Current Affairs General US politics (ie, not POTUS related)
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Martin Alvito
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In his first act, Speaker Mike Johnson uses Israel aid to pick a fight with Joe Biden
The newly minted Republican speaker is seeking to pay for aid to Israel by slashing $14.3 billion from IRS funds in the Democratic president's signature law.
www.nbcnews.com
Mike Johnson proposes $14.3 billion for aid in Israel, but we have to pay for it somehow. So, he also proposes cutting $14.3 billion in IRS funding projected to raise $200 billion in revenue over ten years, by going after tax evasion.
He can't propose that in any seriousness and then claim he cares about corralling the budget deficit. He's just anti-spending, which is not the same thing. It's not even clear that he has the votes to get this through his own caucus, with Massie and Greene already on record in opposition and Roy intimating he wants spending cuts to something else. Then, it's DOA on the Senate floor.
He needs to walk over to Jeffries' office and figure out how to get enough votes to make something pass, but he can't do that, because he still has McCarthy's rules problem. It would appear that we're right back where we ended September, with another budget showdown looming and no way for a weak Speaker to pass something without being removed from the chair.
Martin Alvito
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I didn't think it was possible for me to agree with Josh Hawley on anything other than which direction the sun rises in and the color of the sky, but apparently he has raised the banner of McCain and Feingold once again. Interesting result.
I really don’t understand the “nay” and ”present” votes, especially the dems. The evidence against him is pretty overwhelming.
Martin Alvito
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They don't like expelling a member. Many of them have skeletons.
They have only expelled two members since the Civil War. Six members of the House were convicted as a result of Abscam, but they only expelled the one. The other member expelled was Jim Traficant, two decades later. He ran as an independent from prison six months after his expulsion and still pulled 15%, which was why they expelled him. He probably wins on the Democratic ticket.
The House had William Jefferson with $90,000 in his freezer and tapes of him accepting said cash from an FBI agent, and still let him just lose his next election. The day Santos is convicted, he's gone, but a large fraction of the members prefer to wait until that happens.
Yeah, guys like Rankin are simply playing chess on this one. Santos is a dead man walking anyway, why let the narrative be that it was Democrats who pulled the trigger
Martin Alvito
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Plays right into the politicization of power narrative of the Republican Party. However, those New York Republican members have to put it to a vote, then blame everybody else for the result. They can't sit back and do nothing about the problem. Those are not safe seats.
The Santos seat in particular, if he runs he's losing. And that's even if he wins the primary
Better to have him try to run again than someone competent.
Martin Alvito
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Lord only knows what happens to that seat. There are a half-dozen or so Republicans in for the seat, and something like ten Democrats. That Democratic primary will be an absolute trainwreck. Suozzi wants his seat back, and a whole bunch of people think they can beat him because he's not loaded for bear with cash on hand.
Shocker 
Shocker
It is hard to talk about this topic without getting emotional, but disenfranchisement of black voters is something that is so sad, so old, so embedded within the south (and elsewhere)...it's honestly just heartbreaking. And then there is my voting experience: walk into poll, no line, show ID, vote, leave. No harassment, no waiting, no frustrations. Contrast this with an equally valid individual of American citizenship (who happens to have darker skin then mine) and some will literally wait for hours, in heat, thirsty, etc., to exercise a simple right to democracy, all because of racists who continually disenfranchise large portions of their electorate for fear of not being re-elected.
Martin Alvito
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Lot of things have held for the Democrats this evening. Very good news for the party going into 2024, as some analysts suggest.
Disagree with said analysts regarding Biden. I think the results are very bad news for him. It suggests voters know where they're placing blame. If the voters were punishing Virginia state senators and Beshear for present circumstances, it would mean he still has a year to turn it around and get votes back. If they're not, it suggests something about voters' ability to dissociate state officials from national trends, and a more permanent update of their beliefs re: Biden.
I would also say that the abortion victory in Ohio, while a good thing, probably isn't the best thing for Sherrod Brown. It removes one of the stronger reasons for otherwise Republican voters to select a Democrat for the Senate, in the sense that his judicial appointment power helped shield abortion rights.
Disagree with said analysts regarding Biden. I think the results are very bad news for him. It suggests voters know where they're placing blame. If the voters were punishing Virginia state senators and Beshear for present circumstances, it would mean he still has a year to turn it around and get votes back. If they're not, it suggests something about voters' ability to dissociate state officials from national trends, and a more permanent update of their beliefs re: Biden.
I would also say that the abortion victory in Ohio, while a good thing, probably isn't the best thing for Sherrod Brown. It removes one of the stronger reasons for otherwise Republican voters to select a Democrat for the Senate, in the sense that his judicial appointment power helped shield abortion rights.
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