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Author Topic: U.S. Politics  (Read 94666 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1224 on: September 27, 2022, 09:26:48 AM »
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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1224 on: September 27, 2022, 09:26:48 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1225 on: September 27, 2022, 09:46:58 AM »
Lawrence O'Donnell shreds Kyrsten Sinema for her 'relentless ignorance' for 'constitutional vandalism'



Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) isn't long for the U.S. Senate, if polling back home is any indication and her speech before Mitch McConnell's center of politics didn't make it much better. Claiming to share the same "values" as McConnell, who is anti-choice and anti-equality, Sinema misquoted the Constitution, purporting to be an expert on the 60-vote supermajority that has nearly brought down the ability of the U.S. Senate to function properly.

Speaking about Sinema's speech, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell unleashed a brutal fact-check on the one-time progressive activist. He began with the quote from Sinema saying, "those of you that our parents in the room know that the best thing that you can do for your child is not give them everything they want. Right?" Sinema doesn't have children, has never been a parent and is divorced.

"Kirsten Sinema is not one of the parents, and a note to Sinema's speech writers, most parents are not open to parenting advice from politicians who are not parents, or politicians period," O'Donnell shot down. "Needless to say, Sen. Sinema's parenting advice was every bit as bad as you would expect from somebody who has no idea what she is talking about."

Her logic explains that because no one should ever get everything they want is the reason that she believes there should always be a 60-vote supermajority to vote on everything in the Senate.

"So numbers -- she thinks that the 60 vote threshold ensures that nobody gets everything they want. There is not a single senator in the history of the United States Senate who has gotten everything that he or she wants, not ever," said O'Donnell, who spent more years working in the U.S. Senate than Sinema. "Sen. Sinema did not give a single example of a bill being passed with less than 60 votes that was then repealed when there is a change in power in Congress and the White House. Not a single example of her theoretical justification for a voting threshold in the Senate that was not yet provided for in the Constitution, and which defies democracy."

Sinema advocated restoring the 60-vote threshold for the Senate for all votes, including judges.

"Not everybody likes that because it would make it harder, harder for us to confirm judges, and it would make us harder to confirm executive appointments in each administration," she confessed. In the case of executive appointments, Donald Trump simply had a slew of "acting" Secretaries because he couldn't get them approved. So, a 60-vote threshold would simply ensure each president would be able to have whoever they wanted in their administration, regardless of their level of extremism.

"But I believe that if we did restore it, we could actually see more of that middle ground in all parts of our governance. That's what I believe our forefathers intended," said Sinema falsely.

If the Founding Fathers intended for there to be 60 votes to pass a bill, however, they likely would have mentioned something about it in the Constitution. They likely also would have indicated their desire for a 60-vote majority somewhere in the thousands of papers, letters, and documents that all of them wrote over the course of their lives after writing, debating and signing the Constitution.

"Our forefathers, as she called them, intended that women never be Senators," O'Donnell explained. "Our forefathers intended that women never have the right to vote. Our forefathers did not intend for a place called Arizona to be represented in the United States Senate. When the Founding Fathers were writing the Constitution, the place we call Arizona was Spain. And the authors of the Constitution expected it to remain Spain. In 1821, when Mexico secured its independence from Spain, the place now called Arizona was in Mexico. When the United States took that land as the spoils of war, which is how we got Arizona, the Arizona territory eventually became the 48 states in 1912. Pretty late in the game. But that was the same year the constitutional amendment finally overruled the Founding Fathers, and allowed the United States Senators to be elected by the voters of the state, instead of the state legislatures, as the founders wanted them to be."

He went on to say that if Sinema truly believed in what the forefathers advocated she would actually be staunchly opposed to the 60-vote majority, as the Constitution she purports to admire was very specific about the requirement of a majority vote, with the exception of treaties and impeachment convictions, which take a two-thirds vote.

"The number 60 never appears in the Constitution, which seems to live in her imagined version of the Constitution," O'Donnell explained. "The simple majority vote is a dangerous and fickle threshold for governing in a democracy. Why should only five members of the United States Supreme Court get to decide the final interpretation of the law of the land? Why doesn't Sen. Sinema advocate a minimum of a 60-vote threshold in the United States Supreme Court, instead of a majority? Why is the United States of America the only country that has a 60 percent threshold to win a vote in a national legislative body?"

O'Donnell also noted that the United States Constitution also says that "the President shall nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint judges of the Supreme Court. The Constitution does not say that Mitch McConnell shall prevent a nominated Supreme Court Justice from even being considered by the United States Senate for its consent as Mitch McConnell did to Merrick Garland in the last year of the Obama presidency."

It's worth noting, McConnell didn't need 60 votes to do that either.

"Today, Kyrsten Sinema traveled to Kentucky to celebrate Mitch McConnell's constitutional vandalism, and her own relentless ignorance, by saying this about Mitch McConnell," he closed.

Watch:


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1226 on: September 27, 2022, 09:54:30 PM »
Weaker concealed carry laws linked to increase in gun crimes, study shows



Weakened concealed carry laws are associated with an estimated 9.5% increase in rates of criminal assaults with firearms, according to research published last week.

That relationship is most pronounced in places that allow people convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes to carry a concealed firearm. Those states are associated with an estimated 24% increase in assaults with a gun.

“What we saw was that prohibiting violent misdemeanors from obtaining a permit actually ended up mattering a lot,” said Mitchell Doucette, an assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions, the lead author on the research.

Additionally, Doucette said the research indicates that states removing a requirement that applicants complete live firearms training, like shooting at a gun range, are associated with an 18% increase in assaults with a firearm.

Concealed carry programs vary by state in terms of whether officials have discretion to deny permits even to those who meet all the legal requirements, sometimes for things like character “suitability” or a history of dangerous behavior. States that allow the discretion are known as “may issue” states, as opposed to “shall issue” states.

The study analyzes 34 states that relaxed their concealed carry programs between 1980 and 2019, and compares them against predicted crime rates based on data from “may issue” states. The research was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

According to the study, there’s a simple relationship between exposure to firearms outside the home and the likelihood of a violent gun crime. As cultural norms and laws around guns change, more hostile altercations are likely to involve guns, the authors wrote. It follows that those convicted of violent misdemeanors, who in some states can lawfully carry concealed weapons, commit gun crimes at seven times the rate of gun buyers without a criminal history.

Given the period studied, the research doesn’t consider several GOP states that have removed licensure requirements to carry concealed weapons or a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning New York’s may-issue program.

This summer, Ohio joined a list of 24 other states that do not require any special permit to carry a concealed weapon. The law passed solely with Republican support. Now, any adults who can lawfully possess a weapon may carry it concealed on their persons.

The recent research focuses on states that loosen concealed carry programs, but not those that remove licensure as a requirement to carry a concealed weapon. However, Doucette said the study suggests that Ohio may experience more gun crimes in the future by removing its ability to screen out people who have been convicted of violent assaults from carrying a concealed weapon.

“I do think that losing that screening ability is important,” he said. “I think it’s meaningful.”

Ohio’s concealed carry program still exists, but it’s no longer required in order to carry in-state. Applying gun owners must complete eight hours of training and pass a criminal background check to obtain a permit. While state law allows those convicted of violent misdemeanors to possess a weapon, it does not allow them to obtain a concealed carry permit.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion with major implications for state concealed carry laws. A 6-3 majority overturned a New York law that required those seeking to carry a concealed weapon to demonstrate that “proper cause” exists to carry a weapon for self-protection beyond that of the general public. This has prompted some may issue states to revisit their programs. Meanwhile, the Ohio Supreme Court noted the federal ruling and asked parties to submit arguments in a case challenging a state law that prohibits people who are under indictment for violent crimes from possessing a weapon.

Doucette said the research indicates if states want to reduce gun crime, they should ensure their concealed carry laws prohibit those with violent misdemeanors from carrying a weapon.

Read More Here:

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/study-finds-significant-increase-in-firearm-assaults-in-states-that-relaxed-conceal-carry-permit-restrictions

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1226 on: September 27, 2022, 09:54:30 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1227 on: September 28, 2022, 10:37:35 AM »
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home to avoid being served with subpoena, court record says

In an affidavit, a process server said that the state’s top attorney tried to evade him as he attempted to deliver a subpoena from an abortion fund’s lawsuit against the state.



Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home in a truck driven by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, to avoid being served a subpoena Monday, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Ernesto Martin Herrera, a process server, was attempting to serve the state’s top attorney with a subpoena for a federal court hearing Tuesday in a lawsuit from nonprofits that want to help Texans pay for abortions out of state. Later on Monday, Paxton filed two requests: a motion to quash the subpoena and another to seal the certificates of service, which included the affidavit from process server. His lawyers argued that the server “loitered at the Attorney General’s home for over an hour, repeatedly shouted at him, and accosted” Paxton and his wife. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman granted both requests early Tuesday, hours after the affidavit had been published.

When Herrera arrived at Paxton’s home in McKinney on Monday morning, he told a woman who identified herself as Angela that he was trying to deliver legal documents to the attorney general. She told him that Paxton was on the phone and unable to come to the door. Herrera said he would wait.

Nearly an hour later, a black Chevrolet Tahoe pulled into the driveway, and 20 minutes after that, Ken Paxton exited the house.

“I walked up the driveway approaching Mr. Paxton and called him by his name. As soon as he saw me and heard me call his name out, he turned around and RAN back inside the house through the same door in the garage,” Herrera wrote in the sworn affidavit.

Angela Paxton then exited the house, got inside a Chevrolet truck in the driveway, started it and opened the doors.

“A few minutes later I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver side,” Herrera wrote. “I approached the truck, and loudly called him by his name and stated that I had court documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored me and kept heading for the truck.”

Herrera eventually placed the subpoena on the ground near the truck and told him he was serving him with a subpoena. Both cars drove away, leaving the documents on the ground.

On Twitter, the attorney general said his sudden departure was motivated by concerns for his family's safety.

“It’s clear that the media wants to drum up another controversy involving my work as Attorney General, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and well-being of my family,” he wrote in a tweet.

In the seven-page motion to seal, Paxton’s lawyers argued their client was never told the name of the process server or given identifying information about him.

They further argued it was “at best, reckless and irresponsible” to publicly release the attorney general’s home address, writing in the motion that the detail “served no legitimate litigation purpose, and it is wholly irrelevant to the substantive issues before the Court.” In his attorneys’ motion to quash the subpoena, Paxton pointed out that top executive officials should not be be called to testify except in extraordinary circumstances.

“Plaintiffs are not entitled to demand Paxton’s testimony unless he has first-hand knowledge of the claims being litigated and other persons cannot provide the necessary information,” the motion stated.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs asked the federal judge during Tuesday’s hearing to reconsider his action quashing the subpoena. The judge has not ruled on that new request.

Paxton doubled down Tuesday morning in a statement distributed by his campaign.

“In light of the constant threats against me, for which dangerous individuals are currently incarcerated, I take a number of common sense precautions for me and my family’s safety when I’m at home,” Paxton said. “Texans do the same to protect themselves from threats, and many also exercise their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves and their families.”

Paxton has been under indictment for securities fraud for seven years and faces a whistleblower lawsuit from former top deputies who accused him of abuse of office. Paxton has denied wrongdoing.

He was forced into a runoff for the Republican nomination for another term in office after high-profile Republicans, including former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and Land Commissioner George P. Bush, tried to unseat him. But Republican voters chose him over his intra-GOP challengers, who criticized his legal and personal scandals on the campaign trail.

He faces Democrat Rochelle Garza in November.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/26/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-subpoena-abortion-lawsuit/

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1228 on: September 28, 2022, 10:35:01 PM »
Ted Cruz's effort to derail key election reform bill ends with a whimper



Some Republicans have tried to stop the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act from passing the U.S. Senate -- including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who fought the bill from making it out of the Senate Rules Committee to a full Senate vote, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The bill is Sen. Susan Collins' (R-ME) attempt to reinforce laws that the vice president has no power unilaterally reject certified election results, as former President Donald Trump urged Vice President Mike Pence to do.

Even though Trump himself has demanded that Senate Republicans vote against the bill, his pleas have fallen on deaf ears as many GOP senators are lining up behind it.

"Indeed, whatever opposition existed, it has generally only reared its head when votes were forced. To the extent anyone wanted to defeat the bill, they didn’t lodge their case too loudly," wrote the Post.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his support for the bill and other Republicans have quietly fallen in line, with the exception of Cruz and possibly others who have remained quiet.

According to Cruz, the law would diminish Congressional authority to "root out voter fraud," which is typically a legal issue dealt with by state law enforcement. There's no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would have altered the results of the 2020 election.

“I don’t believe senators from this side of the aisle should be supporting a bill that enhances the federalization of elections and reduces the ability of Congress to respond to the very serious problem of voter fraud,” Cruz said.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, meanwhile, claimed that Republicans shouldn't support the bill because Democrats will probably force their election reform rules in the legislation.

But a staff writer of the Libertarian Cato Institute, Andy Craig, noted that any claim the bill is a poisoned pill is false.

“If there has been anybody advocating an unconstitutional federal takeover of the electoral college process, it was those urging federal courts and Congress to throw out the duly cast electoral votes certified by the states in 2020,” Craig wrote.

It's unclear if Cruz will be able to bring anyone else along with him to block the election protection legislation.

Read the full story at the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/28/ted-cruz-electoral-count-reform/

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1228 on: September 28, 2022, 10:35:01 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1229 on: September 29, 2022, 10:24:05 AM »
Republican Herschel Walker invokes Jesus to dismiss holding a gun to his wife’s head



Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker is still facing questions about domestic violence as the election nears.

One of the first stories to come out about Walker's past was that he abused his former wife and at one point held a gun to her head threatening to shoot. Walker also admitted that he would play Russian roulette. In fact, he told ESPN's Highly Questionable that he'd played it "more than once." He loved the competition of it, he said.

The violence and abuse continue to be a topic from those speaking to Walker, but the Heisman trophy winner continues to dismiss it as unimportant.

Speaking to Atlanta based "Rolling Out," an entertainment site, Walker explained it wasn't anything more than a sin.

“You know, he without sin cast the first stone," Walker said, quoting Jesus in John 8:7. Walker went on to attack his opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock for being critical of his "sins" from 15 years ago.

Typically, one's past comes into focus when one runs for political office as a sign of judgment and leadership, and attempted murder is not generally brushed aside in political campaigns as nothing more than an everyday "sin."

Walker has also spent the past week employing the strategy of not being that intelligent, which is being called a racist dog whistle by trying "to galvanize white conservatives by leaning into antiquated and bigoted ideas," Slate explained.

Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

Herschel is asked about domestic violence allegations from 2001-2008 that at different times he held a gun to his wife’s head and straight razor to her throat: “You know, he without sin cast the first stone .. He’s talking about something I was a part of over 15 years ago.”

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1575112758177439744

Offline Joe Elliott

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1230 on: September 30, 2022, 04:24:44 AM »
Trump begs for donations from Mar-a-Lago as Hurricane Ian wreaks destruction across Florida

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-begs-for-donations-from-mar-a-lago-as-hurricane-ian-wreaks-destruction-across-florida/ar-AA12oVdk?ocid=a2hs&cvid=3a491b6848b04c428251b9607984947b

Quote
Donald Trump turned to social media to plead for donations to his political campaign as parts of Florida began rescue and recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian.

Speaking in a video on Wednesday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, southern Florida, the former president pleaded for donations to his Save America PAC ahead of a fundraising deadline.

“We have a major fundraising deadline coming up and there’s never been a time like this,” said Mr Trump, who claimed America had “never been so disrespected” by the world.

“We have to change it, we have to bring our country back, we made America great and now never gonna have to make America great again so I say whatever you can do to help out, we have to meet the dealine”.

While he was speaking, residents of southern Florida were encountering unbelievable damage and unconfirmed death tolls after Ian came ashore on Wednesday as a near-Category 5 hurricane, with wind speeds of 155mph.
Mr Trump was widely condemned on social media for the appeal from Mar-a-Lago, which did not reportedly sustain any damage from Hurricane Ian.

“Hello. There’s a hurricane destroying your state. Perhaps, you could not beg for donations right now. What a classless, clueless, distasteful, self centered, tone deaf, absolute jerk!,” tweeted one Twitter user.

“The folks on my livestream yesterday raised more money for hurricane victims than this guy ever has.
Half his state is under water and he’s begging for you to cover his legal fees,” another added.

A third person wrote: “Right across the state, people are losing their homes, businesses, and possibly their lives — and this pathetic con man is out here panhandling.”


Cities including Fort Myers, about 112 miles west of Palm Beach, remain inundated in several feet of floodwater following a storm surge and a curfew is currently place to help emergency responders with the rescue effort.

Lee County’s sheriff meanwhile told new outlets that “thousands” of people were possibly missing and while unconfirmed, “hundreds” could be dead, with the recovery operation ongoing across southwest Florida.

Reports of flash flooding in Orlando on Thursday came as Ian headed towards the Atlantic and South Carolina, while the National Hurricane Center has warned of a 6ft high storm surge from Daytona Beach, Florida, to north of Charleston, South Carolina, the Associated Press reported.

US President Joe Biden has announced a major disaster declaration for the affected areas and Florida governor Ron DeSantis has warned of further damage from the “500 year flood event” as Ian passed through central and eastern Florida on Thursday with warnings of life threatening flooding and strong winds.

Facing multiple criminal investigations and lawsuits, Mr Trump was found to have raised as little as $40 in August while his personal wealth was last week estimated at $3.2bn – placing him once more on the Forbes top 400 rich list.

He said earlier this month that he was “financially” supporting some of those accused of rioting on the Capitol 6 January.

The Independent has approached his office for comment.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2022, 04:29:00 AM by Joe Elliott »

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1230 on: September 30, 2022, 04:24:44 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1231 on: September 30, 2022, 11:05:16 AM »
The corruption never ends with Kristi Noem. First she tried to use her influence to get her daughter a Real Estate license she was never qualified for and now she is using taxpayer dollars for her son.

Republican Kristi Noem investigated for spending taxpayer funds on plane to see her son go to prom



South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been a popular figure in the Republican Party and the MAGA movement, receiving enthusiastic applause at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) events. Some of Noem’s supporters would like to see her seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, depending on whether or not former President Donald Trump runs. But Noem isn’t without controversy in her state, where she is, according to the Associated Press, under investigation for allegedly using a state-owned plane for personal uses.

On September 24, AP’s Stephen Groves reported that Noem had “blurred the lines between official travel and attending either family or political events.”

“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was returning from an official appearance in Rapid City in 2019 when she faced a decision: Overnight in the capital of Pierre, where another trip would start the next day, or head home and see her son attend his high school prom?” Groves reported. “The Republican governor chose the latter, a decision that eventually cost taxpayers some $3700 when the state airplane dropped her off near her home and then returned the next day to pick her up.”

In South Dakota, according to Groves, Noem’s trips have “sparked a complaint to the state ethics board, which has referred the matter to the state's Division of Criminal Investigation.”

“A county prosecutor overseeing the investigation will decide whether the governor broke an untested law enacted by voters in 2006 to rein in questionable use of the state airplane,” Groves explained. “The governor has also faced action by the same ethics board for intervening in a state agency shortly after it moved to deny her daughter a real estate appraiser's license.”

Groves added, “As Noem’s political star rose in 2020, she began using private jets to fly to fundraisers, campaign events and conservative gatherings. As Noem’s political star rose in 2020, she began using private jets to fly to fundraisers, campaign events and conservative gatherings.”

According to Columbia University law professor Richard Briffault, using a state-owned plane to meet with political groups is “pushing the limit.”

Groves noted, “Across the country, Democratic and Republican governors alike have come under scrutiny for their use of state aircraft. New York, Kentucky, Minnesota and Montana allow governors to do some politicking with state-owned aircraft but place some restrictions and require reimbursements for political use. New York also allows immediate family members to travel with the governor.”

Read More Here: 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/south-dakota-investigation-weighs-noems-state-plane-90421709