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Author Topic: U.S. Politics  (Read 94745 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #952 on: August 02, 2022, 06:06:40 AM »
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Corporate interests flood Arizona begging Sinema to tank Inflation Reduction Act — but 'she's feeling pressure to vote yes': report



On Monday, Axios reported that big business interests are scrambling to lobby Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to tank the Inflation Reduction Act — the large health care, climate, and deficit reduction package agreed to between Democratic leadership and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).

Sinema, being one of the most fiscally conservative Democrats in the Senate, was a key obstacle to former reconciliation bills, but according to the report, business leaders feel they have a limited window to convince her this time.

"The National Association of Manufacturers and the Arizona Chamber have launched a six-figure digital and TV ad buy — compressed into one week — to saturate the Phoenix and Tucson media markets," reported Hans Nichols. "'Taxes won’t strengthen supply chains, promote energy security, or fill vacant jobs,' the narrator says. 'Say 'No' to taxes that would devastate Arizona manufacturers.'"

"If successful, the barrage of paid media and personal phone calls will knock out the main provision that terrifies the business community: a 15% minimum book tax that will cost the biggest 150 U.S. companies some $313 billion over 10 years," said the report. However, "The clock is ticking to persuade Sinema to play her hand — and potentially force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) back to the drawing board on how to pay for the $370 billion in new climate spending."

"She’s feeling the pressure to vote yes on something,” admitted Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seiden. "I hope that she gets this deal opened back up."

Sinema has previously expressed support for a corporate minimum tax similar to that proposed in the bill. However, she has consistently opposed another tax provision included in the bill, which closes the so-called "carried interest loophole" shielding some investment income from taxation. This provision raises far less money, just $14 billion. However, Manchin has said he is "adamant" about keeping this provision in the bill, likely requiring that the two senators work out a compromise on the matter before the bill can move forward.

Read More Here: https://www.axios.com/2022/08/01/corporate-america-strikes-back

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #952 on: August 02, 2022, 06:06:40 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #953 on: August 02, 2022, 06:40:02 AM »
Republicans blocked The PACT Act which helps our sick veterans who have cancer and other diseases. There is absolutely no excuse for that. And why did they do that? All because of the Inflation Reduction Act which will help middle class, working poor Americans, and seniors save money on health care and prescription drug costs as well as reducing inflation and saving our planet from this climate crisis.

Republicans blocked vets from getting medical care over a bill which helps millions of Americans save money and makes corporate America pay their share of fair taxes. Republicans are in the pocket of corporate America and they want veterans with cancer and seniors who can't afford their medication to suffer all because they don't want some billionaire to pay more in taxes. This is the same Republican party that wants to end Social Security & Medicare and dismantle the VA.             


Republican senators are starting to freak out after blocking the veterans' health bill



Republican senators have discovered that trying to block veterans from healthcare doesn't play well among American voters. With fewer than 100 days until the 2022 midterm elections, GOP senators who previously supported legislation to care for veterans with cancer due to burn pits voted it down. Now they're having second thoughts, Politico reported.

It was mere weeks ago when 84 Senators, all Democrats and a hefty chunk of Republicans, voted to pass the bill. One small tweak in the language was eliminated involving taking over private care, but it didn't change anything meaningful in the bill. But last week, Republicans voted it down. They've been trying to justify it by saying that Democrats added in all of these budget spending measures, but those were actually in the bill they supported.

Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart raged at Republican officials for the excuse in videos that have gone viral.

Veterans are protesting by staging a sit-in along the halls of the Senate office buildings, forcing Republicans to walk by them. Activist Paul Rieckhoff of Righteous Media told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace that at least one of the men sleeping on the floor is hooked up to oxygen.

Former Donald Trump Homeland Security chief of staff, Miles Taylor, said the opposition is actually part of an ongoing effort by lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to defund the Veterans Administration and privatize it. He recalled when he was working for the Trump administration that there were many who were trying to bring down the VA, but decided it couldn't happen in Trump's first term because he would need to be reelected.

But other Republicans claim that it was an effort by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who tried to claim a "budgetary gimmick." As political strategists say frequently, however, if you're trying to explain yourself, you're losing.

"Regardless of their reasoning, the GOP was quickly forced to play defense against both Democrats and veterans’ advocates who were caught off-guard by Republican delaying tactics after the party greenlit a nearly identical bill in June," wrote Politico.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) has tried to blame Democrats for Republicans voting against the bill, saying they "screwed up the first time." His problem is he has to explain how Democrats screwed up but still got 84 votes to pass it.

“I’m doing everything I can do,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who has been trying to get the bill passed since 2021. "I don’t know [if] people really understand what they were voting on, to be honest with you. There’s no slush fund in this."

Toomey is trying to rally the GOP around an amendment, which some Republicans like Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) would support, but they're not willing to let the bill die if the amendment isn't approved.

The GOP's lack of support has pitted Republicans against groups like the American Legion and AMVETS, which have volunteers at the Capitol. The Vietnam Veterans of America have been close allies to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans because they too experienced toxic chemical exposure when fighting overseas. It's become a public relations nightmare mere days before the senators are expected to go home to campaign during the August Recess.



Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to respond to a question Monday about why the legislation was held up.

Republicans insist their decision to hold up the bill, which expands health care for veterans exposed to toxic substances while on active duty, was unrelated to the deal on party-line legislation that top Democrats struck last week. The GOP blocked the bill hours after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced an agreement on a health care, climate and tax package — angering Republicans who thought the Democrats-only plan would be much narrower.

Schumer is expected to force another vote on the veterans bill this week, vowing Monday that he would bring it up “in the coming days.”

“We’re going to give Senate Republicans another chance to do the right thing,” he said.

The amendment explanation has done little to curb Democratic charges that the GOP turned a non-controversial plan to help veterans exposed to Agent Orange and toxic burn pits into a political football. Democrats have questioned the turnabout sharply given that 25 Republicans voted to block the bill over the budgetary issue only on its second trip to the floor, not its first.

"As someone who has worked on this bill for years, I’m just disappointed that some of my Republican colleagues, whether out of personal pique or some misguided political motive ... wanted to flip-flop. But as long as it comes to the right result, that’s what’s important for the country and for veterans,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

The criticism hasn’t let up this week.

Comedian Jon Stewart — rallying alongside veterans who’ve been camped outside the Senate for days — on Monday slammed Republicans for slowing the bill’s passage.

“I’m not scared of you and I don’t care, because these are the people I owe a debt of gratitude to,” Stewart said. “Don’t leave here tonight until you do the right thing by these folks. Simple as that: Don’t make this harder than it is.”


Republican Have ‘Crossed Veterans In A Very Big Way' Says Paul Rieckhoff

Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Paul Rieckhoff and former Chief of Staff for DHS Miles Taylor react to Republicans trying to claim they had a legitimate reason to block the burn pit bill.

Former Donald Trump Homeland Security chief of staff, Miles Taylor, said the opposition is actually part of an ongoing effort by lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to defund the Veterans Administration and privatize it.

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Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #954 on: August 02, 2022, 04:15:32 PM »
Murphy on Failed PACT Act Vote: Did Republicans Decide to Take Anger Out on Vulnerable Veterans?

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday took to the U.S. Senate floor to slam Senate Republicans for blocking passage of the Honoring our PACT Act, legislation to expand health care benefits for veterans. The bill passed last month by a vote of 84-14, but due to a procedural error, on Wednesday night the Senate took a vote to fix the error, which failed by a vote of 55 to 42.

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #954 on: August 02, 2022, 04:15:32 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #955 on: August 02, 2022, 05:10:50 PM »
Republicans Blocking Burn Pit Bill Are ‘Playing Partisan Politics’ With ‘The Lives Of Veterans’

Burn Pits 360 Executive Director and co-Founder Rosie Torres and Samantha Turner, a disabled army veteran and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, join Andrea Mitchell to urge the passing of a bill to help veterans who were exposed to toxins and burn pits, after 25 Senate Republicans decided to switch their votes and block the measure. “They’re playing partisan politics. It's disgusting. It’s criminal. These men and women fought for their freedom, and they're sick and they're dying,” says Torres. “We're gonna be protesting. We're gonna be advocating for ourselves and those who serve with us until the bills passed,” says Turner.

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Offline Joe Elliott

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #956 on: August 03, 2022, 04:05:15 AM »

Schedule F = Schedule Fascism = Enabling Act

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #956 on: August 03, 2022, 04:05:15 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #957 on: August 03, 2022, 11:38:11 AM »
Kansas votes to protect abortion rights in state constitution

Kansas is the first state to put abortion rights to a vote since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade



Kansans secured a huge win for abortion rights in the US on Tuesday night when they voted to continue to protect abortion in the state constitution.

The race was called by a host of US groups like NBC News, the New York Times and Decision Desk HQ.

The move will be seen as huge a loss for the anti-abortion movement and a major win for abortion rights advocates across America, who will see the result as a bellwether for popular opinion.

Kansas – a deeply conservative and usually reliably Republican state – is the first US state to put abortion rights to a vote since the US supreme court ruled to overturn constitutional protections for abortion in late June.

The state will remain a safe haven for abortion in the midwest, as one of the few states in the region where it remains legal to perform the procedure. Many other states have undertaken moves to make abortion largely illegal since June.

Joe Biden issued a statement welcoming the result. “This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions,” the US president said.

The Kansas state senator Dinah Sikes, a Democrat, cried as the vote came in, and turned to her friends and colleagues, showing them goosebumps on her arm.

“It’s just amazing. It’s breathtaking that women’s voices were heard and we care about women’s health,” she told the Guardian, after admitting she had thought the vote would be close. “But we were close in a lot of rural areas and that really made the difference – I’m just so grateful,” she said.

The “No” campaign – which was protecting abortion rights – was strongly ahead in the referendum with 62% of the vote with the majority of ballots counted. That means millions of dollars lost for the Catholic church who contributed more than $3m trying to eradicate abortion rights in Kansas, according to campaign finance records.

Kansans turned out to vote in heavy numbers on Tuesday, in a referendum brought by the Kansas Republican legislature that was criticized for being misleading, fraught with misinformation and voter suppression tactics.

After failing to get a more directly named referendum, “Kansas No State Constitutional Right to Abortion”, on the ballot in 2020, Republicans switched tactics, naming this amendment “Value Them Both”.

The vote was scheduled for August, when voter turnout is historically low, particularly among independents and Democrats, and the wording on the ballot paper was criticized for being unclear.

“The ballot mentions a state constitutional right to abortion funding in Kansas, but that funding has never really been on the table,” Mary Ziegler, a US abortion law expert from the University of California, Davis told the Guardian on Monday.

Kansans for Life, one of the main backers for a “yes” vote, told church congregants on 27 July that removing protections for abortion in Kansas would prevent late-term abortions, lack of parental consent and tax payer funding for abortion, despite none of these being the law in Kansas. Abortions in Kansas are limited to 22 weeks in the cases of life threatening or severely compromised physical complications.

It was a tense and bitterly fought campaign that saw churches vandalized and yard signs stolen, in a state where the abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered by anti-abortion activists in 2009.

But on Tuesday night scenes of jubilation broke out at a watch party for the victorious No campaign in Kansas City. “We’re free!” shouted Mafutari Oneal, 56, who was working at the bar after the vote was called and a rush of drinks orders came in.

“I don’t want no government telling me what to do. I’m so happy,” she said.

In a speech just after victory was sealed, Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, said the win had come against all the odds.

“We knew it was stacked against us from the moment we started but we did not despair – we did it, and these numbers speak for themselves,” Sweet said.

“We knocked tens of thousands of doors and had hundreds of thousands of phone calls … We countered millions of dollars in misinformation,” she said. “We will not tolerate extreme bans on abortion in our state.”

Ashley All, the spokesperson for KCF, who led the “No” campaign alongside Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, told the Guardian that the key to driving voter turnout was not seeing abortion as a partisan issue in Kansas.

“We demonstrated Kansas’ free state roots,” she said. “It will be interesting for other states to watch this and see this is not a partisan issue. Everyone from Republicans, to unaffiliated voters to hardcore libertarians came out to say: ‘No, we don’t want the government involved in what we do with our bodies’.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/03/kansas-abortion-vote-state-constitution

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #958 on: August 03, 2022, 03:27:10 PM »
Megadonors and GOP bigwigs made sure scandal-plagued Eric Greitens went down in flames in Missouri Senate primary
https://www.rawstory.com/eric-greitens-2657799813/

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #958 on: August 03, 2022, 03:27:10 PM »


Offline Joe Elliott

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #959 on: August 04, 2022, 12:14:00 AM »

Can 'America First' exist without Trump? Conservatives are planning on it

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/can-america-first-exist-without-trump-conservatives-are-planning-on-it/ar-AA10hb3i?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=960f1cc61d574af88f2cf79e720927c9

What drives the MAGA movement.

1. A vague desire to return to the past, with some sort of form of White Supremacy. How far can they go down this road? They are hoping pretty far.

2. The knowledge that for the first time, Caucasians are becoming the minority in America. They feel this is unfair, brought on by Democratics loose guarding of the borders.

What can be done about this?

Only one thing can be done. Jettison democracy. Install authoritarianism. A dictatorship. So, the minority can have and keep control, regardless of what the majority wants. It is the only solution that they see as possible. They may wish this was not necessary, but since it is the only way, this is the path they are following.

Their goal? Win one more Presidential election. And have a President who will make this happen. Using Schedule F or whatever means works.

Electing Trump would be ideal, if possible. Because they know he will come through for them. He will try as hard as he can to become President to Life, and to set up succession through his sons or others who are reliable. If it seems impossible for Trump to win, or after Trump dies, go with another option, like DeSantis. The problem with DeSantis is, no one knows if he would go all out to become a President for Life. He supports the stolen election claim of 2020. But maybe he is just doing that to gain votes. Wasn't really trying to get the election overturned. Maybe he harbors scruples against really betraying democracy. Who knows?

The main problem is not Trump. The main problem is tens of millions of Americans who want to jettison democracy. And if they can win just one more time, with the right candidate, they may succeed. This must not happen.