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Post by elaine on Sept 30, 2023 1:25:45 GMT
We. are. doomed.
Because we have seen here that people will vote Republicans in no matter how much they demonstrate that those Republican politicians hate military so much that they will prevent active duty military from their hard-earned promotions and now deny them their paychecks while collecting their own $$$ as members of Congress.
The lunatics are literally running the asylum. The modern-day Republican Party hates the military and their families.
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Post by aj2hall on Sept 30, 2023 1:26:51 GMT
I think some of the far right Republicans actually want a government shutdown. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/29/republicans-house-shutdown-minority-damage/The Republican conference’s shutdown of the legislative process, however, threatens harm of a different nature, less tangible but, for all that, possibly more lasting. Just 16 percent of the public trusts the federal government to do the right thing all or most of the time, according to a newly released Pew Research survey — near an all-time low. How many times can the legislative process take this kind of abuse, at the hands of a small minority, before its legitimacy evaporates even further?
It would be one thing if the faction within Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) 221-member majority were taking a stand on a clear, consistent principle or some finite set of demands. Instead, their reasons for blocking the bipartisan compromise spending plan that both houses of Congress and the president had already agreed to months ago seem to shift by the day. Some of their goals — such as thwarting aid to Ukraine, among other spending cuts, at least relate to a policy, however misguided. Much obstruction, though, seems to be about nothing more than campaign fundraising or personal feuds with Mr. McCarthy.
As pointless as this show may be, it is even more cynical. For all their professed anti-government zeal, the GOP ultras would never threaten a shutdown if it meant Army bases would close and Social Security checks would bounce. They’re free-riding, politically, on the fact that so much of the government continues to operate even when it’s ostensibly “shut down.” Hence an additional risk of repeated shutdowns: They distort the public’s sense of what the federal government does and how much it really affects their lives.
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Post by aj2hall on Sept 30, 2023 1:44:36 GMT
Some of the Republican amendments are just petty and childish. But, there is no clear goal other than chaos and dysfunction. www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/29/government-shutdown-gop-seinfeld/In 1995 and 1996, the federal government shut down as House Republicans and the Clinton administration clashed over spending cuts. In 2013, the government shut down because of a partisan disagreement over President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. In 2018, Democrats bucked President Donald Trump’s demands to fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall, leading to the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
“We are truly heading for the first-ever shutdown about nothing,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Strain has started referring to the current GOP House-led impasse as “the ‘Seinfeld’ shutdown,” a reference to the popular sitcom widely known as “a show about nothing.” “The weirdest thing about it is that the Republicans don’t have any demands. What do they want? What is it that they’re going to shut the government down for? We simply don’t know.”
“You can’t have seven reasons, and a different one each week, and expect American people to understand what your point was. In prior fights, there was a focus on why you were doing this. But right now, what would someone watching this on TV be taking away? It’s about too many things, which makes this about nothing,” Norquist said.
“It’s a symbolic fight for bomb-throwing lawmakers who want to pick a fight with Republican leadership, no matter what,” said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. “It’s not really about anything.”In 1995
Far-right lawmakers offered dozens of amendments to the defense bill that had no chance of passing the Senate and an uncertain fate in the House. Lawmakers voted on stripping tens of millions of dollars from the Peace Corps, reducing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1, and eliminating international aid for disaster assistance. Other amendments included cutting the salary of U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to $1 and banning State Department employees from using taxpayer dollars to attend events or conferences hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative.
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Post by aj2hall on Sept 30, 2023 2:01:43 GMT
A letter from my representative pappas.house.gov/shutdownSeptember 29, 2023 Dear, At the end of the day on September 30, the United States government may shut down because extremists in the House of Representatives are more interested in playing politics than solving problems for the American people.
Government shutdowns represent a failure of political leadership, and we have until midnight on September 30 to pass an agreement that will avoid another one. Unfortunately, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remains unwilling to put forward even the most basic, bipartisan proposal that keeps our government open. The only way forward is to work together, not to allow those on the extremes to call the shots. That’s why I’ve joined a group of my colleagues — Democrats and Republicans who know we can do better — to propose a bipartisan framework that will keep the government open, fund critical priorities, and address the federal deficit. We need Speaker Kevin McCarthy to allow a bill to come to the floor that will accomplish these essential goals and has a chance of passing the Senate and being signed into law. The time for gamesmanship has long passed, and it’s time to do our jobs. Every day that extreme Republicans continue playing politics and posturing, the closer New Hampshire families get to having services they depend on needlessly stripped away. Granite Staters shouldn’t suffer because Washington politicians refuse to govern. I’m still working across the aisle to pass a bipartisan solution that will move us forward, but as the threat of a shutdown grows, I also wanted to share some resources with you. You can find more information about the possible shutdown, and the impact it could have on you, at pappas.house.gov/shutdown. This page will be updated regularly as we learn more. You can also stay up to date by following along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I hope everyone has a safe and restful weekend. Chris Pappas Member of Congress
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Post by mollycoddle on Sept 30, 2023 9:58:40 GMT
Here is a list of the far right Republicans who voted against a stopgap measure that would have kept the government open. Is your Representative on this list? Remember that these people, unlike other government workers, will continue to be paid during the shutdown. And they will go home, leaving the mess that they have made behind. Vote them out. They are not serious people. The things that they want would die in the Senate, and they know it. IOW, this is all for nothing. thehill.com/homenews/house/4230607-these-are-the-republicans-who-voted-against-the-gop-funding-bill/ETA: there is a good picture of these House morons in the front page of today’s NYT.
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Post by mollycoddle on Sept 30, 2023 10:39:37 GMT
I think some of the far right Republicans actually want a government shutdown. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/29/republicans-house-shutdown-minority-damage/The Republican conference’s shutdown of the legislative process, however, threatens harm of a different nature, less tangible but, for all that, possibly more lasting. Just 16 percent of the public trusts the federal government to do the right thing all or most of the time, according to a newly released Pew Research survey — near an all-time low. How many times can the legislative process take this kind of abuse, at the hands of a small minority, before its legitimacy evaporates even further?
It would be one thing if the faction within Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) 221-member majority were taking a stand on a clear, consistent principle or some finite set of demands. Instead, their reasons for blocking the bipartisan compromise spending plan that both houses of Congress and the president had already agreed to months ago seem to shift by the day. Some of their goals — such as thwarting aid to Ukraine, among other spending cuts, at least relate to a policy, however misguided. Much obstruction, though, seems to be about nothing more than campaign fundraising or personal feuds with Mr. McCarthy.
As pointless as this show may be, it is even more cynical. For all their professed anti-government zeal, the GOP ultras would never threaten a shutdown if it meant Army bases would close and Social Security checks would bounce. They’re free-riding, politically, on the fact that so much of the government continues to operate even when it’s ostensibly “shut down.” Hence an additional risk of repeated shutdowns: They distort the public’s sense of what the federal government does and how much it really affects their lives.I agree. If Dems ever get a sizable majority in the House and Senate, changes need to be made. This is a game to people like Gaetz. He is truly evil.
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Post by mollycoddle on Sept 30, 2023 10:47:27 GMT
From the BBC: www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66965214TL:DR- “ Mr McCarthy has also refused to take up a short-term funding bill making its way through the Senate. The bill, which includes $6bn (£4.9bn) for Ukraine and $6bn for disaster aid, is a last-ditch effort to avert a lengthy shutdown and appears to have strong bipartisan support in the upper chamber. On Friday, House Republicans' short-term funding measure, which included strict border policies championed by the hardliners, was rejected by as many as 21 members of the party and failed to pass. In a closed-door meeting, Mr McCarthy said that Republicans would have to opt for the House bill or the Senate's version, or risk being blamed for a shutdown. But the rebel lawmakers asserted they would not budge for anything less than a long-term spending bill with their priorities addressed. "This take it or leave it or I'll blame you won't work on us," South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a moderate who voted against the House bill on Friday, wrote on X. "I'm in this for the long run and have no problem taking on DC to do it." Mace, who I thought was smarter than this, knows full well that this resolution would never make it in the Senate. So why are she and the others doing this? It’s a good question.
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Post by aj2hall on Sept 30, 2023 19:14:43 GMT
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Sept 30, 2023 19:18:44 GMT
The name of the game is to be CRUEL! Thanks GOP!
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Sept 30, 2023 19:21:23 GMT
Why do they not understand why we need to continue to help Ukraine?
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Post by jeremysgirl on Sept 30, 2023 19:24:07 GMT
The important thing to note is that this isn't over. The bill is temporary for 45 days.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Sept 30, 2023 19:24:58 GMT
The important thing to note is that this isn't over. The bill is temporary for 45 days. And is it something that the Senate would approve?
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Post by Gem Girl on Sept 30, 2023 19:46:52 GMT
Why do they not understand why we need to continue to help Ukraine? IMO, it's because TFG hates Ukraine for not caving to his blackmail when he was trying to make them say they'd opened an investigation into Hunter Biden's activities. If TFG hates them (and he also LOVES Putin), his bootlickers will parrot that. And, none of them cares about democracy; they want the US to be an autocracy, with TFG in charge forever. I say, if they want to live in that kind of country, they should go to one. We haven't had people shedding blood for the right to freedom from that kind of thing for more than 200 years just to turn it over now.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Oct 1, 2023 2:57:04 GMT
Why do they not understand why we need to continue to help Ukraine? IMO, it's because TFG hates Ukraine for not caving to his blackmail when he was trying to make them say they'd opened an investigation into Hunter Biden's activities. If TFG hates them (and he also LOVES Putin), his bootlickers will parrot that. And, none of them cares about democracy; they want the US to be an autocracy, with TFG in charge forever. I say, if they want to live in that kind of country, they should go to one. We haven't had people shedding blood for the right to freedom from that kind of thing for more than 200 years just to turn it over now. But while the money is currently going to Ukraine if we pull out now it is likely to escalate to other countries that we won’t be able to ignore and would include us having to put boots on the ground. This is a much better solution and we know that but why don’t they acknowledge this. This is cheaper in the long run and of course the right thing to do since we promised we would back them if they gave up their nukes. Not only that but going back on our word who would believe us in the future when we need it.
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Post by Gem Girl on Oct 1, 2023 18:42:54 GMT
IMO, it's because TFG hates Ukraine for not caving to his blackmail when he was trying to make them say they'd opened an investigation into Hunter Biden's activities. If TFG hates them (and he also LOVES Putin), his bootlickers will parrot that. And, none of them cares about democracy; they want the US to be an autocracy, with TFG in charge forever. I say, if they want to live in that kind of country, they should go to one. We haven't had people shedding blood for the right to freedom from that kind of thing for more than 200 years just to turn it over now. But while the money is currently going to Ukraine if we pull out now it is likely to escalate to other countries that we won’t be able to ignore and would include us having to put boots on the ground. This is a much better solution and we know that but why don’t they acknowledge this. This is cheaper in the long run and of course the right thing to do since we promised we would back them if they gave up their nukes. Not only that but going back on our word who would believe us in the future when we need it. I think they don't acknowledge it because it's almost a reflex now for them to just take exception to anything Biden does. On the last point, I don't know that many believe us now, as TFG pulled us out of many treaties (something no prior president did, for obvious reasons).
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Post by aj2hall on Oct 2, 2023 23:24:00 GMT
Why do they not understand why we need to continue to help Ukraine? I think he makes a convincing argument. The benefits to helping Ukraine far outweigh the minimal costs. The far right Republicans support Putin because they are anti-democracy, pro dictator. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/opinion/columnists/maga-republicans-ukraine.htmlWhatever Republican hard-liners may say, they want Putin to win. They view the Putin regime’s cruelty and repression as admirable features that America should emulate. They support a wannabe dictator at home and are sympathetic to actual dictators abroad.
So pay no attention to all those complaints about how much we’re spending in Ukraine. They aren’t justified by the actual cost of aid, and the people claiming to be worried about the cost don’t really care about the money. What they are, basically, is enemies of democracy, both abroad and at home.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Oct 3, 2023 0:05:45 GMT
Why do they not understand why we need to continue to help Ukraine? I think he makes a convincing argument. The benefits to helping Ukraine far outweigh the minimal costs. The far right Republicans support Putin because they are anti-democracy, pro dictator. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/opinion/columnists/maga-republicans-ukraine.htmlWhatever Republican hard-liners may say, they want Putin to win. They view the Putin regime’s cruelty and repression as admirable features that America should emulate. They support a wannabe dictator at home and are sympathetic to actual dictators abroad.
So pay no attention to all those complaints about how much we’re spending in Ukraine. They aren’t justified by the actual cost of aid, and the people claiming to be worried about the cost don’t really care about the money. What they are, basically, is enemies of democracy, both abroad and at home.I tend to agree with this when it comes to members of Congress, who *should* be aware of the reasons why we are giving aid to Ukraine. But the story they are telling their constituents, which is reflected in many of the comments I see on social media, is that we should be "taking care of our own" before helping others. I think that Democrats and the Republicans who do understand this need to be louder about why. I know they have explained it, but people aren't getting it.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Oct 3, 2023 0:56:32 GMT
I think he makes a convincing argument. The benefits to helping Ukraine far outweigh the minimal costs. The far right Republicans support Putin because they are anti-democracy, pro dictator. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/opinion/columnists/maga-republicans-ukraine.htmlWhatever Republican hard-liners may say, they want Putin to win. They view the Putin regime’s cruelty and repression as admirable features that America should emulate. They support a wannabe dictator at home and are sympathetic to actual dictators abroad.
So pay no attention to all those complaints about how much we’re spending in Ukraine. They aren’t justified by the actual cost of aid, and the people claiming to be worried about the cost don’t really care about the money. What they are, basically, is enemies of democracy, both abroad and at home.I tend to agree with this when it comes to members of Congress, who *should* be aware of the reasons why we are giving aid to Ukraine. But the story they are telling their constituents, which is reflected in many of the comments I see on social media, is that we should be "taking care of our own" before helping others. I think that Democrats and the Republicans who do understand this need to be louder about why. I know they have explained it, but people aren't getting it. I agree with the basic we should take care of our own before others. You put on your own air mask before helping others but at the same time this is in our best interest so it isn’t an either or situation. If putin wins he won’t stop and then we will have to respond with actual soldiers. I certainly don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see WWIII and I don’t think anyone else on here does either. I think less than 5% of our budget snd giving them older machinery that we then upgrade for our troops is a good thing. I also don’t have an issue with sone of the money going for humanitarian aid. I do think we need to find some ways to cut back on our spending especially if TFGd tax cuts remain. Still can’t believe we didn’t get them removed
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