candidly, I’m still getting used to the idea of calling myself a “Democrat.” Whenever I talk or write about Republicans, my first instinct is to use the pronoun “we” instead of “them.” But the more I see from the Republican Party in this time of Trump, the more I am convinced that this is a political party I want no affiliation with in any way, shape or form.

View the complete commentary here.

The Memo: Trump’s future hinges on midterms

The following article by Niall Stanage was posted on the Hill website August 31, 2018:

President Trump’s first major electoral test since his 2016 presidential victory is looming — even though he isn’t on the ballot.

Labor Day marks the start of the final sprint to the midterm elections, set for Nov. 6.

If Democrats seize a majority in the House of Representatives, they could hamstring Trump’s agenda — and potentially start impeachment proceedings against him.

Brutal summer for Republicans

The following article by Scott Wong and Alexander Bolton was posted on the Hill website August 31, 2018:

t’s been a brutal summer for the GOP.

President Trump’s secret meeting, and stunning press conference, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Felony convictions for Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and a guilty plea from his longtime personal fixer, Michael Cohen. Returning flags atop the White House to full-staff less than 48 hours after Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) death.

Some Republicans say the president’s actions these past few months amount to a series of costly errors that distract from the party’s strong economic message and raise more doubts about whether the GOP can keep control of the House — or even the Senate — in the upcoming midterm elections.

View the complete article here.

Boogeywomen — GOP vilifies big-name female Dems

The following article by Melanie Zanona was posted on the Hill website August 18, 2018:

Republicans have made attacks on high-profile Democratic women a key part of their strategy for holding onto congressional majorities.

The GOP aims to cast rank-and-file Democrats as puppets of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and other Democratic boogeymen, calculating that suburban and rural voters won’t want to replace their Republican lawmakers with Democrats beholden to the party’s power brokers.

But while those tactics fire up President Trump’s conservative base, it risks turning off the suburban and college-educated women seen as crucial voting blocs in the fall — especially since so many of the GOP targets happen to be women.

View the complete article here.

Here’s Why Republicans’ Disturbing Romance with the Racist Confederacy Is So Troubling

The following article by W. Fitzhugh Brundage of the Independent Media Institute was posted on the AlterNet.org website August 17, 2018:

The road to the violence around statues is paved with hate, lies, and political gamesmanship.

Lee Park, Charlottesville, VA by Cville dog, via Wikimedia.org

Among the historical ironies of our current era is the defense of Confederate monuments and southern white “heritage” by Republicans. The curious path that the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln has followed to its present stance is an example of expediency and ideology subverting principle.

For more than a century after the Civil War, the defense of white southern “heritage” was the preoccupation of white Democrats. Until the 1970s, Republicans in the South were a long suffering minority who had to battle against all manner of Democratic machinations to enfeeble their opponents. The party recruited African Americans—who remained loyal to the party of Lincoln and hostile to the white segregationists who still presided over the Democratic Party in the region—and whites who favored Republican policies and were less enchanted by white supremacy than their Democratic rivals. Southern Republicans were often vocal opponents of the poll tax and other Democratic schemes that suppressed voter turnout and impeded equal representation in state houses. Nationally, Republican ranks included moderates and liberals whose commitment to racial equality was crucial for the expansion of civil rights from the Civil War until the election of Ronald Reagan.

Continue reading “Here’s Why Republicans’ Disturbing Romance with the Racist Confederacy Is So Troubling”

Pentagon, GOP breathe sign of relief after Trump cancels parade

The following article by Rebecca Kheel was posted on the Hill website August 17, 2018:

The Pentagon is off the hook — at least for the time being — for planning President Trump’s display of military might down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump cancelled his desired military parade after its $92 million price tag leaked to the media, blaming D.C. officials for the high cost and saying he’d attend a parade in Paris and one at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland instead.

The cancellation lifts a burden off the Pentagon, which would have had to divert resources for a parade as it works to recover from what it has described as a readiness crisis.

View the complete article here.