Forbes Magazine: Watch The Moment When Senate Republicans Table Motion To Compel DOJ To Release Epstein Files

"On Wednesday night, Senate Republicans, with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), voted to table Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) vote to compel the DOJ to release the Epstein Files." 

Source:Forbes Magazine with a look at our tax dollars at work.

From Forbes Magazine

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican, Alaska) on why she voted to table Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's amendment to release the Epstein files: 

"The amendment was a surprise and disrupted the normal process of working on the defense bill."

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (Republican, Maine) on why she voted against Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's amendment to release the Epstein files: 

"The effort to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein." 

This has been the The New Democrat's point about why the Department of Justice should have already released the Epstein files by now... as Fred Schneider wrote back in August: 

"But my point is, for reasons that I've already laid out, is Donald Trump literally has nothing to lose here in releasing them. He's already the most unpopular 2nd term President, at least in the television and internet age. People who dislike and hate him now, won't dislike and hate him more after those files are released to the public. 

When the far-right of the Republican Party was talking about "family values", morality and character, the need for these things in our government, that was just something they used to attack Democrats. That's not what they care about. Someone could literally be a convicted felon, a serial liar and adulterer... if that person is on their side and represents their political values. And Mr. Trump's professional celebrity base, would probably just view him as a bigger "rockstar" and "badass", after the Epstein files are released. 

The main lesson from Watergate that both Republicans and Democrats have failed to learn the last 50 plus years, that once a bad story is about to break, or has broken, is that the worst thing that you can do is to try to cover it up. What you do, is what a good lawyer would do in court: get the bad information and evidence about your side out, before the opposition and the media does it for you. Get ahead of the story and put your own spin on it, before you lose the narrative of it. 

As long as The White House and Trump DOJ try to cover up this story, the longer it will be in the news, along with the slowing economy, rising prices, everything else that has gone wrong since Donald Trump became President again. And that's not where you want to be going into an election year. So of course they should release the redacted portions of the Epstein files to Congress and the public as soon as possible. "

From The New Democrat

And as Derik Schneider wrote last week:

"As far as the Epstein files, it's hard to imagine a sitting U.S. President being more unpopular than Donald John Trump. He's now in Joe Biden's range as far as political unpopularity, with his low 40s and upper 30s approval rating. Releasing the Epstein files even with him all over them, couldn't hurt himself anymore than what he's already done to his own political standing. If anything, it would probably just make him seem cooler with his reality TV base and perhaps even Independents who voted for him, because they think he's a "badass" or something: 

"Yeah!!! The Donald rolls with pimps and sex traffickers!!! He's even a bigger badass than we thought" 

Or phrase that last part anyway you want."

From The New Democrat

Senator Murkowski making the case for Congressional term limits with just this 1 statement right here: 

"The amendment was a surprise and disrupted the normal process of working on the defense bill."

This is what you can sound like when you've been in Congress for over 20 years: you run out of good policy arguments to vote against something that could hurt you with your right-wing, if you vote against them and instead rely on procedure, because you don't want to offend other voters in your state, or hurt your credibility in Washington. 

And Senator Collins who is now a 5 term U.S. Senator, who is at least considering running for reelection in 26, (even though she's pretty unpopular in Maine) gets caught in-between 2 voting blocs that she needs to get reelected there in Maine: the MAGA base there and more independent minded Democrats in that state, as well Independents in general and this is how she explained her vote yesterday: 

"The effort to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein." 

From recent Washington reporting on Congress, U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (Republican, Kentucky) thinks he's very close getting the 218 votes that he needs to bring a resolution to the floor that would force the House floor. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat, New York) is working on the same resolution, perhaps even with Representative Massie. 

How much do you want to bet if the House votes to release the Epstein files, 2-3 weeks from now, and Chuck Schumer brings it up for a vote again in the Senate, that Senators Murlowski and Collins will vote for the amendment, then? And maybe 5-10 more Senate Republicans as well. I think they're just buying their time here. They want to know that it's going to pass the House, first, before going on the record in favor of it themselves. Which is another argument for Congressional term limits: only voting for legislation that you think is politically safe for you to vote for. 

You can follow me on Facebook, Threads, and Twitter.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'This Is Why Donald Trump Will Need A Lot More Than $540 Million'

Source:Forbes Magazine with a look at the self-proclaimed King of Debt, Donald J. Trump.

"Even if former President Donald Trump figures out how to pay his mounting legal fees, he’s still going to be scrambling for cash for years to come. Forbes staff writer Zach Everson joins "Forbes Talks" with Brittany Lewis to discuss." 

From Forbes Magazine

“I’m a New Yorker, and New Yorkers know a con when we see one,” he said to cheers from the audience.

“We’ve heard a lot of talk in this campaign about needing a leader who understands business. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve built a business, and I didn’t start it with a million-dollar check from my father,” he said in a slam to the real estate mogul’s background.

“Throughout his career, Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies, thousands of lawsuits, angry shareholders and contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel ripped off,” Bloomberg said. “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us.” 

From CNN

From what I wrote about Donald Trump from back in October: 

"4-5 years ago, longtime Republican strategist and now political filmmaker Mark McKinnon, who served for both President George W. Bush and then Senator John McCain, was on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon. And they were talking about the current investigations into Donald Trump dealing with the 2016 presidential campaign and potential investigations that could be facing then President Trump, once he's no longer President, whether he's not reelected in 2020, or leaves office after his 2nd term would've been over in 2025. 

Mark McKinnon told Don Lemon that the biggest personal mistake that Donald Trump ever made in his life, was getting elected President of the United States. The 2nd biggest mistake that he made, according to Mark McKinnon, was running for President of the United States. Why? Because now that Mr. Trump is in the public eye full-time, all these new investigations not just about his presidency, his business career, or personal life, but how his business and personal affairs affect his presidency, will be under public scrutiny." 

From The New Democrat 

Just for the record: Michael Bloomberg is a real-life billionaire, unlike Donald J. Trump. Mr. Bloomberg has the financial statements to prove that. And he's a lifelong New Yorker. Again unlike Donald J. Trump, who now makes his home in primary in Florida. 

I think that Mark McKinnon quote or paraphrase is critical here. Had Donald Trump never even ran for President of the United States, maybe he is an actual billionaire today because he wouldn't be so buried in debt. And maybe Manhattan, New York is still is main home today. 

But, with Mr. Trump's business background, combined with his own political philosophy, that's really just completely centered around himself and obtaining as much political and governmental power for himself, he's pissed off so many people, in so many different jurisdictions, including a lot of very smart and well-accomplished prosecutors, like New York Attorney General Letitia James, (just to name one) his whole political and business background, are now not just in the spotlight, he can't make a move, or say a word without bringing public scrutiny to himself. 

And Mr. Trump is going to be paying for all his bad business and political decisions for the rest of his life. Unless he can pardon himself and get someone else to bail him out financially.  

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'There's These Homeless Encampments Everywhere': RFK Jr. Complains About State Of San Francisco'

Source:Forbes Magazine- Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy JR. Except for the striking resemblance, it's hard to believe that this is Robert F. Kennedy's on. But that's a different story.

"At a recent campaign rally, independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bemoaned the homeless encampments in San Francisco, California." 

From Forbes Magazine

Last time I checked, Robert F. Kennedy JR. is running for President, not the Mayor of San Francisco, or to be a member of the SF Board of Supervisors. But he's talking about the cost of housing and the rising cost of housing in San Francisco, one of the biggest cities in America, (as far as population) and one of the wealthiest, as far as per-capita-income, but also one of the best educated in America. 

Housing really is a local and state issue. The Federal Government can do things to address rising prices in general, like with inflation and interest rates, empowering more people to be able to further and continue their education, so they can get better jobs and earn more money, which would help them afford better housing. But for the most part, housing really is a local and perhaps state issue. 

Uncle Sam can't just come in to any city, let alone San Francisco and say: "This is how much housing you are allowed to build and this is how much you can charge for it." That is an issue for local government's, not the President of the United States. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: RFK Jr: 'Democratic & Republican Parties Are Going To Try To Prevent Me From Getting On The Ballot'

Source:Forbes Magazine- for people who are just waking up from a coma: left to right: President Joe Biden, professional conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy JR, and the one and only (thank God only) Donald J. Trump.

"At a campaign rally last week, independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked for grassroots support to get on the ballot." 

From Forbes Magazine

I'm paraphrasing here, but RFK JR. said: "If you only listened to MSNBC, CNN, and The New York Times, if you only got your news from those news sources and not from Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, etc, I would have  low approval rating of myself." 

This RFK JR. partial quote goes to my two points, about his campaign for President. 

1. Robert F. Kennedy JR. is a bigger threat to Donald Trump, then Joe Biden. 

2. Robert F. Kennedy's main goal here is to see that Joe Biden isn't reelected President. I think that's why he originally ran for President as a Democrat (even though ideologically neither a Democrat or Republican) was to somehow, try to defeat Joe Biden. But when you run as a MAGA conspiracy theorist, most if not all of your interviews are done with MAGA news sources, Democratic voters can see that you really aren't one of them and will just ignore you.

Just watching that 5 minute clip of RFK JR., suggests to me that he has no business talking about how old either Joe Biden or Donald Trump are, but he has no business even visiting The White House, let alone running for it, or getting elected. 

RFK JR.  struggles just to put words together, let alone sentences. Or to stay on one topic after making one point. He sounds like he's been speaking on the Senate floor for a weeks' straight, delivering a real filibuster, without even taking a water break. Perhaps he graduated from the Donald Trump School of Public Speaking (not saying one exists) and perhaps is running for President to get his damn money back. 

Whatever the case, Bob Kennedy is not even close to being a serious politician. Which is a damn shame, because 5-10 years ago, he was one of the sharpest environmental lawyers around. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Mike Johnson Delivers First Remarks As Speaker Of The House'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (Republican, Louisiana) the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the 118th Congress.

"The newly-elected 56th Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke after being handed the gavel and assuming his new role." 

From Forbes Magazine

I will get into new Speaker Mike Johnson's speech here, but I first want to get into why he might be the current Speaker of the House. Which is no offense to the new Speaker, (and I wish him the best for the sake of America) is a lot more important and interesting here. 

The final vote to make Mike Johnson the Speaker, was 220 Republicans and 0 Democrats for Mike Johnson and 209 Democrats and 0 Republicans for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 6 representatives didn't vote at all, which might be another story, but Speaker Johnson needed almost his entire conference to vote in favor of him, for him to become Speaker Johnson. Assuming not one House Democrat voted for him for Speaker and voted for Hakeem Jeffries instead. 

In case you are just waking up from a coma, (no offense to comatose patients) or have been vacationing in Afghanistan for the last month, (no offense to Afghanistan) the House Republican Conference is literally divided between what's left of the center-right of the Republican Party, (the real Conservative Republicans, not RINOS) and the House MAGA Caucus, who are literally dedicated to protecting the political career and freedom of Donald Trump, as well as their own, regardless of what the facts and evidence that Donald Trump is currently facing and will face in the future. 

Representative Mike Johnson comes from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, at least since 2021 when he not only fought in the House to overturn the 2020 presidential election and declare Donald Trump the winner and then served as one of Donald Trump's lawyers when he was impeached for the 2nd time in 2021. 

And then you have what's left of the establishment wing of the Republican Party, the real Conservatives in the party, who believe in old fashion American values like facts, evidence, character, morality, honesty, justice, accountability. And they apply those conservative values to everyone, not just Democrats. 

So you have these two competing factions in the House Republican Conference right now and they all voted for Mike Johnson to be Speaker of the House. Which tells me that Mr. Johnson had to do something to keep the entire MAGA Caucus behind him, without losing establishment caucus (let's call them) in order to become Speaker of the House. Because you have 20-30 House Republicans who are up for reelection next year, who are in Democratic leaning districts, with President Joe Biden up for reelection in those districts as well. So I want to know what the new Speaker did to get both factions of the House Republican Conference behind him, so he could become Speaker of the House.

As far as the speech: good speech. The new Speaker showing some good political humor and suggesting that he's willing to work with Democrats for the good of the country. But words are just things that you say. They mean nothing if you don't back them up with actions. So we'll see what the Speakership of Mike Johnson is like and will be like, over the next few months.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'Here’s What To Know About The New GOP Speaker Nominee Endorsed By Kevin McCarthy But Criticized By Donald Trump'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Republican, Minnesota)

"Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) won the Republican nomination for House speaker Tuesday following Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ouster on October 3, but he faces an uphill battle for the support he needs from former President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress to win the gavel." 

From Forbes Magazine

So if you are the Biden Administration and the House Democrats led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, or Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, you would probably live fairly comfortably with a Speaker Tom Emmer. He seems to be a pragmatist, honest, (at least for members of Congress) and someone who can play and work with people who tend to disagree with him. Unlike former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who would claim to be both Superman, Batman, and the King of the United Kingdom, in order to be Speaker of the House and get Donald Trump to say that he's a good man. 

All the qualities (if you want to call them that) I just laid out for the House Majority Whip, are reasons why House MAGA won't like him and perhaps would need the same deal that they got with Kevin McCarthy, like the motion to vacate the Speakership, that any representative could file, to vacate the current Speaker. 

If you remember my post on The New Democrat yesterday: 

"To sort of try to sum up and put a little light, on a very serious subject and try to explain Senator Romney's point this way and I agree with everything that he said here: We're now seeing professional reality TV's or pro wrestling's impact, on American politics and government. 

Political reality TV is not just in Congress, but if you look at the presidential campaign season, or politicians and wannabe politicians at the state level, we're seeing the same thing there as well.

We now have an era of American politicians, who think that the way you be famous and cool in politics, (as if being politically cool is even important) is by being crazy and nasty in public and on social media, especially towards the other party, or to mainstream members of your own party. I think that's Senator Romney's point about Representative Jordan. I just phrased it differently." 

That's what House MAGA (that I call the far-right of the Republican Party) wants in a Speaker of the House. They don't want a Speaker of the House. They want politician who gets thrown out of bars and nightclubs for fighting for what MAGA believes and kissing Donald Trump's feet (to put it mildly) for pleasure. 

So the question is whether the political reality TV wing (or insane asylum) of the House Republican Conference, will back someone like Tom Emmer, who knows how to count votes, even in presidential elections and has a habit of acknowledging reality, if not the obvious, or will they vote for another MAGA Republican, just to prevent Tom Emmer from the House Speakership. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'BREAKING: Hakeem Jeffries Holds A Press Briefing After Jim Jordan's 3rd Bid For Speakership Fails'

Source:Forbes Magazine- left to right: failed House Speaker candidate Jim Jordan (Republican, Ohio) & House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat, New York)

"House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing on Friday moments after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed in his effort to become speaker." 

From Forbes Magazine

Just to lay my my own full-disclosure here on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: he was mine and The New Democrat's original choice to be House Minority Leader in this Congress, after House Democrats lost their majority in 2022. So we're big fans of him and think he's an excellent choice to lead the House Democrats not just while they're still in the minority, but back into the majority as soon as January, 2025. 

The key point that I take away from Minority Leader Jeffries press conference here, is him saying that there are House MAGA Republicans, that would only vote for Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House. House Republicans just voted 112-86 to remove Representative Jordan as a Speaker candidate. So if that's the case and I have no reason to doubt the Minority Leader, House Republicans are very short in electing their own Speaker, at least on their own. 

If Hakeem Jeffries is right here, that gives him room to negotiate with the center-right, establishment wing of the House Republican Conference, that's essentially being led by Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, to elect a new bipartisan Speaker, where all the establishment Republicans would vote for McHenry or some other center-right Republican, with Democratic votes led by Hakeem Jeffries. 

But if a deal like this would go through and could even be reached between the Minority Leader and establishment Republicans, Jeffries would have to first be able to sell that deal to his caucus. And that means getting something substantial in return. 

A bipartisan deal between Hakeem Jeffries and establishment House Republicans that could be things like: 

no more emergency crisis governing in the House 

returning the House to regular order with committee hearings, markups, votes 

allowing all House members to be able to read every bill before voting on it 

being able to offer and have their amendments voted on in committee and on the House floor 

the minority being able to offer their own substitutes to bills that House Republicans are trying to pass by themselves. etc. 

If House Republicans are still short on electing their own Speaker next week, this would open up the door for a bipartisan deal to elect a consensus Speaker and reopen the House of Representatives.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Chris Christie Roasts Donald Trump After 'Crazy & Unethical' Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty'

Source:Forbes Magazine- Chris Christie with a blunt take on Donald J. Trump & Sidney Powell.

"Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) slams former President Trump after his former lawyer Sidney Powell pled guilty." 

From Forbes Magazine

Just a little refresher course on former Donald J. Trump attorney Sidney Powell: 

she was the Trump lawyer behind the 2020 Georgia presidential election interference scheme and trying to get Georgia officials there to throw out Democratic votes and get that election overturned. And now she's pleading guilty to misdemeanors that she committed (unless she's pleading guilty to things that she believes she's innocent of) in exchange for her cooperation against Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, and Mark Meadows. 

Sidney Powell knows exactly what this whole crew (if you want to call Trump Campaign version of the Keystone Cops a crew. They're really just a bunch of amateur burglars, who got caught shoplifting at a convenient store because they dropped what they were tying to steal on the floor, as well as their drivers licenses) was up to and how they would try to get the 2020 Georgia presidential election results thrown out and just automatically declare President Donald J. Trump the winner, even though he lost by 12,000 votes.  

If you are Mark Meadows and you know you were in contact about this whole marihuana or red bull high scheme, that was cooked up to just automatically declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 Georgia election, with Sidney Powell, you can't be sleeping very well right now. Even though you are not in jail, yet. 

Mark Meadows needs to be thinking about his own future as a man who turns 65 next year. And needs to be thinking about what Powell knows about him and his role in this whole un-democratic attempt to throw out the 2020 presidential election and just automatically declare President Donald Trump the winner of it. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: Alan Dershowitz: ''What Are The Odds Of An Appeal Being Successful' For Donald Trump?'

Source:Forbes Magazine- Is Alan Dershowitz lobbying for be Donald J. Trump's next defense lawyer? Mr. Trump sure as hell needs a good defense lawyer.

"On "Forbes Newsroom," attorney Alan Dershowitz spoke about former President Trump's civil fraud trial in NYC." 

From Forbes Magazine

Why is it every time that Alan Dershowitz speaks about anything now, I get the urge to ask him: "But seriously Mr. Dershowitz, now tell me what you really think about that." I mean just 8-10 years ago he was considered one of the most respected law professors and defense attorneys in the entire country. A man who could even help get O.J. Simpson off for a double murder that he obviously committed. Now he just sounds like the defense spokesman for Donald Trump. If he wants to work for Mr. Trump, I'm sure he knows who to call and has that number.

I'm going to take up two points that Alan Dershowitz made here.

The first one being that if Donald Trump could get his case appealed in a Federal court, he could get the New York State fraud conviction against him overturned. As David Clay Johnston said, which is linked to a video on The New Democrat: 

"This is a civil case that Trump could only appeal on matters of law. They will appeal and will be ignored on anything that has to do with the law. States get to decide who gets to run a business under state law, not the Federal Government." 

So to sum up: this is not a Federal issue. I'm old enough to remember when Republicans believed in localism and federalism, which is another way of saying local control and states rights. Mr. Trump is being sued as private citizen Donald Trump, by the State of New York. Not as the President of the United States, which thank God he's no longer President. 

The 2nd issue that Mr. Dershowitz brought up here (and I was trying not to laugh when I heard him say that) was there are no victims in this New York fraud case against Donald Trump. Last time I checked, people work at, run, and own private banks in America. (As Socialists may hate hearing that and disagree with it) Banks in New York have been getting screwed by Donald Trump for years. And Donald Trump is being prosecuted for violating New York financial laws. If ordinary Joe's and Mary's can be prosecuted for financial fraud, so can a self-proclaimed billionaire like Donald Trump.

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.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Senate Democratic Leaders Warn Of Government Shutdown, Put Blame On House Republicans'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Republican, New York) and some of his Senate Democratic colleagues.

"Senate Democratic leaders hold their weekly press briefing." 

From Forbes Magazine 

I don't want to sound like I'm the president of the Chuck Schumer or Senate Democrats Fan Club, because I'm definitely not. I have a lot of issues with them, especially as it relates to fiscal responsibility and the Senate rules, like dealing with holds and unanimous consent, as I mentioned last week. But they're 100% right here. 

It's one thing if the MAGA Republicans, or just the Republican Party in general, not just still had The White House, but a real majority in the House and a real majority in the Senate, instead of a bare majority in the House and bare minority in the Senate, as well as a Democratic President. 

If Republicans were in complete control right now, instead of just having a bare majority in the House and nothing else in the Federal Government, they could pass anything that they want to right, assuming they held their votes together in Congress. 

But right now, we have a Democratic White House and a divided Congress. And that means both parties have to work together for any bill pass to pass out of Congress and get to The White House, for the President to sign. 

There's nothing conservative about an across the board cut to all government spending, except for of course the military. Fiscal conservatism is about restraining government spending and keeping deficits down, at least when you can't balance the budget. It's not about cutting everything in the government, except the military, which just happens to also be the most expensive department in the entire U.S. Government.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: ‘In One Word: Evil’: Ralph Norman Slams ‘Lawlessness’ Taking Over America'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. Representative Ralph Norman (Republican, South Carolina)

"During House floor remarks last week, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) spoke about the threats he believes are overtaking America...

From Forbes Magazine 

According to Oxford evil is: "a manifestation of profound immorality and wickedness, especially in people's actions." 

If this wasn't a slow news day, I doubt I'm writing about anything having to do with Representative Ralph Norman (Republican, South Carolina) especially about a speech that he gave on the House floor 5 days ago. Not that he's not important or anything, but I'm simply not very familiar with the man. 

Representative Norman talked about what's going on the country today (as he sees it) and described it as evil.  Representative Norman mentioned: 

take home pay not going up 

illegal immigration 

the Americans being freed in Iran, in exchange for 4 billion dollars 

the national debt 

what he called as lawlessness and not giving any real examples of that. 

And then Representative Norman gets into if the government is not funded the way he wants it too, it should be shut down. I guess there goes any case that Speaker McCarthy might have to try to blame The White House and Senate Democrats for any potential government shutdown that might happen next month. 

Ralph Norman has been in the House of Representatives since 2017. That means he was a member of Congress for most of Donald Trump's presidency, after winning a special election to the House in June, 2017. But he waits until Joe Biden to become President of the United States, until he starts complaining about the national debt. Unless he's given speeches about the dangers of a rising national debt while Donald Trump was President, that I'm simply not aware of. 

MAGA Republicans talking about the need for fiscal responsibility, is like hearing serial murderers talk about the need for a death penalty, but not for themselves. Or alcoholics talking about the need for sobriety, but just not for themselves, because they're currently drunk and don't know any better. 

The national debt went up 11 trillion dollars during the Trump presidency, in just 4 years. George W. Bush needed 8 years for the debt to go up 7 trillion and Barack Obama needed 8 years for the debt to go up 9 trillion. I would love to know who MAGA Republicans actually believe they're fooling. Wait, I got it: they're voters. Of course! 

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'The Ball's In Chuck Schumer's Court': Tommy Tuberville Blames Block Of Military Promotions On Democrats'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (Republican, Mississippi) 

"Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) defended his ongoing block of military promotions by claiming that Democrats could enact the promotions individually." 

From Forbes Magazine

What Senator Tommy Tuberville is really doing here is making the case for Congressional reform, especially in the Senate. 

The idea that one senator can hold up executive appointments (in this case the military) because he disapproves with the Department of Defense on abortion and can hold the lives of these appointments and their families, as well as their pay and jobs, their futures, etc, is why the Senate needs to reform it's rules. This is completely irresponsible on Senator Tuberville's part to the point that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans like Lindsey Graham, disagree with Senator Tuberville on this. 

Elections have consequences. You don't believe that, you obviously weren't alive when Donald Trump was President. Or perhaps you were in a long, national coma, (while most of the rest of country were living a nightmare) or perhaps vacationing on Planet Mars. (At least mentally) 

If you don't like the appointments of President Biden, make the case against them and try to convince at least 50 of your colleagues that you are right about those appointments and vote no. But just one U.S. Senator, whose not even in leadership, not even at the committee level, can decide for the rest of the Senate who can be appointed and who can even be voted on, simply because he doesn't like a policy of the Defense Department, is an abuse of power, and completely un-democratic.  

As far as reforming the Senate: I don't expect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to be able to do this in this Congress. Especially with a 1 seat majority and with Senator's Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema in the way, but they need to reform the hold process here and maybe Leader Schumer could work out an agreement that the next Republican Majority Leader could take advantage of as well: 

If one senator whose not even in leadership, or a senator whose in leadership, decides to put any hold on an executive or judicial nominee, then the Majority Leader could move to overturn that hold with a simple majority both in committee and on the Senate floor. That would be my proposal here, but I don't expect that to happen in this Congress.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Forbes Magazine: 'BREAKING NEWS: Matt Gaetz Launches An All-Out Assault On Kevin McCarthy's Time As Speaker'

Source:Forbes Magazine- left to right: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California) & Representative Matt Gaetz (Republican, Florida)

"In remarks from the House floor, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) ripped into Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) moments after the latter announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Gaetz excoriated the Speaker for not upholding his agreement that won him the chair in a chaotic bid for the speakership.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more... 

From Forbes Magazine

As my colleague Fred Schneider wrote on The New Democrat earlier today: 

"Another thing to think about as far as motivations here: Speaker McCarthy is a handful of Republican votes away from losing his job. The Far-Right of the party in the House has a leash on him that's so tight, that they could probably strangle Godzilla with it. 

The Speaker knows that he has to work with not just The White House and Senate Democrats, but House Democrats, to keep the government from shutting down this fall and House Republicans getting blamed for that. And he knows that the Far-Right MAGA Caucus in the House, doesn't want the Speaker to work with Democrats on anything." 

And if you don't believe any of that, you didn't watch the video of Representative Matt Gaetz, which was his speech on the House floor, that was also earlier today. 

What Representative Gaetz and his far-right MAGA Caucus are essentially saying, (if not definitely saying) is that either Speaker McCarthy does exactly what they want him to do, which was laid out in the January agreement that he made with the House MAGA Caucus, members of that caucus will call for votes to remove Kevin McCarthy has Speaker of the House. 

Any of those resolutions could pass, since House Republicans only have 222-435 votes, one of the smallest majorities in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the rest of the House Democrats, have no obligation to save Kevin McCarthy's job. Plus, out of those 222 House Republican members, 100 of them (give or take) are MAGA Republicans.

You can also see this post on WordPress.