Tag Archives: U.S. Congress

Welcome To The United States Of Lunacy

Posted on by under guns, Holidays, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Five headlines in my own city from Christmas Day:

  • Multiple people injured during shooting inside Over-the-Rhine bar
  • Gunfire causes auto crash, 2 injured in Evendale
  • One person shot in ‘family dispute’ in West End
  • 33-year-old woman shot, killed in Millvale
  • 34-year-old man shot, killed in Over-the-Rhine

FIVE gun incidents on CHRISTMAS DAY!!!  In one city!!!  And then, there’s this that our friend Ben Berwick from across the pond in the UK posted …

Florida’s Festive Horror

Thanks, Ben!  You’re lucky … in fact the U.S. is the ONLY nation on the globe that has such a massive gun problem as we do, and too many in our political system refuse to do anything about it because … they are pawns to the gun industry and thus have blood on their own hands. 

Oh, and that header image?  That’s U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert with her four children, all holding rifles, last Christmas.

Joyeux Noël — A Wishlist From Gronda

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

Our dear friend Gronda, back these last few weeks after a year-long hiatus, has posted her Christmas wishlist for Democrats and it is one I wholeheartedly concur with … every last word!  Thank you, Gronda … now let’s all get down to the business of conveying our wishes to those who are in a position to turn our wishes into reality!

During this 2023 holiday season, let’s be grateful/ A Democrats’ wish list

Congress Dropped The Ball … Again

Posted on by under Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

Once again, the Republicans in Congress have let the ball drop and the cost will be measured in human lives and quite possibly the loss of a nation – Ukraine.  The Republican Party gave an early Christmas gift to Vladimir Putin this year when they refused to fund any further aid to Ukraine, and if Russia takes over Ukraine, the blood of far too many will be on the hands of the United States.  Putin will then almost certainly move on Poland or another Eastern European nation, at which point the U.S. will have no choice but to send troops as a part of NATO.  You know who to blame if that happens, but … meanwhile, people are dying.

Robert Reich assesses the situation far better than I could, so let’s listen to what he has to say …

Will Republicans pay a price for giving Putin a victory in Ukraine?

Their demands for draconian nativist policies at America’s southern border are playing into Trump’s and Putin’s hands

By Robert Reich

20 December 2023

U.S. funds for Ukraine’s defense will run dry by the end of the month, leaving the invaded country vulnerable to a Russian takeover.

But House Speaker Michael Johnson won’t take up Ukraine support unless Democrats pay a ransom: swallow House Republicans’ wish list of draconian policies for reducing illegal immigration at America’s southern border.

Meanwhile, all of the Senate Republicans — even those who have previously supported Ukraine funding — voted to filibuster a spending bill that would provide Ukraine urgently needed aid. Their stated position: They won’t provide a penny for Ukraine unless Democrats agree to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws.

It’s as if Republicans told President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 that they wouldn’t support aid to Britain as it battled the Nazis unless Democrats repealed the Social Security Act or rewrote the labor laws.

Who pushed House and Senate Republicans into this absurd position? Who’s behind this bonkers demand? Who wants to make nice to Putin while highlighting Biden’s challenge at the border?

Who do you think?

Republican border demands escalated soon after the The New York Times reported that if reelected, Trump planned to launch mass removals of millions of undocumented immigrants, gut asylum seeking almost entirely, and dramatically expand migrant detention in “giant camps.”

Presto. Republicans who had once taken a hard line with Putin on his invasion of Ukraine now seem willing to let Ukraine go under to satisfy the former president’s taste for nativist savagery.

Which brings us to today’s Office Hours question: If Ukraine doesn’t receive more American funds and it falls to Russia, will Republicans (and Trump) be held accountable?

I answered “No” … what do you think?

Snippety Snarkety … Here We Go Again!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Humour, Political commentary, Random, Social commentary

Some days I just wake up with a really snarky attitude, y’know?  Not the mean kind, just the kind of snark where everything makes you roll your eyes as you realize that some people really are “that kind of stupid.”  On that note, I have just a few thoughts for the day!

Tweedle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum

Ol’ Kevin McCarthy announced that he is leaving Congress at the end of the year, which for them is effectively tomorrow, since they’ll be leaving for their Christmas/New Year break and won’t return until next year.  So what, you must be wondering, will McCarthy do???  How will he pay his bills and put food on the table?  With a net worth of only around $300,000 he is definitely not among the wealthiest in Congress!

Well … ol’ Kev has aspirations of working with someone who is among the richest men on earth, Elon Musk, the man who single-handedly destroyed Twitter.  He was a bit vague about the role he hopes to play, saying only that he’s interested in Artificial Intelligence … oh the jokes I could make here, but I’ll bite my tongue on this one … and that he’s been friends with Musk for about a decade.  He said he also plans to “hit the paid speaking circuit hard”, to write a memoir, and to “continue helping House Republicans with fundraisers and advice”.  Would anybody actually read a memoir written by him?  🙄

Buh-bye Kev … don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out!

And speaking of Tweedle-Dum …

Who knew that Elon Musk even had a mommy?  Well, apparently he does and his mommy is not happy!  Y’see, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) opted not to give Musk’s Starlink nearly $900 million in government subsidies.  Now … Musk is a multi-billioinaire with a current net worth of $243.1 billion … so why does he need our hard-earned tax dollars anyway???  But here’s what his mummy, Maye Musk, posted on Twitter …

I am the mother of @elonmusk.  His goal is to make this world a better place. @POTUS wants to stop him. Have you any idea how furious I am? People in other countries are proud of Elon and do not understand the US President’s motive. Please tell me how I should answer them.

Wait!  Did she say his goal is to “make this world a better place???  Could’a fooled me!!!  Sorry, folks, but I cannot find so much as a shred of sympathy for Elon or his mum!  Save your sympathy for all the people he’s put out of work, for all those he’s stepped on throughout the years, and for the environment that he has done more than his share to damage.

Got milk???

Only one more day until Congress heads home for their holiday break and so much work left to be done!  There’s the emergency aid bill to assist Ukraine and Israel, there are appropriations bills to keep the government up and running past January 19th, and dozens of other important pieces of legislation to deal with.  So, what are they dealing with?  Is there a mad crunch, burning the midnight oil, to get the actual work done?  Oh c’mon, folks … surely you jest!

No, in addition to agreeing to the “official” impeachment inquiry for which they have absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of the president, they are spending their time discussing the ‘merits’ of full-fat milk vs low-fat or skim milk for school children.  🙄  No, I’m not joking!!!  Said Representative Lloyd K. Smucker, Republican of Pennsylvania …

“I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, bicameral and utterly fantastic bill.  And let’s not skim over the facts here: Whole milk is truly the cream of the crop in delivering these key vitamins and nutrients to growing children.”

Sorry Mr. Schmucker … I’ll believe the scientists and nutritionists on this one.  And frankly, this is NOT what we are paying you to do!!!  Obesity is already a big problem in this country, so keep your dirty fingers out of our kids’ school cafeterias, please and go pass some spending bills so we don’t have to bite our fingernails next month, wondering whether our government will be open for business!

And on that note, I have to make a quick trip to the Kroger up the street to pick up my weekly grocery order, so I’ll save the rest of my snarkiness for another day!

What Better Way To Spend Friday Afternoon?

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Holidays, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

It’s Friday afternoon … just over two weeks until Christmas (where the heck did this year go???) … so it seems like a good time for some political ‘toons to wrap up the work week, don’t you think?  And I just happen to have a few that I’ve collected this week from numerous sources, so sit back and prepare to either laugh, growl, or cry!  Oh — and have a great weekend ahead … I hope you have all your Christmas shopping and chores already done so you can relax and enjoy the weekend!

Filosofa Feels Snarky Today …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

… and you know what THAT means!  Time for some Snarky Snippets!!!

Yesterday I saw in the news an example of the most perfect bit of justice handed out … the penalty was perfect for the crime!  It happened in Parma, Ohio. The crime?  A woman, Rosemary Hayne, was captured in a viral video screaming at a Chipotle employee before throwing her hot food in the worker’s face because she was displeased with the way the food looked.

Initially, Judge Timothy Gilligan sentenced her to pay a fine and serve 180 days in jail, with 90 days suspended.  But then he had another thought and cut the jail time by 60 days but added a requirement that she work at least 20 hours per week at a fast-food restaurant for two months.  What poetic justice!  Let her see the other side and what it’s like to put up with customers like herself day in and day out while working for minimum wage (or less).

In case you’re wondering what your highly-paid senators and representatives in Congress are doing this week … a week that is no doubt filled with high priority items like bills to keep the government running after January 19th, bills to send aid to Ukraine, etc., here are just a couple of the things they’re hard at work on:

  • Senator Ted Cruz of Cancun fame proposed a bill titled AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The bill would force automakers to continue putting AM radios in all vehicles indefinitely.  Senator Rand Paul blocked the legislation, saying a mandate on private companies would be an overstep of congressional power.  But wait ‘til you hear Cruz’ reasoning for continuing to put AM radio in all cars … “I think silencing those voices is enormously harmful to both free speech but also to a robust democratic process.” And then he proceeded to say that such conservative commentators as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck all have programs on AM radio.  Oh yeah, Teddy … by all means lets force automakers to put AM radios in cars so that everyone can hear conspiracy theories and lies, lies, more lies!!!  Oh, and take up lots of valuable time in the Senate discussing it, while you’re at it.
  • The all-important business of the House of Representatives yesterday was discussing and then voting on censuring Representative Jamaal Bowman. What did Jamaal do?  He pulled a fire alarm switch during a September House vote, which caused the building to be evacuated.  The Republicans say he did it intentionally to attempt to interfere with the vote, he says it was an accident.  Already, Mr. Bowman has been charged with a misdemeanor, written a letter of apology to Capitol Police, and paid a $1,000 fine.  The House Ethics Committee declined to investigate the incident.  But the House Republicans still weren’t satisfied, so they voted to censure him.  After the vote was taken, Bowman, the adult in the room, said, “Let’s get back to work.”

Yep, your tax dollars are hard at work this week!

For nearly three years, law enforcement has been trying to identify the perpetrators of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.  Some have been identified by family or friends recognizing their photo in the news, others by bragging to family or friends about their exploits.  So now … House Speaker Johnson plans to release what he says are thousands of hours of video footage to the public.  He seems to think that the public will then believe the Republican lies that this was ‘just another tourist day’.  But wait … he is taking the time to blur out the faces of the rioters because … “because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ.”  Say WHAT???

In other words, Mike Johnson WANTS these rioters who destroyed public property, injured and killed police officers, and attempted to overturn our votes to skate free???  And he’s second in the line of succession to the presidency???  WTF???

Somebody please explain to Mike that the goal IS to identify these criminals and bring them to justice!!!

And speaking of Speaker Johnson … I don’t care how religious he claims to be, his religiosity is a sham.  He claims to be so super religious that people fear he will attempt to remove the wall of separation between church and state, to turn the U.S. into a pseudo-Christian nation rather than the secular one it has always been.  He has even claimed that his god has made him “America’s Moses” and commanded him to “lead the nation through a ‘Red Sea’ moment.”   But we can breathe easier now, for he’s shown that his claim to fame is naught but smoke and mirrors.  Why?  His statement to the New York Times regarding Donald Trump says it all …

“I endorsed him wholeheartedly for re-election in 2020 and traveled with his team as a campaign surrogate to help ensure his victory.  I have fully endorsed him once again.”

One cannot be righteous and support a ‘man’ who is a sexual abuser, a liar, a conman, a cheater, and a criminal.  Full stop.  Mr. Johnson’s mask has been removed and we should now see him for exactly what he is … a power-hungry hypocrite.

The U.S. Congressional Daycare Center

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, Election 2024, Global Issues, guns, Political commentary, Social commentary

Awwww … poor babies!  Republican senators are angry with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer because they say he put too much on their work schedule for the two weeks before their holiday break.  Awwww … don’t you feel sorry for them?  They might have to actually show up at the Capitol and … {GASP} … do some of what we pay them to do … l-e-g-i-s-l-a-t-e!  Y’know … propose bills, vote on them, discuss and compromise to fine tune the bills, vote again.  But they’d rather spend their time whining and throwing little tantrums …

When the babies began to whine, Senator John Cornyn explained Leader Schumer’s motivation …

“Why did he screw it up so bad? He wanted to ruin your holidays.”

OF COURSE!!!  Chuck Schumer’s only goal in life is to ruin people’s holidays!  He’s actually a descendant of the late Ebenezer Scrooge!!!

Arguably, the most immediate business before Congress today is the supplemental funding package that would provide additional support to Ukraine and Israel.  In addition, when Congress returns post-holiday, they will have just two weeks before the January 19th deadline for keeping the government up and running, so one might expect them to be busily addressing such things as … um … appropriations bills?  But, from what I’m hearing from the House side, the sole focus is on the effort to impeach the president.  Yeah, a waste of time and money, for they’ve been trying for two years to find an impeachable offense and by their own admission, they have no evidence of anything impeachable.  But … I guess that’s more fun than doing the serious business we sent them there to do.

Oh yeah … and Representative Zach Nunn introduced a bill yesterday, in the wake of George Santos’ expulsion last week, that would ban expelled representatives from receiving a pension.  Now, on the surface this might sound fine ‘n dandy, but here’s the thing.  First of all, George Santos was not eligible for a pension anyway, because he served less than a year!  And secondly, his was only the 6th expulsion in the nation’s entire 236 years, only two of which happened since the 19th century!  So … how many hours are being spent writing and debating a bill that frankly has zero value???  But, I guess anything’s more fun than bothering with pesky budgets and aid packages, eh?

Well … I think we’re tired of wasting time and money on grade-school antics and next November let’s oust some of these fools who think their job is to pursue their own personal agenda, to pander to the media, rather than to honour that oath they took to the Constitution and to We the People.  Buh-Bye assholes!

Oh … and in case you missed it, the U.S. broke a record on Sunday!!!  Oh yes, two mass shootings put us over our previous record of 36 mass shootings in a year, and we now stand at 38 mass shootings thus far in 2023, with 26 days left … anyone want to make any bets here?  This averages out to one every nine days, so conceivably we could have two or three more by year’s end, bringing our year-end total to 40-41.  Yo, you gun lovers out there … I bet you’re real proud of that record, aren’t you?

Another Round Of ‘Toons, ‘Toons, ‘Toons!!!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary, voting rights

Since I have kind of a busy day today, and many of you probably do too, I’m glad I have a stash of political ‘toons to fall back on for this afternoon’s post!  It may be Thanksgiving, but the loony bin of politics doesn’t take a break, so here are some of the best from the past few days …

Coupl’a Thoughts

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, Political commentary

Just a couple of thoughts from this tired mind this Thursday morning …

On November 1st the House voted not to expel Representative George Santos.  The line of thinking among Republicans was that they cannot afford to lose a single seat of their very slim 4-person majority.  The line of thinking among Democrats was that the House Ethics Committee would soon be releasing their own report on Santos’ lies and cheating, giving better justification for expulsion and meanwhile maintaining due process.

Well, guess what, my friends?  The House Ethics Committee will be releasing their report either today or tomorrow (reports vary) and {drumroll} … there will be no recommendations for any punishment, such as expulsion.  WHY???  Because it would have taken too long.  House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest told reporters it “would have taken several more months” to compile a report that included suggested sanctions.

“We thought that, based upon the information that was out there to the public … that would be enough for members to be able to make a decision as to whether they believe it would be proper to expel Rep. Santos.”

So … what?  They’ve got better things to do than pursue outright, blatant criminal behaviour by a member of Congress?  Oh … wait … perhaps they can’t waste their time on silly things like holding one of their own accountable for his crimes!  After all, there are more ‘fun’ things to do, like join the committees that are trying to impeach everyone from the president down to the press secretary!  Funny … after years of trying (Marge Greene filed her first impeachment motion on the day of Biden’s inauguration), Republicans have found zero evidence of any impeachable offenses by President Biden, yet they continue to waste time with an impeachment “investigation”; they spent hours deciding to put forth a proposal to cut the salaries of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to $1 per annum.  And yet, they cannot be bothered to recommend accountability for a man who has lied, cheated, and stolen from others in his attempt to win his seat in Congress.  Somebody has some skewed priorities there!!!

As you all know by now, the House of Representatives passed a two-tiered, “laddered” Continuing Resolution (CR) bill on Wednesday to keep the government open through the holidays.  No idea why the complexity in funding some agencies through January 19th and others until February 2nd.  Just more smoke ‘n mirrors, I suspect.

Just as I was working on this post, I received ‘breaking news’ at 11:18 p.m. from both The Washington Post and New York Times that the Senate had also passed the bill and now it will head to President Biden’s desk for his signature, and we can all breathe a very temporary, rather raspy sigh of relief.  Meanwhile, the House members were so proud of their ‘effort’ that they gave themselves an extra two days off added to their Thanksgiving break and have now left the room for the next two weeks.

Needless to say, I’m pleased that the bill passed both chambers of Congress, avoiding what would have been a very painful shutdown for us all, especially for tens of thousands of federal workers who would have been without pay just a few weeks before Christmas.  That said, House Republicans do not get high fives, kudos, or even an ‘attaboy’ for this bill.  Had they acted like adults much sooner, they could have passed the necessary 12 appropriations bills that would have funded the government for the entire fiscal year, and we wouldn’t have to go through this nail-biting again in January and then once more in February.

I would like to recommend a book to every Republican in Congress for their holiday reading …

Thoughts On Everything And Nothing …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

I just seem to have a jumble of thoughts bouncing around in my head today – I think that extra hour is somehow to blame for my lack of focus.  So, bear with me for just a few very short thoughts ‘n snippets …

Generally, when a child throws a temper tantrum, only a handful of people at most hear it.  But when that child has his own social media platform and the press follow him around 24/7 waiting for him to have a tantrum, then unfortunately the entire nation is exposed to his screaming tantrums.  And the same people who would be disgusted if they saw a child throwing a tantrum in the grocery store, seem to love the tantrums of a crazy old man with the mind of a toddler.  Any guesses who I’m talking about?

Imagine that in a fit of anger … perhaps he didn’t like what you fixed for supper, or his favourite shirt wasn’t clean … your husband threw something, knocked over a candle, and set the house afire.  Flames are racing up the curtains, spreading across the carpet … you need to get the baby, call 911, and get out of the house, but he won’t let you near the phone and is blocking the door.  He has put his family in imminent danger and is also putting neighbors up and down the street in danger as the fire spreads.

This is the state of the United States today.  The angry, vengeful spouse is the Republican Party, the wife and baby are We the People, and the neighbors are our allies, including Ukraine and Israel who really, really need this nation to be at its best right now.  Instead, it is at its worst.  The House of Representatives, operating under a very slim Republican majority, brought the business of governance to a screeching halt for three weeks, and now that they’re back at work, they are more interested in game-playing and rallying their supporters for next year’s election than in passing meaningful legislation to help our allies and averting a full government shutdown in just 12 days.

From Amanda Marcotte, writing for Salon …

With Netanyahu at the top of international news every day, I hope people are beginning to see it’s not just Trump — corruption and right wing authoritarianism are inextricable. We see that in the federal court systems. These Federalist Society judges were bred for two purposes: Pushing a Christian nationalist agenda and rigging the system so rich people can cheat and steal without consequence. 

It’s demoralizing, because it will take years, if not decades, to fix. But Ukranians are out there dying in the hopes of one day having a functioning democracy. We can stick out our less deadly fight here.

Perspective … we must learn to put it all in perspective.

The most famous line ever uttered by the late President John F. Kennedy was from his 1961 Inaugural Address …

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

It seems to me that today we have lost sight of that message.  In fact, I believe that many have reversed the phrase.  More on this one later when my thoughts stop bouncing.

And speaking of the late JFK, on Friday his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is running next year for the office of president, received a standing ovation at an anti-vaccine conference (who knew there even was such a conference?) when he said that if elected president next year, he would direct the National Institute of Health to halt all research on infectious diseases for a period of eight years.  A standing ovation … where are people’s minds???

He also said he would appoint a “like-minded” attorney general and use the power of that attorney general to threaten editors of medical journals and force them to publish studies that had been disproven, such as that ridiculous one about ivermectin, the drug used to kill parasites in horses, being an effective treatment for Covid.  He really, really wants to make the U.S. a third-world country that will be shunned by all!  Fortunately, his chances of ever becoming president are about as good as mine.  But wait … didn’t I say that about another famous idiot back in 2016?  And look where that got us.  🙄

And on that note, it’s time for me to move on to something useful, like … maybe a nap?  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll be back tomorrow morning with Jolly Monday!