💣 The Disastrous 118th Congress - "My Kevin" McCarthy "Fuc*ing Fuc*wad" Mike Johnson, House Speaker /Clowns

[Luke]

On Thu, the MAGA GOP House wrapped up & departed to treat itself to an 18-DAY BREAK from the legislative session. #KevinMcCarthy's First 100 Days will only have 30 DAYS in session. GOP governing: No legislation that will pass the Senate, trolling #SOTU, kabuki hearings & vacations.





https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... p_politics

[Kendra]

@RonFilipkowski
I thought Kevin McCarthy promised he was going release all the Capitol security cam footage from J6 immediately. What happened with that?

[pipistrelle]

I'm lucky to get 18 days a year off.

[Gregg]

I'm lucky to get 18 days a year off.

I literally took 9 days off in 2018.

[Kendra]

Yes, because 5 minutes after funding is passed the infrastructure of an entire nation that has been crumbling for 50 years is all repaired and replaced overnight. This truly is a thoroughly dumbed-downed party.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Glad to see that train derailments are down significantly. The US averages about 1000 per year. Normally there'd be over a hundred derailments by now.

[raison de arizona]

Mebbe this should go back in.

[AndyinPA]

I've got to say that I've been really surprised at how little coverage this has received from the beginning. Given that it's fifty miles from me and affects PA as well as OH, we've had coverage from the beginning. It was obvious that it was a horrendous event and people were being lied to. No one should have been allowed back into their homes in East Palestine or in the nearby Beaver County in PA. East Palestine is a quarter mile from the PA border. It's rural, so there aren't a lot of homes impacted here. Our governor is not happy with the way the Ohio governor has handled many parts of this.

I went out two days after this happened, the day after they did the explosion, and there was a smell of sort of smoke in the air. It was a warm day, so no one was burning in a fireplace.

Probably off topic for here.

[Suranis]

Mebbe this should go back in.

Link to that story

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-ro ... 05066.html

[raison de arizona]

Mebbe this should go back in.

Link to that story

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-ro ... 05066.html

Thanks Suranis.

U.S. trains rely on pneumatic braking technology first invented in the 1860s,

Making America Great Again!

[Luke]

I'm lucky to get 18 days a year off.

I literally took 9 days off in 2018.

We all remember that, it's when the 699th went up to Tonawanda, NY to "do some business" with Robert C. Laity. He became really quiet for a while after that courtesy visit. Another courtesy visit may be needed soon.

[Phoenix520]

U.S. trains rely on pneumatic braking technology first invented in the 1860s,

At least he’s consistent.

Earlier this week, (2019) President Trump continued to press his attack on a U.S. Navy system that uses magnetism to launch aircraft from aircraft carriers. At an event on a Japan-based navy warship, Trump reiterated his claim that the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, is inferior to the use of steam catapults to get airplanes in the air.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... catapults/

Part of his brief to destroy the US from within? Make us a laughing stock? Proof that conservatives reeeally don’t like change?

[Gregg]

I'm lucky to get 18 days a year off.

I literally took 9 days off in 2018.

We all remember that, it's when the 699th went up to Tonawanda, NY to "do some business" with Robert C. Laity. He became really quiet for a while after that courtesy visit. Another courtesy visit may be needed soon.

Well, that and the Motorcar Company was launching 3 new 10 Speed RWD Transmissions that I was kind of fiddling with on the side, too.

[Gregg]

U.S. trains rely on pneumatic braking technology first invented in the 1860s,

At least he’s consistent.

Earlier this week, (2019) President Trump continued to press his attack on a U.S. Navy system that uses magnetism to launch aircraft from aircraft carriers. At an event on a Japan-based navy warship, Trump reiterated his claim that the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, is inferior to the use of steam catapults to get airplanes in the air.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... catapults/

Part of his brief to destroy the US from within? Make us a laughing stock? Proof that conservatives reeeally don’t like change?

His second term plan involved bringing back "Big beautiful Sailboats, our Navy relied on sails for over 100 years and we were Great back then, like nobody has ever seen..." (HM Royal Navy will enter the chat here)

[pipistrelle]

Derailments aren't always (or maybe usually) big, messy, national news events. Sometimes a car or seven jumps the tracks, nothing big. Not surprised they're frequent.

[RTH10260]

10th Amendment

MTG and George Santos are co-sponsoring a bill that could ban LGBTQ books in classrooms

Tom Porter
Thu, February 16, 2023 at 1:57 PM GMT+1

• Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos are co-sponsoring a bill banning some books in schools.
  It aims to end "sexualization of children," echoing bills restricting access to LGBTQ material.
  Santos is the only openly gay Republican member of Congress.

Rep. George Santos and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene are co-sponsoring a bill that aims to remove "sexually explicit material" from schools, and would likely encompass a ban on LGBTQ material.

The bill, HR863, was introduced last week by Rep. Cory Mills of Florida and aims to "end the sexualization of children in schools."

It is co-sponsored by seven lawmakers from the GOP's hard right congressional faction, among them Greene and Santos, and was first reported by LGBTQ Nation.

The full text of the bill has not yet been published, but a description of it on the US Congress website says it seeks to "prohibit a publishing house from knowingly furnishing sexually explicit material to a school or an educational agency, to prohibit Federal funds from being provided to a school that obtains or an educational agency that distributes sexually explicit material, and for other purposes."

The Republican far-right in recent months has rallied around a so-called "anti-groomer" campaign aimed at ending the "sexualization" of children.

The Anti-Defamation League says the campaign is mainly aimed at demonizing the LGBTQ community, and falsely characterizing LGBTQ educational material as "pedophilic."

As part of the campaign, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year signed the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, restricting the teaching of LGBTQ issues in schools. His press secretary, Christina Pushaw, at the time labelled it the "anti-groomer bill."

Santos is one 10 LGBTQ members of Congress and the only Republican LGBTQ member. He has positioned himself as a hardline conservative on many issues, yet reports say he once competed in a drag queen contest in Brazil.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/mtg-george-s ... 22295.html

(original: Business Insider)

[RTH10260]

Republicans want to restore 'dignity' for millions of Americans on food stamps by cutting their benefits even more

Ayelet Sheffey,Juliana Kaplan
Thu, February 16, 2023 at 7:53 PM GMT+1

• That's because lawmakers decided to end a pandemic-era program in December's omnibus.
  Now, some Republicans want to limit the program even more, the Washington Post reports.
  As Republicans grapple with spending cuts, it appears they're now setting their sights on major changes to food stamp requirements.

Since the GOP took control over the House, a host of areas to cut spending have been floated around the chambers of Congress to include in a potential deal to raise the debt ceiling. The Washington Post first reported on Thursday that Republicans are now looking to include cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance program (SNAP) in their proposals to reduce the deficit, particularly by enforcing strengthened work requirements and reduction in benefits.

The potential reductions come as millions of recipients are already bracing for a steep cut in benefits. Come March, a pandemic-era expansion of SNAP is set to wind down, leaving 16 million Americans to lose an average $82 a month in grocery spending. That expansion brought all SNAP recipients to the maximum benefit level; traditionally, the amount recipients receive is income tested, with funds allocated based on their earnings. Those previously eligible for the maximum amount in benefits also received an additional $95 a month.

But lawmakers stipulated in the December omnibus bill that the emergency allotments would wind down in March, even as food prices remain high. For some Americans, especially older ones on fixed incomes, that means $258 will evaporate for their monthly food budgets. Simone Parent, a 56-year-old SNAP recipient who's taking a $135 monthly hit, told Insider that she doesn't know what she's going to do once the cuts come.

Now, some Republican legislators want to make SNAP eligibility requirements even more stringent.

Five GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Lauren Boebert, wrote a letter to President Joe Biden last week urging him to "enact work requirements as a feature of welfare reform."

"Structural reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will better position funding for people in need while incentivizing able-bodied people to return to the workforce," they wrote. "These incentives will prevent the condemnation of SNAP beneficiaries to a life of dependency; instead, incentives will restore their dignity."

The GOP House Budget Committee also signaled last week that SNAP was on their list of areas in which they would support spending cuts — they wrote in a press release that placing work requirements on SNAP would save "tens of billions of dollars," along with requiring income verification for the program.

GOP attacks on food stamps are not new — in 2020, former President Donald Trump tried to end the benefits for nearly 700,000 unemployed Americans, which a federal judge struck down alongside an opinion that stated it would leave "States scrambling and exponentially increasing food insecurity for tens of thousands of Americans."





https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans- ... 45736.html

(original: INSIDER)

[Gregg]

Will no one think of the Billionaires?

If we don't cut the budget, they'll have to start paying taxes, FFS.

[RTH10260]

GOP opens another investigation of Afghanistan withdrawal

FARNOUSH AMIRI
Fri, February 17, 2023 at 6:01 PM GMT+1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Biden Cabinet members, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received a letter Friday from House Republicans as they launched the second investigation into the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a series of letters to senior leadership at the White House, Department of Defense, State Department and others requesting a tranche of documents related to the end of America's longest war.

“The Biden Administration was tragically unprepared for the Afghanistan withdrawal and their decisions in the region directly resulted in a national security and humanitarian catastrophe,” Comer said in a statement. “Every relevant department and agency should be prepared to cooperate and provide all requested information.”

Republicans have been vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 and the U.S. left scores of Americans and thousands of Afghans who helped them over the years in grave danger. Now with the power of the gavel, GOP lawmakers are elevating that criticism into aggressive congressional oversight, and on a topic that has been met with bipartisan support in the past.

In a statement, the State Department said that while it does not comment on congressional correspondence, the agency is committed to working with congressional committees.

“As of November 2022, the Department has provided more than 150 briefings to bipartisan Members and staff on Afghanistan policy since the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan,” the statement continued. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The letters Friday come nearly one month after Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, opened his own investigation into the deadly withdrawal, requesting documents from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

McCaul’s letter outlined a request for all communications around the lead-up to pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. He also made it clear that his committee, which has jurisdiction over the matter, also plans to investigate the after-effects of the withdrawal, including on the hundreds of thousands of Afghan allies left behind.

The Trump administration agreed late in its term to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan in May 2021, with the former president saying in 2020, “Now it’s time for somebody else to do that work.” But Republicans are intent on reminding Americans that it was Biden who was in charge when the Taliban took over.

And the criticism over the issue began in a bipartisan manner, with several Democrat-led committees pledging to investigate what went wrong in the days and weeks after the withdrawal.

U.S. officials have said they were surprised by the quick collapse of the military and the government, prompting sharp congressional criticism of the intelligence community for failing to foresee it.

In a congressional hearing last spring, senators questioned whether there is a need to reform how intelligence agencies assess a foreign military’s will to fight. Lawmakers pointed to two key examples: U.S. intelligence believed that the Kabul government would hold on for months against the Taliban, and more recently believed that Ukraine’s forces would quickly fall to Russia’s invasion. Both were wrong.

Military and defense leaders have said the Afghanistan collapse was built on years of missteps, as the U.S. struggled to find a successful way to train and equip Afghan forces.

Last year, a watchdog group concluded it was decisions by Trump and Biden to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan that were key factors in the collapse of that nation’s military.

The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, mirrors assertions made by senior Pentagon and military leaders in the aftermath of the withdrawal. Military leaders have made it clear that their recommendation was to leave about 2,500 U.S. troops in the country, but that plan was not approved.

In February 2020, the Trump administration signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, in which the U.S. promised to fully withdraw its troops by May 2021. The Taliban committed to several conditions, including stopping attacks on American and coalition forces. The stated objective was to promote a peace negotiation between the Taliban and the Afghan government, but that diplomatic effort never gained traction before Biden took office in January 2022.





https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-gop-op ... 12969.html

[RTH10260]

re “The Biden Administration was tragically unprepared for the Afghanistan withdrawal and their decisions in the region directly resulted in a national security and humanitarian catastrophe,”

For one, it was the former guy who prepared the retreat, Biden was only there to follow up without anything remaining to change any longer.

For the other, the WH of the former guy did not agree to a peaceful transition of the powers, used a strategy of burnt earth and denied the new administration insight into the current business.

[humblescribe]

I, for one, am waiting for the House to reopen the House Unamerican Activities Committee. Maybe some of those Commies in the State Department and elsewhere are still around to testify.

[Ben-Prime]

I, for one, am waiting for the House to reopen the House Unamerican Activities Committee. Maybe some of those Commies in the State Department and elsewhere are still around to testify.

I mean, maybe I'm biased, but I kinda think State's been through enough the past few years, yanno?

Well, okay, no maybes about it.

[humblescribe]

I, for one, am waiting for the House to reopen the House Unamerican Activities Committee. Maybe some of those Commies in the State Department and elsewhere are still around to testify.

I mean, maybe I'm biased, but I kinda think State's been through enough the past few years, yanno?

Well, okay, no maybes about it.

[Kendra]

(1,2) WARING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Alabama
@RepBarryMoore
,
@laurenboebert
,
@Santos4Congress
filed a bill to recognize the AR 15 as the national gun in America. I decided to share this publicly available video from the Parkland murder trial.

[Kendra]

James Comer says he's been in "constant communication" with leadership of AT&T and DirecTV over DirecTV's decision to drop Newsmax, adding he told them "to get this worked out, or else"

I'm sure the Twitter Files folks will be very mad about this First Amendment infringement!