#Biden Administration nominee

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

It’s hot in Washington, and the unending standoff between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is only adding to the heat.

On Tuesday, DOD spokesperson Sabrina Singh said there was no room for compromise with Coach on the dispute over the Pentagon’s policy to pay troops for travel to receive abortion and other reproductive services. “We’ve been very clear we don’t have anything to negotiate with here.”

Tuberville is equally immovable. His spokesperson, Steven Stafford, blasted a transcript of Singh’s remarks to reporters this morning, along with a dig at the Pentagon chief: “Secretary Austin could end the holds TODAY if he wanted to. But the Biden administration seems to think that illegally spending taxpayer dollars on abortion is more important than getting their senior military nominees confirmed.”

It’s true that Austin could end the policy put in place shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But it’s also true that Tuberville is singlehandedly preventing the speedy confirmation of senior military officers.

The blockade has now ensnared more than 300 general and flag officer nominees, including President Joe Biden’s picks for top officers in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, who are all now performing those jobs on an acting basis. Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who could become the first Senate-confirmed woman to serve in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is currently leading the Navy.

It has turned into a full-blown crisis that no one NatSec Daily talked to can see ending soon.

The Senate left D.C. in July without resolving the issue, meaning none of the nominees will get on the job until Congress returns after Labor Day. Democratic leaders could hold one-off votes on certain high level nominees to get around Tuberville’s procedural hold. But they’ve largely rejected that approach, instead labeling it as a problem for GOP honchos to solve.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted his Republican counterpart Mitch Mcconnell for not getting Tuberville to back down. “If one of my Democrats was doing this, I’d call him into my office and I’d say, you are going to stop doing this or you’re going to pay a price,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today. “McConnell has not done this with Tuberville.”

And on Monday, a typically reserved Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) ripped Tuberville for making “culture war plays” and treating long-uncontroversial promotions like “a partisan game.”

To paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, this fight is nasty and brutish, but it’s certainly not going to be short.

#us politics #news #republicans #conservatives #politico #us senate #sen. Tommy Tuberville #Secretary Lloyd Austin #department of defense #lloyd austin #Sabrina Singh #the Pentagon #us military #abortions #abortion bans #reproductive rights #reproductive health #Steven Stafford #biden administration #senior military nominees #joint chiefs of staff #Adm. Lisa Franchetti #Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer #sen. Chuck Schumer #sen. Mitch Mcconnell #sen. Jack Reed #2023

[maeamian]

Saw a post claiming that the Biden memes on here are why Joe Biden is generally not getting as much criticism as he probably should for the bad parts of his agenda, and some offense, but it really seems to me like that doesn't pass the sniff test at all and maybe if you believe this you need to go log off and get some outside air.

#Are we sure it's the memes #Not the same large scale consent manufacturing machine that's been doing that job our entire lives #Well okay my entire life the fall of the Fairness doctrine is where a lot of this stuff gets worse in particular #As well as the post Watergate belief of conservatives that this CANNOT happen to them again #But not the post-watergate belief that they needed to let it not happen by not doing bad shit #At any rate if I were a gambling man I'd put my single crisp US dollar bill down on 'the media' before 'the memes' #For starters 'websites the Biden VP memes circulated on' and 'websites with the best overall impression of him' don't correlate at all #I don't think I can remember any pro-Joe posts in the primaries on this website #But this website is also where I saw the vast majority of my Biden memes #Even still the most love I see for him on here right now is like 'You're gonna have to vote for him again because he'll be the nominee' #I just would like to see a lot more evidence for the memes theory before I believe a much mroe straightforward theory #That the institution of the presidency holds an undue reverence especially in the national press #and as such regularly goes under-questioned and under-critiqued during pretty much every administration of my lifetime #The meme just doesn't seem even remotely powerful enough to move the same amount of belief comparatively #If nothing else it's an absurdly online model of US politics that fails to account for a bunch of other factors #For God's sake they're fawning over GW Bush and his artisitic endeavors and that dude needs to be in the Hague #And I don't remember any pro GWB memes on here to justify that #So something else beyond the memes may be at play here #I really just don't see that the model has any upside whatsoever as an explanation of things #It doesn't explain anything better than more coherent and fleshed out theories of politics #But also does explain several things worse or not at all #Full disclosure there are Biden memes in this blog's history #But the way I feel about him currently is literally entirely unrelated to that #If you wanna look at them and go 'we probably could've and should've known better' I'll give you that #But not 'because of the long term impact it has had'

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Idiots: Both parties are the same, it doesn't matter who you vote for

Me, a person who doesn't huff paint: The Democrats just passed a law that will protect children from persecution and bigotry and introduce new safeguards to protect people from sexual assault and safeguard victims of such crimes

The Republicans meanwhile are a party made up of wife beaters, child abusers, pedophiles and rapists whose nominee for president is a domestic abuser who raped a thirteen year old child

But yeah sure, there's totally no difference at all in who you vote for

#Sfw

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #3

Jan 26-Feb 2 2024

The House overwhelmingly passed a tax deal that will revive the expanded Child Tax Credit, this will effect 16 million American children and lift 400,000 out of poverty in the first year. The deal also supports the building of 200,000 housing units over the next two years, and provides tax relief for communities hit by disasters.

The Biden Administration has begun negotiations on drug prices for Medicare. Earlier this year the administration announced it would negotiate for the first time directly with drug manufacturers on the prices of 10 common medications. This week they sent their opening offers to the companies. The program is expected to save Medicare and enrollees billions over dollars over the long term and help push down drug prices for everyone.

The Department of Transportation has green lit $240 Million to modernize air ports across the country. Air Ports in 37 states will be able to get much needed updates and refurbishment.

The Biden Administration announced 10 sites across America as sites for innovation investment. They will receive up to 2 billion dollars each over the next 10 years. The goal is to stimulate economic growth and innovation in semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, sustainable textiles, climate-resilient agriculture, regenerative medicine, and more.

The State Department reviews options for recognizing Palestinian Statehood. While as of yet there's been no policy change this review of options is a major shift in US diplomatic thinking which has long opposed Palestinian Statehood and shows a seriousness of reported Biden plans to push for Statehood as part of a post-war Israel-Saudi normalization deal.

President Biden imposes sanctions on Israeli settlers who have engaged in violence against Palestinians and peace activists. This marks the first time the US has leveled sanctions against Israelis and sets up a standard that could see the whole settlement movement cut off from the US financial system

the Department of Energy has tentatively agreed to a $1.5 Billion dollar loan to help reopen a Michigan nuclear power plant. This would mark the first time a closed nuclear plant has been brought back online. Closed in 2022 it's hoped that it could reopen in time to be generating power in late 2025. This is part of Biden's plan to decarbonize the electricity grid by 2035.

the Internal Revenue Service launched a program to allow tax fillers file for free directly with the government. In 2024 its a pilot program limited to 12 states, but plans for it to be nation wide by tax day 2025

The Department of Health and Human Services announced $28 million in grants to help with the treatment of substance use disorder, including a program aimed at pregnant and postpartum women, and expanded drug court aimed at directing people into treatment and out of the criminal justice system.

The Department of Energy announced $72 million for 46 hydroelectric projects across 19 states. This marks the single largest investment in Hydropower in US history.

The Senate confirmed President Biden's 175th federal judge. Biden has now appointed more federal judges in his first term in office than President Obama did in his, however still lags behind Trump's 186 judges. For the first time in history a majority of a President's nominees are not white men, 65% of them are women and 65% are people of color, President Biden has appointed more black women to judgeships than any administration in history.

#Joe Biden #Thanks Biden #good news #us politics #politics #Democrats #Poverty #Climate change #nuclear power #Israel #israeli settlers #Palestine #israel palestine conflict

[tomorrowusa]

Don't risk a rerun of the 2000 election.

In the first presidential election of the 21st century many deluded progressives voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Their foolishness gave us eight years of George W. Bush who plagued the country with two recessions (including the Great Recession) and two wars (one totally unnecessary and one which could have been avoided if he heeded an intelligence brief 5 weeks before 9/11).

Oh yeah, Dubya also appointed one conservative and one batshit crazy reactionary to the US Supreme Court. Roberts and Alito are still there.

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post offers some thoughts.

Why leftists should work their hearts out for Biden in 2024

Ask a Democrat with a long memory what the numbers 97,488 and 537 represent, and their face will twist into a grimace. The first is the number of votes Ralph Nader received in Florida in 2000 as the nominee of the Green Party; the second is the margin by which George W. Bush was eventually certified the winner of the state, handing him the White House. Now, with President Biden gearing up for reelection, talk of a spoiler candidate from the left is again in the air. That’s unfortunate, because here’s the truth: The past 2½ years under Biden have been a triumph for progressivism, even if it’s not in most people’s interest to admit it. This was not what most people expected from Biden, who ran as a relative moderate in the 2020 Democratic primary. His nomination was a victory for pragmatism with its eyes directed toward the center. But today, no one can honestly deny that Biden is the most progressive president since at least Lyndon B. Johnson. His judicial appointments are more diverse than those of any of his predecessors. He has directed more resources to combating climate change than any other president. Notwithstanding the opposition from the Supreme Court, his administration has moved aggressively to forgive and restructure student loans.

Three years ago the economy was in horrible shape because of Trump's mishandling of the pandemic. Now unemployment is steadily below 4%, job creation continues to exceed expectations, and wages are rising as unions gain strength. The post-pandemic, post-Afghan War inflation rate has receded to near normal levels; people in the 1970s would have sold their souls for a 3.2% (and dropping) inflation rate. And many of the effects of "Bidenomics" have yet to kick in.

And in a story that is criminally underappreciated, his administration’s policy reaction to the covid-induced recession of 2020 was revolutionary in precisely the ways any good leftist should favor. It embraced massive government intervention to stave off the worst economic impacts, including handing millions of families monthly checks (by expanding the child tax credit), giving all kids in public schools free meals, boosting unemployment insurance and extending health coverage to millions.

It worked. While inflation rose (as it did worldwide), the economy’s recovery has been blisteringly fast. It took more than six years for employment rates to return to what they were before the Great Recession hit in 2008, but we surpassed January 2020 jobs levels by the spring of 2022 — and have kept adding jobs ever since. To the idealistic leftist, that might feel like both old news and a partial victory at best. What about everything supporters of Bernie Sanders have found so thrilling about the Vermont senator’s vision of the future, from universal health care to free college? It’s true Biden was never going to deliver that, but to be honest, neither would Sanders had he been elected president. And that brings me to the heart of how people on the left ought to think about Biden and his reelection.

Biden has gotten things done. The US economy is doing better than those of almost every other advanced industrialized country.

Our rivals China and Russia are both worse off than they were three years ago. And NATO is not just united, it's growing.

Sadly, we still need to deal with a far right MAGA cult at home who would wreck the country just to get its own way.

Biden may be elderly and unexciting, but that is one of the reasons he won in 2020. Many people just wanted an end to the daily drama of Trump's capricious and incompetent rule by tweet. And a good portion of those people live in places that count greatly in elections – suburbs and exurbs.

Superhero films seem to be slipping in popularity. Hopefully that's a sign that voters are less likely to embrace self-appointed political messiahs to save them from themselves.

Good governance is a steady process – not a collection of magic tricks. Experienced and competent individuals who are not too far removed from the lives of the people they represent are the best people to have in government.

Paul Waldman concludes his column speaking from the heart as a liberal...

I’ve been in and around politics for many years, and even among liberals, I’ve almost always been one of the most liberal people in the room. Yet only since Biden’s election have I realized that I will probably never see a president as liberal as I’d like. It’s not an easy idea to make peace with. But it suggests a different way of thinking about elections — as one necessary step in a long, difficult process. The further you are to the left, the more important Biden’s reelection ought to be to you. It might require emotional (and policy) compromise, but for now, it’s also the most important tool you have to achieve progressive ends.

Exactly. Rightwingers take the long view. It took them 49 years but they eventually got Roe v. Wade overturned. To succeed, we need to look upon politics as an extended marathon rather as one short sprint.

Republicans may currently be bickering, but they will most likely unite behind whichever anti-abortion extremist they nominate.

It's necessary to get the word out now that the only way to defeat climate-denying, abortion-restricting, assault weapon-loving, race-baiting, homophobic Republicans is to vote Democratic.

#paul waldman #liberalism #election 2000 #election 2024 #joe biden #third parties #vote blue no matter who #donald trump #dumpster fire #trumpster fire #fascism vs. democracy #nra republicans #abortion #climate change #lgbtq+ rights #race-baiting #take the political long view #phil hands

[renthony]

From the article:

President Joe Biden is on track to be the Democratic nominee in November — but the results in Tuesday’s primaries indicate he has a growing political problem on his left. The protest movement that started in Michigan, to oppose Biden’s support for Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, is spreading. Following Michigan’s lead last week, activists quickly organized in the 15 states holding primaries on Super Tuesday, based on those states’ ballot language. As of 1 p.m. ET Wednesday, CNN election data showed 19 percent of voters in Minnesota had voted “uncommitted” — a far greater percentage than the 13 percent in Michigan last week. In North Carolina, 13 percent voted “no preference,” and nine percent did the same in Massachusetts. Eight percent voted “uncommitted” in Tennessee. Virginians were encouraged to support Biden primary opponent Marianne Williamson — eight percent did so. In Colorado, eight percent voted “noncommitted.” In some states, voters were encouraged to write in “cease-fire” on their ballots; these figures are tougher to track. “The president believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” says a Biden campaign spokesperson. “He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end.” Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel, in which 1,139 were killed and more than 200 were kidnapped, Israel has laid waste to Gaza with the Biden administration’s support. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, 2 million have been internally displaced, and hundreds of thousands are at imminent risk of famine, according to the United Nations. Biden has stepped up his criticism of Israel’s conduct in recent weeks, and he has started calling for a temporary six-week cease-fire. As the war has dragged on, opposition to Biden has grown and become more confrontational. The president’s events are protested so frequently that his campaign has reportedly decided to host fewer, smaller events, and avoid college campuses.  Now, the protests are showing up in ballot boxes around the country.

#us news #us election

[kp777]

By Kenny Stancil

Common Dreams

Apr 25, 2023

"We need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."

In response to U.S. President Joe Biden's Tuesday announcement that he is seeking reelection in 2024, four youth-led advocacy groups urged the incumbent to push for progressive priorities during the remainder of his first term and campaign on policies that motivate young voters to cast ballots for him.

In a letter addressed to Biden, March for Our Lives, Gen Z for Change, Sunrise Movement, and United We Dream Action wrote: "If we're going to excite one of the leading voting blocs for Democrats, we need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."

"As the organizers of millions of young people across the country, we know that in order to secure wins against fascism in the 2024 presidential election, Millennials and Gen Z will have to turn out to vote in full force," the groups argued, sounding the alarm about the dire consequences likely to ensue if the increasingly authoritarian Republican Party takes control of the White House.

"Young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory... When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."

"Following the results of 2018, 2020, 2022, and most recently the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2023, it is clear that young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory," says the letter. "The equation is simple. When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."

"Going into 2024, our youth coalition is deeply committed to defeating fascist, right-wing extremism and the eventual Republican presidential nominee," the letter continues. "Young people are clear that the runaway extremism of abortion bans, threats to trans students, criminalization of immigrants, and the all-out assault on our climate are existential threats to our generation and generations to come."

However, when the Biden administration makes "bad decisions"—such as approving the Willow oil drilling venture and other fossil fuel projects, entertaining the revival of migrant family detentions, or otherwise "settling for the status quo"—it becomes "harder for us to get young people to the polls," the groups lamented. "That's why we need you to listen and co-govern with us if we're going to be able to mobilize the young voters we need to win."

The organizations implored Biden "to lead with our generation's values and policies at the forefront of your campaign and your next year in office," contending that his 2020 platform was essential to defeating former President Donald Trump—who is seeking the Republican nomination for 2024 despite facing various legal issues—and that progressive policymaking, particularly last summer, inspired the young voters who ultimately minimized the Democratic Party's losses in the 2022 midterms.

In the spring of 2022, "young voters were largely disillusioned with politics and were not excited to vote," states the letter. "That changed once you passed a historic climate bill, passed overdue gun safety legislation, and sought to cancel student loan debt—resulting in the second-highest youth midterm turnout in the past 30 years. Now, more than ever, we cannot abandon this two-part strategy—run on bold ideas young people can rally behind and have significant legislative victories to back them up."

"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign. Do not take our generation for granted."

"Going into the 2024 presidential election, it is clear that our opponents are getting even more ruthless and extreme," the groups warned. "Across the country we've seen abortion bans, transgender bathroom bans, [and] book bans in schools imposed by Republican extremists. We've seen Republican electeds say they will do nothing to stop gun violence, expel those who disagree with them from office, and attempt to ban educational opportunities and threaten the livelihood of immigrants in our communities. They must be stopped."

"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign," says the letter. "Do not take our generation for granted."

"We are a generation that grew up through crisis—from watching storms decimate our communities to practicing school shooter drills to living through a global pandemic," the letter adds. "Throughout all of these crises, young people have shown up to demand the transformational change the country needs. We are fighters for a better world. That will not change in 2024."

#youth vote #joe biden #2024 presidential election

[rapeculturerealities]

Supreme Court will decide access to key abortion drug mifepristone - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/13/abortion-drug-supreme-court-mifepristone-fda/

The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will decide this term whether to limit access to a key abortion drug, returning the polarizing issue of reproductive rights to the high court for the first time since the conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

The Biden administration and the manufacturer of mifepristone have asked the justices to overturn a lower-court ruling that would make it more difficult to obtain the medication, which is part of a two-drug regimen used in more than half of all abortions in the United States.

The conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said the federal government acted unlawfully years ago when it began loosening regulations for obtaining the pill. The appeals court said the Food and Drug Administration did not follow proper procedures when it allowed the drug — which was first approved more than 20 years ago — to be taken later in pregnancy, to be mailed directly to patients and to be prescribed by a medical professional other than a doctor.

Medications to terminate pregnancy have increased in importance because more than a dozen states severely limited or banned abortions after the Supreme Court’s ruling last June in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That’s partly because the drugs can be sent by mail and taken at home.

If access to mifepristone was restricted, abortion providers and advocates say, pregnancies could still be terminated using only the second drug in the regimen, misoprostol. But using that drug alone causes more cramping and bleeding, and abortion opponents could move to restrict its use as well if they win limits on the use of mifepristone from the high court.

[ Faced with abortion bans, doctors beg hospitals for help with key decisions ]

The court’s decision to review the mifepristone case is not surprising. In April, after a District Court ruling to suspend FDA approval of the drug, the justices said existing rules for prescribing and distributing mifepristone would remain in place nationwide while the litigation continues.

In that order, only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. said they would not have granted the Biden administration’s request for a stay of the District Court decision. Critics say the lower court’s ruling undermines the role of federal regulatory agencies.

Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the high court that mifepristone has been safely used by millions of people over more than two decades, and warned that allowing the lower court’s decision to stand would have “damaging consequences for women seeking lawful abortions and a healthcare system that relies on the availability of the drug under the current conditions of use.”

The challenge to mifepristone was initiated by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an association of antiabortion doctors and others. The group asserted that the FDA did not sufficiently consider safety concerns when it approved the drug in 2000 or when it removed some restrictions years later — allowing the use of mifepristone through 10 weeks of pregnancy, for instance, instead of seven.

The group filed its lawsuit in Amarillo, Tex., where U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk — a Trump nominee with long-held antiabortion views — is the sole sitting judge. He sided with the challengers and suspended FDA approval of the medication.

The 5th Circuit reversed that part of Kacsmaryk’s order, but agreed with him in blocking the changes starting in 2016 for how the drug was prescribed and distributed, and at what point in a pregnancy it could be used.

#abortion #reproductive rights #reproductive health #mifepristone #supreme court

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sarah Jones and Jason Easley at PoliticusUSA's The Daily Substack:

The Trump and Mike Johnson press conference at Mar-a-Lago barely lasted 20 minutes, and what the event might be remembered for isn’t Trump’s various lies about abortion, immigration, or even the value of Mar-a-Lago. Something Mike Johnson said in just a few minutes signaled how Trump plans to handle a potential 2024 election loss.

Johnson said: [You need to understand something, since the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, the motor voter law, allows people to sign up to vote. If an individual averts or states they are a citizen, they don't have to prove it, they can register that person to vote in a federal election. States are prohibited from asking someone to prove that they are a citizen. The federal voter registration form has a check box. If you do that, you're good. That is a serious problem. And what we are going to do is, house Republicans are introducing a bill that will require proof of citizenship to vote. It seems like common sense. All of us would agree we want U.S. Citizens to vote in U.S. Elections. But there are some Democrats who don't want to do that. One of their reasons for this open board that everyone asked, why would they do this? Why the violence? They want to turn these people into voters. Right now, the administration is encouraging illegals to go to the local welfare office to sign up for benefits. When you go to the welfare office they ask you if you would like to register to vote. Many people, we think are going to do that. If the numbers are so high, so many millions of illegals in the country, one out of a hundred, they would cast thousands of votes, that could turn an election. This could impact congressional elections in the country. It could affect the presidential election.] [...]

Johnson and Trump Are Going To Claim That Illegal Immigrants Stole The Election For Biden

Johnson was the architect of the House scheme to block the certification of the 2020 election. He likely won’t be the Speaker of the House when the next election is certified, but what he is doing is creating a path for Trump to challenge the 2024 results in every swing state that he loses. Trump will claim that any swing state that uses motor voter registration that he lost was full of illegal votes for Biden. Trump will demand that the election not be certified, and that all of the swing states that Biden won be thrown out. Johnson knows that a national voter ID law will make it much more difficult for some Democratic leaners to vote, and that the bill that he and Trump are proposing is dead in the water, so the tactic will be to challenge every state that Biden won that is considered a swing state by claiming that illegal voters voted for Biden.

On Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and 2024 GOP nominee Donald Trump trafficked in the lie motor voter registration caused "illegal votes" for President Joe Biden to be tallied in a bid to cause 2020 2.0 in which Trump lied about the election results to falsely declare himself the victor.

#Donald Trump #Mike Johnson #Election Denialism #2024 Presidential Election #2024 Elections #National Voter Registration Act #Noncitizen Voting #Voter ID

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Senate Republicans will try to block Feinstein's Judiciary replacement

THEIR OBJECTIONS COMPLICATE DEMOCRATS' PATH OUT OF THE JUDICIAL NOMINATION SLOWDOWN CAUSED BY THE CALIFORNIA SENATOR'S LENGTHY ABSENCE

By Liz Goodwin

A second Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee announced their opposition Monday to temporarily replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the panel, adding to Democrats’ woes over how to move forward on stalled judicial nominations caused by Feinstein’s health-related absence.

Feinstein, who at 89 is the oldest member of the Senate, announced last week that she had asked Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That followed calls from some congressional Democrats for Feinstein, who has been absent from the chamber since February, to resign from the Senate.

Her absence has stalled confirmations of President Biden’s judicial nominees, given that only judges with some Republican support can move to the floor without her tiebreaking vote on the committee. She has provided no timeline for her return to Washington after recovering from a case of shingles. The Senate is narrowly divided and under Democratic control, 51-49.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) announced on Twitter on Monday that she would “not go along with Chuck Schumer’s plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges.”

She joins Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in publicly announcing she will not support a temporary replacement for Feinstein.

Their objections add up to a major headache for Democrats, who were hoping to quickly solve the political and tactical problem of Feinstein this week by replacing her on the committee. Most committee assignments for both Republicans and Democrats are passed without fanfare or controversy by unanimous voice votes on the Senate floor. But now with Republicans lining up to object to the temporary change, it’s clear replacing Feinstein on the committee would take 60 votes to approve, which means at least 10 Republicans would need to back the measure.

Feinstein’s absence has given Republicans leverage to block judicial nominees even while they’re in the minority. That makes it less likely there will be 10 Republicans willing to cross the aisle and help Democrats temporarily replace her.

McConnell, who as Senate majority leader blocked President Barack Obama from filling a Supreme Court vacancy in 2016, has not yet commented on his view of the replacement.

Cotton shared an article in the conservative publication The Federalist in announcing his objection to temporarily replacing Feinstein, noting that “the task of persuading 10 Republicans to cooperate with the President’s judicial agenda will prove even more difficult if Sen. Mitch McConnell … holds the line.” The article praised McConnell for his “hard-nosed judiciary tactics” in the past.

On Monday, Schumer said he spoke to Feinstein a few days ago and that she’s “very hopeful” she will return to Washington soon. Schumer said he would discuss with his caucus which Senator he would put forward to replace Feinstein.

“We should have a temporary replacement until she returns and we’re hopeful Republicans will join us on that,” he said, adding that he planned to bring the matter to the floor this week. “It’s the only right and fair thing to do.”

If Schumer’s attempt to replace Feinstein fails this week, calls for her resignation on the left may grow. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) asked Feinstein to step down last week, citing her long absence. Feinstein was hospitalized in March for treatment of shingles, and she has missed at least 60 votes this year.

“While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people,” Khanna said. Feinstein announced she would not run for reelection earlier this year.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, said Sunday she plans to take Feinstein “at her word” that she hopes to return to Washington soon, but that if her absence stretches on for “months,” it is time to rethink the situation.

“If this goes on month after month after month, then she’s gonna have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds, because this isn’t just about California; it’s also about the nation,” Klobuchar said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So it’s going to become an issue as the months go by. But I’m taking her at her word that she’s going to return.”

Other lawmakers have defended Feinstein, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) telling reporters it was “interesting” to see the resignation calls. “I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way,” she said last week. “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”

#us politics #news #the washington post #2023 #conservatives #republicans #gop #Democrats #Sen. Dianne Feinstein #senate judiciary committee #sen. chuck schumer #judicial nominees #biden administration #sen. marsha blackburn #sen. tom cotton #sen. mitch mcconnell #the federalist #Rep. Ro Khanna #rep. Dean Phillips #sen. amy klobuchar #abc's this week #Rep. Nancy Pelosi

[postingonanon]

Hey Everybody, you need to get ready.

I've seen a LOT of posts floating around left-leaning spaces lately about "I'm not voting for Biden next year." And... I get it. I'm not going to even attempt to argue over strategic voting or whatever, because it rings hollow and it's pointless - there are a LOT of people saying this, and whatever reach this tiny scream into the void may have it won't shift those numbers.

So I'm going to be straight - get ready for a second Trump administration. It's obvious that he's going to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and the literal only determiner of whether the Republicans win is Democratic voting turn-out. Biden won because Trump was awful, but Trump won in the first place because people didn't vote for Hillary. That's looking like it's going to repeat itself.

I'm not saying this to shame anybody - you don't want to vote for someone complicit in genocide, I get it. But there isn't going to be a leftist alternative that wins the 2024 American election. There isn't one even running in the major two parties that the system is designed to accommodate.

I'm saying this because you need to get ready now. All that online leftist talk about community self-support, community policing, organizing with like-minded people? If you're just talking about it, you need to stop talking and put it into actions. As soon as you can. BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE AGAIN. You may not have the MEANS to organize afterwards. The major platforms online are all held by right-wingers who imagine themselves American oligarchs. They WILL turn over your identities upon request by a Trump administration. Even this one.

The Republicans have gone mask-off fascist since 2016, and they weren't meaningfully punished. Project 2025 is a direct, published by conservatives statement that they plan to end democracy and install direct autocratic rule. Even if they don't succeed at that, expect Texas and Florida to be the model of the federal government with targeted persecution of oppressed classes as a direct, OVERT point of policy. Expect direct, OVERT support for genocide of "undesirable" populations in the global south, Palestine, and pretty much everywhere else - including in 'Western' nations. Expect the defunding, privatization, and asset-stripping of all government funded social-support networks. Expect an exponential increase in violence across all right-wing political apparatuses, from the informal (militias and organized hate groups) to the local (police) to the national (military). However bad Trump was through 2020, keep in mind that he's going to be on a revenge tour and will - one way or the other - never have to be worried about getting reelected again. I mean this clearly and with as much seriousness as I can convey: people are going to DIE. People are going to be KILLED.

If you're in the United States, you need to organize resistance NOW. Whatever you're doing in support of Palestine, whoever you're talking to, whatever you're doing to build a community to protest or slow the progress of the decimation of Gaza - you need to keep it going, and prepare to need to apply those same techniques to protect indigenous/oppressed people in the United States in just over a year. Because the left looks like it isn't going to vote for Biden again, but the right is sure as shit going to vote for Trump again. And the United States, as it is today, will not survive another Trump presidency intact. You need to prepare for it like you would a natural disaster. You need to prepare for it like you would an army you know is marching in your direction.

Most people are going to pull a 1930s Germany and hunker down, comply with the demands for brutality, and hope to make it through. That means they will not act to save you, or anyone else, out of fear of being targeted. If you expect to survive without doing so, you're going to have to organize a critical mass of resistance EARLY so that you aren't relying on people to spontaneously organize while staring gun barrels in the face. The 2020 George Floyd BLM protests only happened because people had time due to the COVID shut-downs and the military officials refused Trump's orders to deploy on American soil to "bust heads." The Republican party is currently trying to hold up as many military promotions as possible so that the next Republican president gets to fill them all, to prevent a repeat of that scenario. They LEARNED from that, and will act to keep it from happening again in that way. They're going after mutual aid groups using RICO right now.

I'm serious. Get ready. Start getting ready now. If you don't wind up needing it, it will still help you to have a local organization for support. I hope that you will not need to rely upon this to save your life or the lives of those near you. But I expect this will be necessary.

GET READY.

[1americanconservative]

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week.

January 19-26 2024

The Energy Department announced its pausing all new liquefied natural gas export facilities. This puts a pause on export terminal in Louisiana which would have been the nation's largest to date. The Department will use the pause to study the climate impact of LNG exports. Environmentalists cheer this as a major win they have long pushed for.

The Transportation Department announced 5 billion dollars for new infrastructure projects. The big ticket item is 1 billion dollars to replace the 60 year old Blatnik Bridge between Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota which has been dangerous failing since 2017. Other projects include $600 million to replace the 1-5 bridge between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, $427 million for the first offshore wind terminal on the West Coast, $372 million to replace the 90 year old Sagamore Bridge that connects Cape Cod to the mainland,$300 million for the Port of New Orleans, and $142 million to fix the I-376 corridor in Pittsburgh.

the White House Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access announced new guidance that requires insurance companies must cover contraceptive medications under the Affordable Care Act. The Biden Administration also took actions to make sure contraceptive medications would be covered under Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Federal Employee Health Benefits Program. HHS has launched a program to educate all patients about their rights to emergency abortion medical care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. This week marks 1 year since President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum seeking to protect medication abortion and all federal agencies have reported on progress implementing it.

A deal between Democrats and Republicans to restore the expand the Child Tax Credit cleared its first step in Congress by being voted out of the House Ways and Means Committee. The Child Tax Credit would affect 16 million kids in the first year and lift 400,000 out of poverty. The Deal also includes an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit which will lead to 200,000 new low income rental units being built, and also tax relief to people affected by natural disasters

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted for a bill to allow President Biden to seize $5 billion in Russian central bank assets. Biden froze the assets at the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, but under this new bill could distribute these funds to Ukraine, Republican Rand Paul was the only vote against.

The Senate passed the "Train More Nurses Act" seeking to address the critical national shortage of nurses. It aims to increase pathways for LPNs to become RNs as well as a review of all nursing programs nationally to see where improvements can be made

3 more Biden Judges were confirmed, bring the total number of Judges appointed by President Biden to 171. For the first time in history the majority of federal judge nominees have not been white men. Biden has also appointed Public Defenders and civil rights attorneys breaking the model of corporate lawyers usually appointed to life time federal judgeships

#good news #thanks Biden #Joe Biden #Democrats #politics #us politics #climate change #abortion #reproductive rights #child tax credit #judges

[anarchywoofwoof]

i'm gonna make this post now and stop delaying because this has been weighing on my mind for the last few weeks.

i want to talk about the presidential election coming up.

i've seen some leftists on here mention they're scared to criticize joe biden because they're afraid it will be exploited by the right.

i've also seen some leftists on here state that they will not vote for genocide joe no matter what, no matter when, no matter how.

let's break down the options in a way that is somewhat objective and then i will make my conclusion. i'd say that i'll try to make this succint... but i'd be lying.

if you care enough to hear my opinion, read on.

barring something absolutely miraculous happen, we will not be transitioning to a state of anarchy, socialism or communism in 2024. therefore, we have reason to believe there will be a presidential election in 2024 between a democrat, a republican, and an unknown number of third party candidates. this is reality. not tumblr's wildest dreams. let's accept that.

if donald trump is on the ballot, he will almost certainly be the republican nominee. in which case, like it or not, the election will be biden - trump - 3rd parties. these are your choices, in addition to abstaining. like it or not.

if donald trump is not on the ballot, it is not clear who the republican nominee will be. if it is nikki haley, she actually stands a fair chance of beating biden. this would be a bad thing. nikki haley is an antiworker fanatic and is not the moderate that she will inevitably be painted as.

if donald trump is on the ballot and you vote for a third party candidate, barring something absolutely miraculous happening, they will lose. i am not being reductionist. i am stating a fact. a third party candidate does not exist today who can gain enough traction in less than a year to win the presidency. it will not happen.

if donald trump is on the ballot and you choose not to vote, there is an extremely high likelihood that donald trump will once again become president and i do not need to tell you how bad that that would be. because he won't let go of the presidency. he will reign as an autocrat to avoid federal charges for his many, many, many crimes. the country will look very different and many of you will (including myself) will be in grave danger immediately.

i am going to pause here to remind you to use your reading comprehension. i am not telling you who to vote for. or who not to vote for. i am telling you the likely outcomes of the actions that you may choose to take. if you are upset right now, take a step back and ask yourself why.

i do not support the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and i myself will have to reconcile with the consequences of my actions in November 2024 regardless of what i decide to ultimately do. i have not decided. however, i am a (mostly) cis white male-presenting person in the united states. the privilege afforded to me by this fact is both real and unfortunate. i know that i am not in the same type of danger that others are under the reign of a fascist dictator. i have to ask myself if that is the lens from which i am viewing this issue and is that the most righteous decision for someone who claims to care most about his community?

if you understand the consequences and you choose not to vote or vote third party then that is up to you and i'm not here to stop you. in fact, you should not be persuaded by some fucking guy on tumblr to do anything. form your own opinions. but i have a pretty significant following and i would be irresponsible for not giving this reminder.

i will continue to criticize Joe Biden and the imperialist, colonialist bullshit that i see every single day from his administration. i'll do it publicly here on this blog. but under Trump, there's a very real possibility that this blog wouldn't even be permitted, quite frankly. and i may not be sitting here right now typing this post.

#united states #us politics #politics

[uboat53]

Cabinet Endorsements

One thing that's flown a bit below the radar in this election is that former cabinet members haven't been acting like they usually do. Normally, former cabinet members will automatically endorse their former boss for re-election, but Trump's have not been doing that.

This is of particular interest because, while we, the voters, get to see the President give speeches and the like, we don't actually work with him. Presumably a cabinet member is someone who agrees with the president and who the president trusts and who gets to work closely with the president, so their opinion of the president is an important benchmark.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the 44 former cabinet members of the Donald J. Trump administration and the 2 former cabinet members of the Joseph R. Biden administration. I'll put an (E) next to the ones that have endorsed their former boss, an (H) next to the ones who haven't yet, and an (R) next to the ones who have outright refused to do so.

Cabinet Members of the Donald J. Trump Administration (R) VP Mike Pence (H) Sec. State Rex Tillerson (H) Sec. State/CIA Director Mike Pompeo (E) Sec. Treasury Steven Mnuchin (R) Sec. Defense James Mattis (H) Sec. Defense Patrick Shanahan (nominated) (R) Sec. Defense Mark Esper (H) Sec. Defense Christopher Miller (acting) (H) AG Jeff Sessions (R) AG William Barr (H) AG Jeffrey Rosen (acting) (E) Sec. Interior Ryan Zinke (H) Sec. Interior David Bernhardt (H) Sec. Agriculture Sonny Perdue (E) Sec. Commerce Wilbur Ross (H) Sec. Labor Andrew Puzder (nominated) (H) Sec. Labor Alex Acosta (H) Sec. Labor Eugene Scalia (H) Sec. HHS Tom Price (H) Sec. HHS Alex Azar (H) Sec. HHS Pete Gaynor (E) Sec. HUD Ben Carson (H) Sec. Transporation Elaine Chao (H) Sec. Transportation Steven Bradbury (acting) (H) Sec. Energy Rick Perry (H) Sec. Energy Dan Brouillette (H) Sec. Education Besty DeVos (H) Sec. Education Mick Zais (acting) (H) Sec. VA David Shulkin (E) Sec. VA Ronny Jackson (nominated) (H) Sec. VA Robert Wilkie (R) Sec. HS John Kelly (H) Sec. HS Kirstjen Nielsen (H) Sec. HS Chad Wolf (nominated) (E) US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer (H) DNI Dan Coats (H) DNI John Ratcliffe (H) UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (H) OMB Directory Mick Mulvaney (E) OMB Director Russel Vought (H) CIA Director Gina Haspel (H) EPA Admin. Scott Pruitt (H) EPA Admin. Andrew Wheeler (H) SBA Admin. Linda McMahon (H) SBA Admin. Jovita Caranza

Cabinet Members of the Joseph R. Biden Administration (E) Sec. Labor Marty Walsh (E) OMB Director Neera Tanden (nominated) (H) Office of Science and Tech. Director Eric Lander

The first thing we notice, obviously, is that there are a whole lot more former Trump cabinet members. This is partially because Biden is still in office so his 23 current cabinet members are not counted (it'd be a huge surprise if they didn't endorse him and they probably wouldn't still be working for him if they didn't), but it's also because Trump had way above average turnover for cabinet officials, 19 in the first four years not including the 5 who resigned due to his handling of the 2020 election results (not included because Biden hasn't reached that point in his first term yet), while Biden has had far below average turnover, only 3 so far.

So a lot more people shuffling in and out of the Trump administration, but we also notice a ton more H's than E's there. Heck, there's almost as many R's among Trump's people as there are E's (5 to 7). Meanwhile, Biden's shooting 2 for 3 and the third one hasn't (at least not that I could find) ruled out endorsing him.

Keep in mind, endorsing the nominee of your party is pretty much the bare minimum that any party operative needs to do. Imagine if you applied for a job somewhere, the first question was "do you think this company should be in business", and you answered "no". You probably wouldn't be getting a job there. In other words, refusing to endorse has some big consequences for the people doing it, not just costing them a job in the potential next Republican presidency, but locking them out of the party entirely, and yet a good deal of the people who worked for Trump disliked working with him so much that they're doing it anyways.

As I said, this tends to fly below the radar because it's kind of a formulaic ritual; of course members of the President's party who are closely tied to him are going to endorse him for re-election! That's why you should pay attention now that most of the people who've worked with Trump aren't doing so. It says something, something big.

#politics #us politics #trump #biden #2024 elections

[tomorrowusa]

Trump wants Russia to attack our allies. Is it any wonder why he's Putin's favored candidate for president?

Having an ignoramus pawn of Putin as commander-in-chief is not good for national security or international stability.

Seeking a second presidency as the Republicans’ presumptive 2024 White House nominee, Donald Trump has said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the US’s Nato allies whom he considers to have not met their financial obligations. The White House described the remarks as “appalling and unhinged”. Trump made the statement on Saturday during a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, ahead of the state’s Republican presidential preference primary on 24 February. The former president has voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine as it defends itself from the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022 – as well as to the existence of Nato, the 31-nation alliance which the US has committed to defending when necessary.

Being the dumbass he is, Trump doesn't understand that NATO is a mutual defense pact. After 9/11 NATO countries provided logistical aid and even troops when the US overthrew the pro-al-Qaeda régime in Afghanistan and took into custody many of the planners of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Trump’s remarks on Saturday quickly raised alarm among many political pundits in the US. “Sounds as if Trump is kind of encouraging Russia to attack our Nato allies,” David Corn – an MSNBC analyst and the Washington DC bureau chief of Mother Jones – said on X. Meanwhile, conservative political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said Trump’s comments were “music” to the ears of Russian leader Vladimir Putin

Something Trump doesn't tell his MAGA zombie followers is that military expenditures of NATO countries have gone way up during the Biden administration.

From last July...

NATO Details Leap in Member Defense Spending Ahead of Summit

Is Trump just butthurt that Biden has had greater success at increasing NATO member defense expenditures? That does make Trump look even more like a loser.

More likely Trump is simply doing Putin's bidding in helping to weaken Europe in order to spread Russian hegemony.

Under Biden, NATO is not only growing in strength but growing in membership. Finland joined NATO last April. Sweden is set to join this year.

Many of our NATO allies have excellent intelligence services. Undoubtedly some of them have picked up "dirt" on Trump over the past dozen or so years. It would be a shame for Trump if some of that dirt somehow became public later this year. Europe should show the same love for Trump which he has been showing them. 🙂

#donald trump #vladimir putin #russia #nato #trump encourages putin to attack nato countries #international security #the trump “pee tapes” #election 2024