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US Politics: CPAC - Finding new ways to bring America to Rune.


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FBI investigating communications between the Capital rioters and lawmakers.  If I'm understanding the article correctly, at least some republican lawmakers are getting...jumpy.  Starting to wonder if a congressman or five might actually be charged, possibly even face prosecution as a result of this...

 https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/politics/capitol-riot-investigation-lawmakers/index.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

 

(CNN)Federal investigators are examining records of communications between members of Congress and the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol, as the investigation moves closer to exploring whether lawmakers wittingly or unwittingly helped the insurrectionists, according to a US official briefed on the matter.

The data gathered so far includes indications of contact with lawmakers in the days around January 6, as well as communications between alleged rioters discussing their associations with members of Congress, the official said.

...

FBI collection of phone metadata and geolocator data -- permissible under federal law -- was the subject of multiple lines of questions this week by some senators who pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray to reveal what investigators were doing with communications and financial data. Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri suggested at a hearing Tuesday that the FBI could be overstepping its authority by scooping up communications data.

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1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

I mean $15 minimum wage has to be more popular in AZ and WV than Sinema or Manchin respectively, right?

I do have to wonder though if WV (not sure about AZ) could be filled with areas where paying $15 an hour simply isnt tenable.  I'm not talking about the towns large enough to support Walmart or McDonald's, but the areas where the economy is so decrepit, and largely based on fixed income residents (retirees and SNAP dependent folks), that the dollar stores and occasional gas station, are the only ones scraping by).   There are plenty of studies on the impact that dollar stores have on these type of communities, but is it possible that raising the rate would replace a healthy food desert with a true food desert?  I'd imagine its kinda like the problem the EU has with having Germany and Romania under the same currency with fundamentally different economic situations.  Note, I totally support increasing the minimum wage, just trying to figure out Manchin's politics on this one. 

On the contrary, I cant for the foggiest understand why he's against the extension to unemployment benefits.  I'm generally wary of arguments about folks voting against their own best interest, but do the WV residents really think that a trillion dollar loss in tax revenue during good times to the benefit of the richest folks is awesome when a trillion dollars expense during a pandemic into their own pockets to keep their towns afloat is a terrible thing? 

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Manchin's voting behavior can be explained by the fact he is catering to his primary constituency - in Fenno's definition - not his reelection constituency.  The people most responsible for him winning five statewide elections are decidedly more moderate, or even centrist, than both the Democratic party and even, in many cases, the voters of West Virginia.

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Is this where a greed is good video should be placed?

We debate how much the minimum wage should be raised, how to do it, how to scale it based on the area's cost of living, and yet the federal minimum just sits there, never changing. Hard not to think about shitheels like the Walton family that fought to keep wages low and directed their poor workforce to apply for welfare so they could make even more billions. Please ignore the blatantly slavery taking place in Asian countries. 12 pack of socks for $3.99!!!

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5 minutes ago, DMC said:

I'm usually ashamed of myself, to clarify.

Just please, for the love of God, don't let us end up in a situation in which one of your siblings has to login to your profile and inform us that you tragically passed away from complications due to autoerotic asphyxiation. 

I care about you, man. Even that soulless Jets fan @Fez cares about you. Well, as much as a Jets fan can care about anything, really.

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Just please, for the love of God, don't let us end up in a situation in which one of your siblings has to login to your profile and inform us that you tragically passed away from complications due to autoerotic asphyxiation. 

Methinks someone's projecting.

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Good grief, I’m just watching Mitch McConnell sneering at Democrats, saying if there were 40 amendments to the bill it’s going to take 18 days to read them in. What a truly fucking asshole.

And the next piece was showing an Arizona Republican arguing for a bill allowing businesses to ignore any mask mandate put in place by the Governor. “We didn’t need masks to stop HIV-AIDS!” I kid you not.

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Interesting piece by Gordon Wood - yes, that Gordon Wood - 

He describes this as the "Second Jacksonian Age:"

Quote

As we are discovering again, democracy and elite expertise do not always go well together. Now, too, the democratization of knowledge and truth can produce an odd mixture of credulity and skepticism among many ordinary Americans. Where everything is believable, everything is doubtable. And when all claims to expert knowledge become suspect, people will tend to mistrust anything that they have not seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled.

The problem, of course, is that when people pride themselves on becoming shrewd empiricists, things that they perceive but do not comprehend can easily impress them. A few strange words spoken by a preacher or an anonymous internet personality can carry great credibility, as can hieroglyphics displayed on a document, or anything written in highfalutin or cryptic language. Joseph Smith, the recipient of the tablets that became the Book of Mormon, knew this all too well.

 

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He should not be embarrassed. This might be the one decent act this waste of space has done in his entire life.

 

The only Republican to vote in favor of George Floyd bill said it was an accident

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/05/republican-voted-by-mistake-lance-gooden

Quote

 

When the US House of Representatives tallied up lawmakers’ votes on Wednesday for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, all but a single Republican had opposed the bill.

No, that Republican representative was not taking a stand against the tide of his party. Instead, he says now, his fingers slipped.

“I accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and realized it too late,” wrote Lance Gooden, a Republican representative from Texas who is known to be a staunch conservative and supporter of Donald Trump, in a tweet that has since been deleted. “I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition to the partisan George Floyd Policing Act.”

As the votes were still being cast, three of Gooden’s Republican colleagues tried to change his vote while it was still being counted, but the House clerks rejected the change, and the bill went on to pass 220-212.

Gooden said on Twitter that he had since changed the official voting record to reflect a “no” vote, though it ultimately does not change the outcome of the bill’s passage.

“I have arguably the most conservative/America First voting record in Congress! Of course I wouldn’t support the radical left’s, Anti-Police Act,” Gooden wrote on Twitter.

 

 

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Senate still voting, they've been at it all night. I wonder if Dan Sullivan won a lottery among the Republican members, since he left for Alaska yesterday afternoon and has skipped all the votes. It doesn't substantively change anything, any Democrat defecting on a vote means Republicans win; but it does also let Harris off the hook since ties aren't possible.

Hopefully Republicans throw in the towel soon and just let the bill pass, since so far their attempts to poison the bill have all failed. As best I can tell the only successful votes have been:

The Portman UI amendment, which Manchin voted for.

The Wyden UI amendment to replace the Portman amendment, which Manchin also voted for.

A Hassan amendment ordering schools to create plans to reopen within 30 days of getting funding, which Collins joined the Dems on.

A Moran amendment to fix a loophole in funding for veterans education, which passed by voice vote.

Not a lot of excitement, all the real drama ended once Manchin came back in line on UI. Oh, and also, Sanders essentially used the filibuster to block a Tester amendment to re-authorize the Keystone pipeline. Which goes to show how even the majority can sometimes benefit from keeping it.

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Okay, a tiny bit of drama, Tuberville just had an amendment to ban transgender kids from youth sports. Manchin voted for it, but Murkowski voted against it so it still failed.

Eta: actually nevermind, this one was going to take 60 votes to pass, so it was a free vote for Manchin. But it does show where Republicans stand, including Collins apparently, which I'm a little surprised by. Good for Murkowski though.

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I hope every single person who voted for that amendment dies a long and painful death. 

ETA: Murkowski has a track record of voting for trans rights (or at least blocking legislation that would oppress trans folk), but I'm really glad to see her continue in that vein. 

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8 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Why do Republicans seem to have this fetish for this type of “culture war” stuff? It’s just bizarre. 

And the people of Alabama should be ashamed of Tommy Tuberville for so many reasons. 

Because they don't have any meaningful politics to offer... not for a majority of voters.

They're really obsessed with trans people now, aren't they? I saw a snippet of Tucker Carlsen with his guest Newt Gingrich... Completely unhinged. Trans people will oblterate "judeo-christian and btw. Asian" cultures, or something. Thanks to Biden's radical agenda. (Of course, including Asans is a dead giveaway for a dog whistle to racists.)

Also, Abbott informed us that Texas will be infected with Covid by Biden's illegal immigrant. (Logically speaking, that would suggest you should definitely reinforce the mask mandate, but logic isn't neccessary.)

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44 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

 

Because they don't have any meaningful politics to offer... not for a majority of voters.

They're really obsessed with trans people now, aren't they? I saw a snippet of Tucker Carlsen with his guest Newt Gingrich... Completely unhinged. Trans people will oblterate "judeo-christian and btw. Asian" cultures, or something. Thanks to Biden's radical agenda. (Of course, including Asans is a dead giveaway for a dog whistle to racists.)

Ever since gay rights got too widely accepted (even though they aren't as well enshrined as they need to be yet), Republicans needed to find a new "other" to demonize.

Also, I didn't see the Carlson thing, I never watch anything on Fox on principle, but the Asian thing could be the opposite. Republicans have been doing a full court press recently to attract Asian American voters. There's evidence that a lot of Asian American populations swung pretty hard towards Trump (comparatively) over concerns about rising crime rates and the belief that Democrats don't care enough about anti-Asian racism.

ETA: Another amendment just got adopted, and by voice vote too; it was Murkowski's to redirect $800 million in the bill away from school funding (out of $12.8 billion) and towards various wraparound social service programs for homeless children. 

I'd still be a bit surprised if Murkowski voted for final passage, there's going to be a lot of pressure from her colleagues to deny any bipartisan tag on the bill. But her interest in making that kind of substantive, rather than performative, change to the bill makes me wonder.

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