GOP

Merkin Baller

The Juggler said:

Trump supporters & MAGA supporters resent being compared to terrorists. They also resent being called racist. 

We're not supposed to interpret their support for racist politicians who cozy up to domestic terrorists as support for racism or domestic terrorists, because words hurt, you guys. 

JeBurkhardt

The Juggler said:

She is the same as the idiots who live in open carry States who feel the need to strap on a gun every time they go to IHOP or the grocery store. Not because it is needed, but because it makes them feel big and powerful and they know it can be intimidating to people. The irresponsibility to have firearms unsecured, and probably loaded is a tragedy waiting to happen. 

mrussel1

gimmesometruth27 said:

he has many leather-bound books. 

and his apartment smells of rich mahogony.

she has some janky hardy boys paperbacks she found at a garage sale.

Fake news.. they are "choose your own adventure" books.

tbergs

Seems the Lonestar State is receiving a lot of handouts from those socialists the GOP slandered all last year. 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocascio-cortez-ted-cruz-texas-storm_n_602ff8bec5b67c32961d5f86

mickeyrat

 

KPRC 2

Texas state lawmaker Gary Gates lost power at his Fort Bend County home on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday morning he hopped on his private jet to the magical land of Orlando, Florida.

His ill-timed escape came on the same day Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his family flew to Cancun, just as the extreme winter storm unfolded into a once-in-a-generation crisis in Texas. Millions were left without power or running water as temperatures dipped below freezing, killing at least 30 people.

Gates, a Republican, said he made the decision after his pipes burst, 30 percent of his home flooded and he began to see mold.

“My wife is still recovering from an illness she has been battling for two weeks, and the room of my adult daughter, who is mentally handicapped and still lives with us, flooded,” Gates said.

Ted Cruz Went to Cancun. This Rapper Gave Out Free Water to Houston.

Gates told local TV station KPRC 2 Houston in an interview that he needed to get to a place where he would have “dependable power, dependable internet and dependable phone service” in order to continue his professional duties.

He couldn’t go stay with his other daughter, he said, who had also lost power. Apparently Florida was the next best solution.

But adding confusion to an already baffling decision, a reporter from the Fort Bend Star tweeted that Gates’ chief of staff told him Gates flew to Orlando for a business meeting.

The lawmaker said he did attend a meeting with a vendor for his property management business while in Florida, but denied that it was pre-planned. He also said the Fort Bend Star’s source was not his actual chief of staff.

“So many of the constituents were in the same predicament and they did not have the chance to take a flight and leave town,” Cynthia Ginyard, chairwoman of the Fort Bend County Democrats, told KPRC 2.

“No, you can’t raise the temperature. No, you can’t bring back the water. But you can be there,” she said.

Constituents were also enraged when they found out about their representative’s flight.

“It really would have been nice to have a state representative helping on the ground, working at a warming center, packing food, etc. rather than immediately (flying) off on a private plane when the going got tough,” Brian Walz a constituent of Gates’ told The Houston Chronicle. “My neighbors didn’t get to do that when her pipe burst.”

“I guess Gates took Senator Cruz’s lead,” the Chronicle reported that one person wrote on Facebook.

The lawmaker returned home on Friday.

‘Man-Made Disaster’: Texas Death Toll Keeps Growing From Brutal Cold Snap

Cruz and Gates aren’t the only Republican leaders coming under fire during the winter storm.

Democrats went nuclear on Friday, accusing Republican state leaders of leaving Texas vulnerable to a disaster by years of neglect and corporate fealty.

“Republicans... have walked out on the state of Texas either through their incompetence or literally, like Ted Cruz flying to the beaches of Mexico when everybody here is freezing without power and without water,” Rep. Julián Castro (D-TX), the former mayor of San Antonio, told MSNBC.

Republicans in Texas adopted a market-driven approach to utilities, resulting in a uniquely isolated power grid that is unconnected to other state grids and not beholden to federal regulations. GOP state lawmakers have previously opposed mandatory winterizing of grids.

Conservative governor Greg Abbott also hand-picked appointees to the Public Utility Commission, which regulates the state’s energy grid manager, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Those appointees promptly ditched a multi-year contract with a non-profit watchdog that independently monitored the commission’s work and helped enforce state protocols, like weatherization guidelines, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Abbott walked back his initial accusation that the crisis was sparked by a breakdown in renewal energy sources but he has continued to blamed ERCOT for the crisis.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) said Republicans like Abbott were “almost cartoonishly blaming the Green New Deal”—referring to proposed climate legislation that is not yet law.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Merkin Baller

JeBurkhardt

mickeyrat said:

 

KPRC 2

Texas state lawmaker Gary Gates lost power at his Fort Bend County home on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday morning he hopped on his private jet to the magical land of Orlando, Florida.

His ill-timed escape came on the same day Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his family flew to Cancun, just as the extreme winter storm unfolded into a once-in-a-generation crisis in Texas. Millions were left without power or running water as temperatures dipped below freezing, killing at least 30 people.

Gates, a Republican, said he made the decision after his pipes burst, 30 percent of his home flooded and he began to see mold.

“My wife is still recovering from an illness she has been battling for two weeks, and the room of my adult daughter, who is mentally handicapped and still lives with us, flooded,” Gates said.

Ted Cruz Went to Cancun. This Rapper Gave Out Free Water to Houston.

Gates told local TV station KPRC 2 Houston in an interview that he needed to get to a place where he would have “dependable power, dependable internet and dependable phone service” in order to continue his professional duties.

He couldn’t go stay with his other daughter, he said, who had also lost power. Apparently Florida was the next best solution.

But adding confusion to an already baffling decision, a reporter from the Fort Bend Star tweeted that Gates’ chief of staff told him Gates flew to Orlando for a business meeting.

The lawmaker said he did attend a meeting with a vendor for his property management business while in Florida, but denied that it was pre-planned. He also said the Fort Bend Star’s source was not his actual chief of staff.

“So many of the constituents were in the same predicament and they did not have the chance to take a flight and leave town,” Cynthia Ginyard, chairwoman of the Fort Bend County Democrats, told KPRC 2.

“No, you can’t raise the temperature. No, you can’t bring back the water. But you can be there,” she said.

Constituents were also enraged when they found out about their representative’s flight.

“It really would have been nice to have a state representative helping on the ground, working at a warming center, packing food, etc. rather than immediately (flying) off on a private plane when the going got tough,” Brian Walz a constituent of Gates’ told The Houston Chronicle. “My neighbors didn’t get to do that when her pipe burst.”

“I guess Gates took Senator Cruz’s lead,” the Chronicle reported that one person wrote on Facebook.

The lawmaker returned home on Friday.

‘Man-Made Disaster’: Texas Death Toll Keeps Growing From Brutal Cold Snap

Cruz and Gates aren’t the only Republican leaders coming under fire during the winter storm.

Democrats went nuclear on Friday, accusing Republican state leaders of leaving Texas vulnerable to a disaster by years of neglect and corporate fealty.

“Republicans... have walked out on the state of Texas either through their incompetence or literally, like Ted Cruz flying to the beaches of Mexico when everybody here is freezing without power and without water,” Rep. Julián Castro (D-TX), the former mayor of San Antonio, told MSNBC.

Republicans in Texas adopted a market-driven approach to utilities, resulting in a uniquely isolated power grid that is unconnected to other state grids and not beholden to federal regulations. GOP state lawmakers have previously opposed mandatory winterizing of grids.

Conservative governor Greg Abbott also hand-picked appointees to the Public Utility Commission, which regulates the state’s energy grid manager, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Those appointees promptly ditched a multi-year contract with a non-profit watchdog that independently monitored the commission’s work and helped enforce state protocols, like weatherization guidelines, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Abbott walked back his initial accusation that the crisis was sparked by a breakdown in renewal energy sources but he has continued to blamed ERCOT for the crisis.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) said Republicans like Abbott were “almost cartoonishly blaming the Green New Deal”—referring to proposed climate legislation that is not yet law.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

What is the point of having a private jet if you can't use it to leave a disaster area to go to a resort while your fellow citizens struggle with freezing temps, and a loss of power and water? 

OnWis97

Seeing members of the party call for flags to be at half-staff for Rush Limbaugh is truly sad. Did they make the same demand for Officer Sicknick?

JeBurkhardt

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

OnWis97

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

The Juggler

OnWis97 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

He's a republican in a blue state that won his election last year with 65% of the vote. He outperformed Trump by 25%.

I really like Kinzinger, but if the republicans are stupid enough to primary him, that is good news for the dems' chances of retaining the house. 

mrussel1

The Juggler said:

OnWis97 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

He's a republican in a blue state that won his election last year with 65% of the vote. He outperformed Trump by 25%.

I really like Kinzinger, but if the republicans are stupid enough to primary him, that is good news for the dems' chances of retaining the house. 

It's a damn shame

The Juggler

He should run as an independent. 

OnWis97

The Juggler said:

OnWis97 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

He's a republican in a blue state that won his election last year with 65% of the vote. He outperformed Trump by 25%.

I really like Kinzinger, but if the republicans are stupid enough to primary him, that is good news for the dems' chances of retaining the house. 

He's in a blue state but while I don't know his district, I assume it's moderate to conservative. I'd still be stunned if this Q whacko doesn't take him down in the primary, since few non-GQP will participate.  After that it will be interesting to see what happens in the election. It looks like his district (which of course could change per the 2020 Census) circles Chicagoland from the exurbs to the sticks. That's probably a pretty conservative area.

The Juggler

OnWis97 said:

The Juggler said:

OnWis97 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

He's a republican in a blue state that won his election last year with 65% of the vote. He outperformed Trump by 25%.

I really like Kinzinger, but if the republicans are stupid enough to primary him, that is good news for the dems' chances of retaining the house. 

He's in a blue state but while I don't know his district, I assume it's moderate to conservative. I'd still be stunned if this Q whacko doesn't take him down in the primary, since few non-GQP will participate.  After that it will be interesting to see what happens in the election. It looks like his district (which of course could change per the 2020 Census) circles Chicagoland from the exurbs to the sticks. That's probably a pretty conservative area.

All I am saying is that I think the odds of the dems picking up that seat increase with a Trumpier person in there as opposed to more moderate guy like Kinzinger. Trump is toxic to over 60% of Americans. 

OnWis97

The Juggler said:

OnWis97 said:

The Juggler said:

OnWis97 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Meet the new darling of the GOP. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/2/24/22300280/illinois-rep-adam-kinzinger-pro-trump-gop-primary-challenger-catalina-lauf-523900-hits-on-video
She has announced that she will be running in the primary against US Rep Adam Kinzinger in Illinois. She is a pro Trump sycophant who is going to save the people of the United States from socialists and their allies, the weak willed Republicans who didn't back the former President during the corrupt election and highly illegal impeachment. Illinois might soon have our very own Lauren Boebert. So proud.

Kinzinger being primaried out of office by a nut-case is a no-brainer. She'll beat him 2 to 1.

He's a republican in a blue state that won his election last year with 65% of the vote. He outperformed Trump by 25%.

I really like Kinzinger, but if the republicans are stupid enough to primary him, that is good news for the dems' chances of retaining the house. 

He's in a blue state but while I don't know his district, I assume it's moderate to conservative. I'd still be stunned if this Q whacko doesn't take him down in the primary, since few non-GQP will participate.  After that it will be interesting to see what happens in the election. It looks like his district (which of course could change per the 2020 Census) circles Chicagoland from the exurbs to the sticks. That's probably a pretty conservative area.

All I am saying is that I think the odds of the dems picking up that seat increase with a Trumpier person in there as opposed to more moderate guy like Kinzinger. Trump is toxic to over 60% of Americans. 

That may be so. Hopefully, some moderate conservatives will be swayed to the Dem challenger...or at least Kinzinger voters abstaining from the GQPer. I know some districts are probably going to be going for MJT types for a while, but hopefully it provides a meaningful net loss in seats.

mickeyrat

MJT?

DewieCox

Nothing like a little Nazi regalia as inspirado for the stage @CPAC

mickeyrat

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/27/making-madison-cawthorn-how-falsehoods-helped-propel-career-new-pro-trump-star-far-right/

mickeyrat

 

Joe Biden Pandemics Coronavirus pandemic Barack Obama Economy

Republicans test history in vote against pandemic relief

By STEVE PEOPLES

Today

NEW YORK (AP) — With the nation's financial system on the brink of collapse, all but three Republicans voted against the massive stimulus package designed to protect millions of Americans from financial ruin.

It was early 2009, just weeks after Joe Biden was sworn in as vice president, and the vote marked the beginning of a new era of partisan gridlock in Congress. And for beleaguered Republicans coming off a disastrous election, it was their first step back to political power.

Democrats voted alone to stabilize the economy, and two years later, a Republican Party unified only by its unwavering opposition to Barack Obama's presidency seized the House majority.

Now, just weeks into the Biden presidency, the GOP is gambling that history will repeat itself.

Early Saturday morning, 210 House Republicans joined two Democrats in voting against a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that would send $1,400 checks to most Americans and hundreds of billions more to help open schools, revive struggling businesses and provide financial support to state and local governments. Senate Republicans are expected to oppose a similar measure in the coming weeks, arguing that the bill is not focused enough on the pandemic. But with near-unanimous Democratic support, the measure could still become law.

It's far too soon to predict the political fallout from the first major legislative fight of the Biden era. But as the nation struggles to recover from the worst health and financial crises in generations, strategists in both parties agree that it's risky for Republicans to assume their 2009 playbook will lead to the same ballot-box success this time around.

“I think that the Republicans’ misread here is that it is the same, or that they can just oppose it and there’s no ramifications,” said John Anzalone, the Biden campaign’s chief pollster. “It’s a different world.”

Veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz said Republicans now bear the burden of clearly articulating their opposition — a task made more difficult by the distraction of former President Donald Trump's high-profile war against the Republican establishment.

“The definer of the legislation wins this battle,” Luntz said. “This could end up being the most important vote of 2021.”

There are reasons to believe that politics have changed since Republicans last unified against a sweeping stimulus package, not the least of which is Trump's omnipresence in the party.

At the same time, the scale of the economic devastation and disruption wrought by the coronavirus pandemic dwarfs that of the 2008 financial crisis. At its peak, roughly 9 U.S. million jobs were lost in the Great Recession, compared with 22 million jobs lost to the coronavirus. A year after the pandemic began, nearly 10 million U.S. jobs remain lost, more than 20 million children are out of school, half a million Americans are dead, and roughly 100,000 businesses are feared closed forever.

Polling suggests that an overwhelming majority of voters — including a significant number of Republicans — supports the Democrats' pandemic relief plan. And the business community along with state and local leaders in both parties are crying out for help.

On the eve of the House vote, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt joined 31 other Republican mayors in a letter encouraging leaders in both parties to approve the package.

“The major part of the bill that relates to cities is sorely needed,” Holt told The Associated Press, citing pandemic-related cuts to his city's police and fire departments. “I don’t know any blue or red state or blue or red city that doesn’t have a revenue shortfall due to COVID-19’s fallout.”

In another deep-red state, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice also broke with Washington Republicans and said Congress should “go big or go home” on the new stimulus package.

“We have tried to underspend and undersize what was really needed to get over the top of the mountain,” the Republican governor told reporters during a Friday coronavirus briefing. “You got a lot of people across this nation who are really hurting.”

Yet no Republican in Washington voted to support the sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package early Saturday.

Moderate Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon were the only two lawmakers to cross party lines, joining 210 Republicans to vote against the legislation that ultimately passed 219-212.

“The swamp is back,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said shortly before the final vote, decrying what he called extraordinary “non-COVID waste” and a “blue state bailout.”

“Most states are not in financial distress,” McCarthy said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, traditionally a Republican ally, declined to support or oppose the Republican position. Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer, said there is a need for a rescue package that is “targeted, timely and temporary.”

“There’s a lot to like in the plan,” Bradley told The AP. “But there's also a whole lot of elements that fail the test of targeted and timely and temporary.”

The chamber, like congressional Republicans, opposes Democratic efforts to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly by 2025 from its current $7.25 floor. The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that the progressive priority could not be included in the Senate version of the bill, although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is considering a provision that would penalize large companies that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour.

Whether the minimum wage provision is included or not, Senate Republicans are expected to oppose the final package.

While there could be political fallout from the GOP's strategy in next year's midterm elections, Republican officials privately concede they are more concerned about the intense intra-party feud pitting Trump and his loyalists against leading establishment Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

That divide is playing out this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, where Trump himself is expected to attack his party's establishment on Sunday as he returns to the public stage for the first time since leaving the White House.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, another CPAC speaker and a 2024 Republican presidential prospect, said party unity is paramount moving forward.

“I think that Republicans need to recognize that what brings us together right now is the left-wing agenda of the Biden-Harris administration," Cotton told The AP. "The more that we focus on what they’re trying to accomplish in the Congress and through the president's executive actions, the more united we will be, and the more we will move public opinion in our direction.”

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political powerhouse, opposes the Democratic-backed package as well, but its president, Tim Phillips, says it’s unclear whether the GOP strategy will be enough to unite the deeply fractured Republican Party.

“This feels a lot like 2009 — that united the Republican caucus and the activist base in a way that probably nothing else could have,” Phillips said. “It served them well in 2009. I wonder if that’ll happen this time.”