U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

No surprise that Doug Mastriano would dress up as a Confederate traitor, he was present at the January 6th insurrection trying to steal the election from the American people. Disgraceful how much MAGA Republicans hate America and democracy.


Pennsylvania governor candidate Mastriano posed in Confederate uniform at Army War College



Washington (CNN) - Doug Mastriano, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania, posed in a Confederate military uniform in a 2013-14 faculty photo at the Army War College, a picture obtained by Reuters shows.

Faculty at the school, where Mastriano worked at the time, were given the choice to dress as historical figures, people familiar with the photo told Reuters. While a few others appear dressed up, Mastriano is the only one in the photo dressed in a Confederate uniform, which many associate with hate and the legacy of slavery in the South.

CNN has reached out to Mastriano's campaign for comment.

Reuters reported Friday that the photo was released by the Army War College after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Army War College removed the photo from its wall of faculty group shots after Reuters reached out for comment, the outlet reported. "The faculty photo did not get the team's attention; the photo has since been removed because it does not meet AWC values," the college said in a statement to Reuters.

The flag of the Confederacy, its symbols and the statues commemorating Confederate leaders have long divided the country. Critics say the symbols represent the war to uphold slavery, while supporters call them signs of Southern pride and heritage. The symbols have been used by White supremacists, and in recent years the Department of Defense has taken steps to ban Confederate symbols.

Mastriano's opponent in the gubernatorial contest, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, tweeted Friday, "Doug Mastriano wore the uniform of traitors who fought to defend slavery on official grounds of the U.S. Army War College."

"The College condemned him, saying this 'does not reflect our values.' It's deeply offensive and proves who he is, once again. He's unfit to be Governor," Shapiro added.

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser for Mastriano, defended the photo of Mastriano in Confederate garb in a tweet Friday, writing: "Media MELT DOWN that Mastriano apparently once posed as a civil war historical figure for a photo. And? He has a Ph.D in HISTORY. The left wants to erase history. @dougmastriano wants us to learn from it. I invite @Reuters to go on a Gettysburg tour with Doug. You'll learn a lot!"

Mastriano served in the Army for 30 years. According to his state Senate biography, he earned a doctorate in history, taught at the Army War College and published a book on a famous World War I Army soldier, Alvin York. After retiring from the military in 2017, Mastriano launched a 2018 campaign for Congress, finishing fourth out of eight candidates in the Republican primary for an open seat in the US House of Representatives. The following year, Mastriano won a special election for his state Senate seat in rural, southern Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania's 33rd district, which Mastriano serves as a state senator, includes Gettysburg, where the Battle of Gettysburg -- the Civil War's bloodiest battle -- took place.

A win for the Donald Trump-backed Mastriano in November would give someone who attempted to overturn voters' will in 2020 power over the election machinery in one of the nation's most important battlegrounds during the 2024 presidential race. In Pennsylvania, the governor appoints the secretary of state -- the person in charge of running the commonwealth's elections and signing off on its electors.

Shapiro, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, has defended Pennsylvania's 2020 presidential election result and is emphasizing voting and abortion rights in his campaign.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/26/politics/doug-mastriano-confederate-uniform/index.html

[Rick Plant]

Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block with MAGA Republicans if they ever gain control of Congress.

A guy like Ron Johnson who called Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme" is just itching to eliminate it.

Republicans want to "sunset" social security and Medicare so it comes up for a vote each year in order to keep it going.

This is the same MAGA Republican party that voted "NO" to cap insulin at $35 for seniors in the Inflation Reduction Act. This is the same MAGA Republican party that voted "NO" to cap insulin at $35 for ALL diabetics in America. This is also the same MAGA Republican party that voted "NO" to lower health care and prescription drug costs for ALL Americans and seniors.

Do you honestly think these same MAGA Republicans who are hellbent on destroying Social Security and Medicare will vote to keep it solvent each year?

If you believe that, then I have some ocean front property in the middle of the Arizona desert that I'd like to sell you.     

The reason MAGA Republicans want to put Medicare and Social Security up for a vote each year is because they don't want to keep it. They want to vote "NO" to eliminate it just like they do everything else.

MAGA Republicans voted "NO " to cap insulin at $35. They sure aren't going to vote "YES" to keep Social Security and Medicare going.

This is their plan to eliminate Social Security and Medicare If they ever gain control of Congress.


   
MAGA Republicans refused to vote "YES" to lower the cost of insulin for their own diabetic constituents. They couldn't even do the bare minimum to help the middle class and the working poor to save money on their life saving medication.

MAGA Republicans certainly won't vote to keep Social Security and Medicare going when they make it a mandatory vote as part of their radical agenda.   



Ron Johnson calls for subjecting Medicare and Social Security to annual budget talks



Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson indicated Tuesday that Medicare and Social Security should be subjected to annual budget deliberations, a move that could upend guaranteed benefits relied upon by millions of Americans.

Johnson, who is running for a third term in November in a race that could shape the balance of power in the Senate, made his comments during an interview on the Regular Joe Show, hosted by Joe Giganti.

Federal spending is in two baskets — discretionary spending which comes in annual appropriations in areas like defense and public works and mandatory spending that is generally governed by statute and includes entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare that provide guaranteed benefits.

During the interview, Johnson was asked about the PACT Act — aid to veterans who have been exposed to toxic burn pits — and a controversy over discretionary vs. mandatory spending.

In his answer, Johnson suggested that he seeks to turn everything in the federal budget into discretionary spending — including Social Security and Medicare — so that programs can be evaluated and fixed.

"Defense spending has always been discretionary," Johnson said. "VA spending is discretionary. What's mandatory are things like Social Security and Medicare. If you qualify for the entitlement you just get it no matter what the cost. And our problem in this country is that more than 70 percent of our federal budget, of our federal spending, is all mandatory spending. It's on automatic pilot. It never ... you just don't do proper oversight. You don't get in there and fix the programs going bankrupt. It's just on automatic pilot.

"What we ought to be doing is we ought to turn everything into discretionary spending so that it's all evaluated so that we can fix problems or fix programs that are broken that are going to be going bankrupt," he said.

Johnson said that "as long as things are on automatic pilot we just continue to pile up debt, mortgage our kids' future, this massive debt burden, combined with this massive deficit spending that sparked this inflation that's wiping out people's wage gains, making it impossible for them to make ends meet. Again, this didn't just happen.

His likely Democratic rival in the November election, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, slammed Johnson's comments.

“Self-serving, multimillionaire senator Ron Johnson wants to strip working people of the Social Security and Medicare they’ve earned. Wisconsinites pay into Social Security through a lifetime of hard work, and they’re counting on this program and Medicare – but Ron Johnson just doesn't care,” Barnes said in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre weighed in with a tweet: "While @POTUS and congressional Democrats fight for the Inflation Reduction Act, which would let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices, congressional Republicans like @SenRonJohnson want to put Medicare on the chopping block. That would devastate families."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Johnson on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.

“Just yesterday, the junior senator from Wisconsin argued that instead of strengthening Medicare and Social Security, we should put them on the chopping block. Hear that, citizens of Wisconsin, citizens of America? The junior senator from Wisconsin wants to put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block.”

“He has argued that the benefits which millions of Americans rely on every day shouldn’t be guaranteed but should be subject to partisan infighting here in Washington. He would like to revoke the guarantee of Medicare and Social Security and make them discretionary. Well, you know what happens when we make things discretionary around here? All too often they get cut or even eliminated.”

A key trust fund backing Medicare is funded through 2028, according to projections, and the Social Security trust fund is fully funded through 2035.

In the past, Johnson has called Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme." He even cut an ad on the subject in his first campaign in 2012 against Democrat Russ Feingold.

"You know what? I did say that...because it's true," Johnson said in the ad.

"Russ Feingold and politicians from both parties raided the Social Security Trust Fund of trillions and left seniors an IOU. They spent the money, it's gone.

"I'll fight to keep every nickel of Social Security for retirees and I'll respect you enough to tell you the truth."

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/08/02/johnson-wants-medicare-social-security-discretionary-programs/10217972002/

[Rick Plant]

Joe Biden @ JoeBiden

Senator Ron Johnson wants Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block every year. He's the same guy who said if Republicans get control of Congress, they'll try to get rid of the ACA again—denying insurance to people with preexisting conditions.

These guys never stop.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1563667678719627265

[Rick Plant]

Support for the President’s recent actions to lower costs for working and middle class families.

[Rick Plant]

CBS News polling shows 49% of Independents view 2022 Republican candidates as extreme.

[Rick Plant]

GOP Candidates Are Increasingly Sharing Misinformation

The media has routinely reported on these falsehoods, making it seem like misinformation is rampant in politics. But are candidates for Congress actually sharing more misinformation in 2022 than 2020?”

“Yes, according to our analysis of congressional candidates’ Facebook posts. We found that politicians in the 2022 election are sharing more links to unreliable news sources than they did in 2020, and the increase appears to be driven by nonincumbent Republican candidates.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/29/republicans-democrats-misinformation-falsehoods/

[Rick Plant]

Biden heads to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh for Labor Day as midterms campaign heats up



President Joe Biden will head to two blue-collar cities, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, for Labor Day as he seeks to build momentum for Democrats as the midterm election campaign enters the home stretch.

Testing his modest rebound in the polls, Biden will show off his trademark appeal to factory workers, a key demographic as Democrats seek to cling to control of the Senate and dream of even holding the House of Representatives.

“In both cities, the President will celebrate Labor Day and the dignity of American workers,” the White House said in a statement.

Both states have races for governor and U.S. Senate.

In Wisconsin, Democrats are trying to reelect Gov. Tony Evers and oust Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. His Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, has highlighted his middle-class background and parents’ union membership. Evers faces Republican Tim Michels, who co-owns the state’s largest construction firm.

The AFL-CIO has endorsed the Democrats in both Pennsylvania races: state Attorney General Josh Shapiro running for governor against state Sen. Doug Mastriano and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman running for Senate against heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Aside from boosting Democratic allies, Biden will surely tout his recent string of political and policy victories, including passage of the long-stalled Inflation Reduction Act and his executive action to write off $10,000 in student loan debt. He’s also benefiting from easing inflation numbers and falling prices of gas at the pump.

The president will also likely remind voters that Republican-appointed judges have gutted women’s right to choose abortion, an issue that is looming as a giant elephant in the November room.

Biden and Democrats have gone on a roll in recent weeks, especially since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Democrats have notched several impressive performances in recent special congressional elections, includingan upset win last week by Pat Ryan in Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s old Hudson Valley, New York, swing district.

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