Politico: Caitlin Emma: ‘Senators Reveal Bipartisan Plan To Avert Shutdown For 7 Weeks’

Source:Politico- left to right: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat, New York) & Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky)

Source:The New Democrat

“The measure effectively punts bigger fights on Ukraine aid and disaster relief in order to move the agreement more quickly through the Senate.

Senate leaders released the details of a seven-week stopgap spending bill on Tuesday afternoon, hoping to pass a bill through both chambers of Congress within five days — and little room for error.

The temporary spending bill, called a continuing resolution, would fund federal agencies at current levels through Nov. 17, setting up another government funding deadline before Thanksgiving rather than at midnight on Saturday. It would provide about $6 billion each for Ukraine and disaster aid, far below the White House’s requests for each, and include the Federal Aviation Administration extension through the end of the year. It provides no additional funding for the border.

The measure effectively punts bigger fights on Ukraine aid and disaster relief in order to move the agreement more quickly through the Senate, as conservatives threaten to delay the bill amid objections to Ukraine funding and other issues. All 100 senators have to agree to greenlight fast passage under the chamber’s rules, otherwise a final vote wouldn’t occur until after the shutdown deadline had passed.

Still, the measure could easily pass the Senate and stall in the House, where Speaker Kevin McCarthy continues to try mustering conservative support for any sort of stopgap funding plan. Hardliners in that chamber have threatened to try to boot the speaker if he works with Democrats to keep the government open.

A ‘standard’ funding fix: Before unveiling the text, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the stopgap “a bridge. Not a final destination.”

“We can and must do more to respond to disasters that have ravaged the country,” he said. “We can and must do more to stand with our friends in Ukraine.”

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell billed the measure as a “standard, responsible step forward” that buys more time for bipartisan negotiations on a broader government funding deal and Ukraine aid, among other issues.

“The sooner Congress keeps the light on, the sooner these conversations can resume,” he said.

What’s next: The Senate will take its first step toward advancing the measure on Tuesday night, leaving very little time to clear all the procedural hurdles and send it to the House, where a Republican quagmire over government funding awaits.

The bare bones continuing resolution is intended to make things less complicated for McCarthy. But the California Republican will surely have to rely on Democratic votes to pass the measure in its current form — if he allows it to come up for a vote at all — potentially endangering his speakership.” 

From Politico 

Last week, former U.S. Representative Charlie Dent (Republican, Pennsylvania) who left the House in 2018. because he was worried about the Democratic wave that was about to happen and did happen in 2018, said on CNN that he expects the Senate to pass a bipartisan government funding, with an overwhelming vote in the Senate and then they would go home. Meaning it’s then up to the House to try to pass anything, including taking up the Senate bill, just to keep the government open. I think we’re starting to see that in the Senate now, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

So after the Senate passes it’s bill perhaps tomorrow, the ball then would be moved to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s court, where he would then have a choice: take the Senate’s bill and come back in November and continue negotiations on Ukraine, disaster relief, and additional border security, but risk losing his speakership, if House MAGA really goes through on their motion to vacate him.

But, if the Speaker just takes the bill and it passes overwhelmingly in the Senate, with perhaps just House MAGA and a handful of left-wing Democrats voting against it, then perhaps House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would move for his members to bail out the Speaker on a motion to vacate, if Speaker McCarthy takes the Senate’s bipartisan bill and brings it up for a vote in the House.

Or, the alternative could be, that Senate passes it’s bill with 80-90 votes, the House does nothing, let alone passes anything, the government shutdowns, House MAGA and perhaps Speaker McCarthy gets blamed for that and now their rail-thin majority in the House, is in serious jeopardy about a year from now.

CNN: 'Hear What Mark Meadows Told Former Aide About Working With Donald Trump'

Source:CNN- former Donald Trump White House Chief of Staff deputy and now author Cassie Hutchinson.

"Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson joined CNN's Jake Tapper to discuss her new book "Enough," which paints the closing days of the Trump White House as even more chaotic and lawless than she previously disclosed in her shocking televised testimony last summer." 

From CNN

Just the fact that not just people who worked for Donald Trump, but some of the closest people to Donald Trump, at least in the sense of people that have worked for Donald Trump, are the people who are speaking out against Donald Trump (at least in the Republican Party) and are testifying against Donald Trump, should tell you everything that you need to know about Donald Trump and how he does business and governs. (If you want to call that governing) 

Mark Meadows, wasn't a coffee boy. He wasn't a runner, the guy who took and delivered messages or answered the door when the food arrived. He was the White House Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump. The only two people that could have more information about how the U.S. Government works when they were in power, would be Donald Trump and then Vice President Mike Pence. Mark Meadows job at the White House, was to supervise the entire presidential staff there. And Cassie Hutchinson was basically his deputy who was in on almost everything that her boss was involved in. 

Also, a lot of the people who are speaking  out against Donald Trump, are not in current legal jeopardy. People like Alyssa Farrah Griffin, who was on the President's communications staff, Ty Cobb, who was the President's private lawyer in Washington, Vice President Pence's Chief of Staff Mark Short, and the President's last White House Press Secretary (even though she never held press conferences) Stephanie Grisham. 

So these are the people who know Donald Trump very well, if not the best and they're now telling America how big of a threat that the former President is to the country. Which is why at the very least they need to be listened too and taken very seriously.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

NBC News: Donald Trump Breaks With Kevin McCarthy, Pushing Republicans to Shut Down The Government

Source:NBC News- left to right: Speaker of The House Kevin McCarthy and former President Donald J. Trump (for anyone whose new to America who sees this)

Source:The New Democrat

“WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s attempts to avoid a government shutdown just became more complicated after former President Donald Trump stepped in to endorse the tactics of far-right House Republicans, who prefer to see a funding lapse than compromise with the Democratic-led Senate and White House.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, who backed McCarthy, R-Calif., for speaker, made the comments in a post on his social media platform.

“The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed,” Trump wrote, adding: “UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN! Close the Border, stop the Weaponization of ‘Justice,’ and End Election Interference.” 

From NBC News 

Donald Trump forgot (or left out intentionally) that he wants a government shutdown, to stop the Department of Justice from investigating and prosecuting him. Actually, he sort of got to that in code when he said on his so-called Truth Social platform: “stop the Weaponization of ‘Justice,’

If there is government shutdown this weekend, Special Counsel Jack Smith might not be furloughed and told not to come into work and go home, not get paid, etc, but a lot of his staff that he has to have to do his job, would be ordered not to show up for work because the funds to pay them and pay for their operations, aren’t yet approved by the U.S. Government.

The problem that Mr. Trump has, is that Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a bigger problem. If there is a government shutdown, House Republicans would get blamed for that and he knows that. And would probably not just put his speakership at risk, but his tiny 5 seat House majority at risk as well. And all indicators so far are that the Speaker wants a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden.

CNN: Donald Trump Fights Special Counsel’s Gag Order Request

Source:CNN- left to right: Donald J. Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (in case anyone is just waking up from a coma who sees this)

"Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys argued in a court filing that a gag order requested by special counsel Jack Smith in the federal 2020 election interference case is unconstitutional, overly broad and an effort to censor the former president during the 2024 presidential race." 

From CNN 

As I've mentioned before on this blog, the only reason, perhaps more like an excuse for why Donald Trump is running for President again, is so he can get himself out of all his legal jeopardies, as well as his co-defendants. And if he does get convicted in Atlanta, Georgia, before the 2024 presidential election, he's thinking that DOJ or the Department of Homeland Security, wouldn't turn him over to the State of Georgia, if he's elected President again. 

Normally when someone is innocent of the crime or crimes that they're being prosecuted for, they let their lawyers handle their case or the cases. Because they can either say the prosecution has nothing, they're completely innocent and will prove that in court. But, if your Donald J. Trump, you obviously don't play by the same rules as everyone else because you think that you are above the law. 

But as long as Mr. Trump is just private citizen/wannabe President again Donald Trump, he's subjected to the same legal system as everyone else. Meaning that if there's evidence against him that he committed real crimes, (and both Fulton County DA and DOJ have plenty evidence against him that he committed multiple felonies) they're required to prosecute him the same way that they would prosecute Joe or Jane Average on the street (who whoever the people are) if they had the same evidence against them. That's how the rule of law, accountability, and personal responsibility works in America. 

Donald Trump hasn't acted like an innocent man in any of the cases that have been brought agains him. If anything, the opposite is true. You don't try to run for President simply to avoid legal sanctions against you, unless you are not innocent. And you also don't try to poison jury pools and try to harass prosecutors, when you are innocent, because that just makes you look even more guilty. Which is why Jack Smith and company is try to get at least a limited gag order against the former President, so they can continue to do their jobs.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Matt Gaetz Issues Direct Warning To McCarthy If He Uses Dems To Pass Short-Term Funding'

Source:Forbes Magazine- Washington reporters trying to talk to U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (Republican, Florida)

"Speaking to reporters, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was asked about his threat to launch a motion to vacate Speaker McCarthy, and said that if McCarthy uses Democratic votes to pass the continuing resolution he would try to end his Speakership." 

From Forbes Magazine

I hate to admit that Representative Matt Gaetz is right about anything, just because he's such a wildcard and the political version of the Kamikazi pilot, who doesn't seem to mind diving, as long as he takes others with him on the way down. If he told me it gets hot and sunny in Florida and even rains everyday in other parts of the state, I would double check that before I took his word on that. But he is right about one critical point here, which is how Congress (House and Senate) funds the U.S, Government. 

But I think the response to Representative Gaetz's here, could be a one word question, why: 

Why does Congress wait until the end the year to do its appropriations bills? 

Why does Congress never pass a budget at all anymore, let alone pass a budget on time? 

Why does Congress fund the U.S. Government, with just one Godzilla sized omnibus bill, that's supposed to fund the entire U.S. Government, that only a handful of Congressional staffers bothered to read, (because they're insomniacs with nothing better to do) as well as the Washington lobbyists who got to read the bill, but only because they wrote the bill. 

The answers to these questions are fairly simple and can also be answered with a one word answer: MAGA. 

The reason why Congress hasn't passed its own appropriations bills, is because the Republican House hasn't passed one bill yet. Why? Because House Republicans only have 222-435 seats and don't want to work with House Democrats on anything, including funding the U.S. Government. 

The reason why Speaker Kevin McCarthy has such a small majority, is because again, MAGA. There are roughly 100 members of the House MAGA Caucus. But 20-30 more MAGA members who ran for the House last year,  but who lost to mainstream Democrats. If House Republicans had another 20-30 seats, made up of normal, center-right Republicans, (the traditional GOP Republicans) they probably already have their appropriations bills done. 

And if the government hasn't been funded yet, with not even a budget passed out of Congress by now, they could then blame the Senate for not doing their part to pass the appropriations bills.

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CNN: Hear Senator Bob Menendez Explain Why He Had Large Sums of Cash At Home

Source:CNN- U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey) now facing the political battle and trial of his life.

"Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey remained defiant Monday after being indicted on bribery charges at the end of last week, calling the legal battle ahead his “biggest fight yet,” and said that he believes he will be exonerated." 

From CNN 

First of all, Senator Memendez's reason for having all that cash in his personal home, because he always wanted to have extra money around, to send to Cuba, to help his friends or relatives, doesn't pass the bullshit test. (I have to be frank here) I mean if that's the real reason, why wouldn't he just disclose that to the Department of Justice. DOJ doesn't raid or investigate someone's home, because that person has a savings account in their home. 

Once again, I'm not a lawyer and I don't think I can say that enough. But I doubt he's still a U.S. Senator by the start of next year. A few things could I believe will happen here: 

We're just starting to see the evidence and the case that the DOJ Southern District of New York has on Senator Menendez. Next could be the documents, phone calls, text's, email, banking records,  that link his co-defendants with Senator Menendez. 

Next, he'll probably have multiple primary challengers for his seat in the Democratic primary next year. and they could either all be well-funded, especially if they're coming from the U.S. House, with New Jersey House Democrats who want his Senate seat. 

3rd, even if Senator Menendez perhaps survives his primary challenge, with all the evidence, along with the additional evidence that will come out against him, New Jersey voters are going to have a real hard question that they're going to have to deal with. Not hard in the sense that the answer is not obvious, but hard in the sense of do you really want to have to answer this question: 

Do you really want one of your members of Congress, you senior U.S. Senator, whose apparently now a national security leak, whose financially personally profited off his status as not just a U.S. Senator, but Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, by doing favors with his position in Congress, in exchange for lots of cash? I know what my answer would be to that and I think every honest, intelligent, sane, and sober, (hopefully that's not a unique distinction) knows what their answer to that would be as well. 

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Bear Downs: NFL 1986- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Chicago Bears: Highlights

Source:Bear Downs- Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler.

"1986 Chicago Bears Week 13

Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears

November 30th, 1986" 

From Bear Downs

Going into this game, you might think that a team that was 4-8 going into this game, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, that finished 6-10 in 1986, playing a Chicago Bears team that was 10-2 going into this game, that finished at 14-2, that was the defending Super Bowl champions in 1986, you might think this game was a mismatch. But this is why sports is played on the field and not on paper and in the books.

This was an inter-conference game. Meaning that the Steelers and Bears only played each other at that point, at most, 1-3 years, at least in the regular season. 

A cold weather game, between 2 cold weather teams. 

Both teams being run and defensive oriented, that threw off of play action. 

The Steelers being coached by Chuck Noll, who might be one of the 5 best NFL head coaches ever. 

I don't want to give the score away, assuming you haven't seen this game yet, or have looked it up yourself. But this is a game where if the Steelers could avoid making key mistakes, especially in their own territory, their defense plays a great game, they run the ball enough to keep the Bears from attacking their QB every single play, this is a game where the Steelers could stay in the game the whole way and even have a chance to win it. Which is exactly what they did.

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