#rep. Tom Malinowski

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to cut off sales of weaponry and crucial plane parts to Saudi Arabia as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries—a cartel led by the Saudis—agreed to slash oil production in a bid to prop up falling prices, a move that could inflict more pain on American consumers.

"President Biden should make it clear that we will stop supplying the Saudis with weapons and air parts if they fleece the American people and strengthen [Russian President Vladimir] Putin by making drastic production cuts," Khanna (D-Calif.) told The Washington Post in an interview as OPEC members met in Vienna.

"They need us far more than we need them," Khanna added.

The Biden White House launched a pressure campaign earlier this week in a last-ditch bid to stop OPEC from cutting supply, characterizing such a move as a "hostile act."

But the administration's efforts failed. On Wednesday, OPEC members agreed to slash their combined production by two million barrels a day, the largest supply cut since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Saudi Arabia is the second-largest oil producer in the world behind the U.S., and the Biden administration has sought cooperation from the kingdom's murderous leaders as Russia's war on Ukraine continues to rattle global energy markets, elevating prices for consumers. While not a formal OPEC member, Russia—the world's third-largest oil producer—often works with the international cartel.

In July, U.S. President Joe Biden held a widely condemned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the global oil supply, among other issues.

The White House has warned an OPEC production cut could reverse the large and consistent declines in U.S. gas prices over the past several months, just in time for the pivotal midterm elections. Expectations of a production cut have already driven oil prices up significantly in recent days.

"We've been clear that energy supply should meet demand to support economic growth and lower prices for consumers around the world and we will continue to talk with our partners about that," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement Tuesday.

Khanna, a progressive seen by some as a future presidential candidate, is a longtime critic of the Saudi regime—particularly its devastating assault on Yemen. He has been pushing the White House in recent days to respond forcefully to any OPEC production cut.

"It's outrageous. The Saudis need to be dealt with harshly," Khanna told CNN in an interview earlier this week. "They are a third-rate power. We are the most powerful country in the world. I don't know why we kowtow to them."

"They are not our allies," the California Democrat added. "They are hurting the American people. And we need to be tough with them. The President needs to make it clear we will cut off their supply. We could ground their air force in a day."

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday called for an end to U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia after the kingdom and other major oil-producing nations agreed to slash output by two million barrels a day, a move that could significantly drive up gas prices worldwide as a global recession looms.

In a social media post, Sanders (I-Vt.) denounced the Saudi-led OPEC cartel over its "blatant attempt to increase gas prices at the pump," which he said "cannot stand."

"We must end OPEC's illegal price-fixing cartel, eliminate military assistance to Saudi Arabia, and move aggressively to renewable energy," the Senator added.

Sanders was one of several members of the U.S. Democratic caucus who responded with outrage to OPEC and Russia's decision, which is set to take effect in November as the midterm elections kick off.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) announced Wednesday that he will be reintroducing legislation instructing U.S. officials to "initiate dispute proceedings" against OPEC members at the World Trade Organization for violating the body's price-manipulation rules.

"As we build our clean energy future, we must stand up to the oil-soaked global cartel that seeks to abuse its power to raise prices and boost their profits," Markey said in a statement. "Today's OPEC announcement is a reminder that as long as the United States is dependent on foreign oil and on domestic oil that is priced on a global market, the supply and cost of the energy Americans use to operate our cars, heat our homes, and power our economy is reliant on decisions made by and for hostile fossil-fueled regimes."

"We must hold OPEC and its allies accountable for colluding to hike energy prices on working families," Markey added, "and we must accelerate our transition to clean energy to free ourselves from their profiteering, colluding grip once and for all."

Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), and Susan Wild (D-Pa.), meanwhile, unveiled legislation that would require the removal of U.S. troops and missile defense systems from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), another OPEC member.

"Saudi Arabia and the UAE's drastic cut in oil production, despite President Biden's overtures to both countries in recent months, is a hostile act against the United States and a clear signal that they have chosen to side with Russia in its war against Ukraine," the House Democrats said in a joint statement Wednesday.

"Both countries have long relied on an American military presence in the Gulf to protect their security and oil fields," the trio added. "We see no reason why American troops and contractors should continue to provide this service to countries that are actively working against us."

The Biden White House has thus far indicated that it is considering a number of policy responses to "reduce OPEC's control over energy prices"—signaling a possible revival of NOPEC legislation—but the administration hasn't specifically said it would target U.S. military assistance to the Saudis.

According to a recent study by the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon delivered at least $54.6 billion of military aid to Saudi Arabia and the UAE between fiscal years 2015 and 2021, support that included missiles, helicopters, and bombs.

The U.S. has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years refueling Saudi and UAE jets as they attacked Yemen, sparking a humanitarian catastrophe that continues in the present.

Despite the President's campaign pledge to make the kingdom a "pariah" over its assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administration has continued to approve massive weapons sales to the Saudis, including a multibillion-dollar sale of missiles in August. A month earlier, Reuters reported that the Biden administration was considering lifting its ban on "offensive" weapons sales to the Saudis.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has been vocally pressing the Biden administration to halt U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia in response to OPEC's coming production cut, blasting the petrostate as a "third-rate power" that is "hurting the American people."

On Wednesday, Khanna co-authored an op-ed calling for an end to "missile and weapons system sales Saudi so desperately needs."

"By siding with Russia in hiking oil prices and sabotaging our economy," Khanna and two others wrote, "the Saudis have really outfoxed themselves this time—it was a time for choosing, and they picked the wrong side."

#us politics #news #common dreams #2022 #biden administration #opec #saudi arabia #united arab emirates #yemen #Rep. Ro Khanna #sen. bernie sanders #sen. ed markey #rep. Tom Malinowski #rep. Sean Casten #rep. Susan Wild #opec crude oil #big oil #oil and gas #gas prices #Government Accountability Office #the pentagon #the washington post #prince mohammed bin salman #ukrainian crisis #russo ukrainian war #vladimir putin #trita parsi #Adrienne Watson #World Trade Organization #nopec

[living400lbs]

"Congressional salaries are $174,000. That pay has not increased since 2009; in real dollars, salaries are the lowest they’ve been since 1955. Our health insurance is purchased on the Affordable Care Act exchange. We pay 30% of the premium; the House of Representatives pays 70%, similar to most workplace insurance plans. ... Mandatory pensions take up 4.4% of the salary.... two residences are required; votes keep House members in Washington, D.C., about a hundred days each year. No housing allowance or per diem is paid, and no tax deduction for business housing is permitted. ...

Juxtapose these facts against the misconception that people become rich by serving in Congress. ... Congress is full of multimillionaires for the same reason that the NBA is full of tall people. It’s easier to get recruited and win with such advantages. Serving in Congress does not pad your bank account any more than playing basketball adds inches to your height. While we might accept physical attributes in athletes as natural or desirable, wealth does not give a better perspective for politics. It undercuts the purpose of representative democracy.

Americans rightfully fume that congressmembers trade stocks, convinced that insider information is misused, but we refuse to squarely address the harm that comes from representatives having such wealth in the first place. From 2019 to 2022, over 130 members of the House of Representatives each traded over $100,000 of stock. To trade that dollar volume in a year, these folks are either addicted day traders who cannot manage their money (much less our economy), or—and this is the reality—they own stocks worth many multiples of what they traded.

Representatives who are my peers in age and years of political service—like Cindy Axne, Mike Garcia, Ashley Hinson, Ro Khanna, Tom Malinowski, Blake Moore, Kim Schrier, and Mikie Sherrill—have each traded over $1 million while in office. In my life before Congress, I knew that people with net worths in the tens of millions were not my peers. Pretending they are in Congress is an indignity."

From I Swear: Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan by US Rep Katie Porter

#katie porter #us politics #worker housing #government #who can afford to have a residence in DC and California #us house of representatives

[meret118]

1 Rep. Tom O’HalleranAZ 02

2 Rep. Tom Malinowski NJ 07

3 Rep. Jared Golden ME 02

4 Rep. Cindy Axne IA 03

5 Rep. Elaine Luria VA 02

6 Rep. Marcy Kaptur OH 09

7 Rep. Susan Wild PA 07

8 Rep. Susie Lee NV 03

9 Rep. Elissa Slotkin MI 07

10 Rep. Kim Schrier WA 08

[recentlyheardcom]

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) called the new House speaker “MAGA Mike Johnson” on Wednesday and onlookers suggested the moniker was, unfortunately, a good fit.“MAGA is ascendant,” Gaetz told Steve Bannon on the ex-Donald Trump adviser’s podcast.“If you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement and where the power in the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention,” Gaetz said, referring to the ousted former House speaker.Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, was elected speaker Wednesday following three weeks of chaos after Gaetz prompted the removal of McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the role.Gaetz was angry that McCarthy worked with Democrats to avert a government shutdown and did not acquiesce to other demands of a hard-right faction of lawmakers.Republicans cycled through three nominees before managing to agree on Johnson, who holds extreme views on rights for women and LGBTQ+ people and led a push to throw out the 2020 election results on Trump’s behalf.Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) suggested Gaetz’s name for Johnson was appropriate.“‘MAGA Mike Johnson,’” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “House Republicans’ words, not ours.”Tara Setmayer, senior adviser to the anti-Trump group Lincoln Project, called on the media to “stop burying the lede” about “MAGA Mike,” adding that he would “do the bidding of” the extremist agenda.Hey—mainstream media…stop burying the lede about “MAGA” @RepMikeJohnson“ MAGA Mike” is a leader of the Jan 6th objectors, a Trump ally and will do the bidding of the illiberal populist MAGA extremist agenda. This is not someone worthy of the Speaker’s gavel. https://t.co/gHd5Zr9zg9— Tara Setmayer 🌻 (@TaraSetmayer) October 25, 2023Politico Washington correspondent Rachael Bade said “that nickname is gonna stick.”And former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), another Trump critic, said Gaetz was correct, calling Johnson’s election a victory for the Florida lawmaker.Gaetz is correct. Mike Johnson, unlike McCarthy, is MAGA. It’s a MAGA party. Johnson as Speaker will be a victory for Gaetz. https://t.co/uYqUTDKBIA— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 25, 2023Other journalists and commentators zeroed in on Gaetz’s remark about “where the power in the Republican Party truly lies.”“Matt Gaetz keeps being right and it’s kind of annoying,” former Republican National Committee spokesperson Tim Miller wrote.See some of the other commentary below.The biggest problem with Mike Johnson is not that he's an election denier.It's that Republicans acquiesced to the demand that ONLY an election denier can lead them, and anyone (like Emmer) who voted to certify the election is disqualified. So yeah, the extremists won. https://t.co/K2H3blSVlp— Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) October 25, 2023

[don-lichterman]

Republican Thomas Kean Jr. wins election to U.S. House in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, beating incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski

Republican Thomas Kean Jr. wins election to U.S. House in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, beating incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski

November 9, 2022 AP WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Thomas Kean Jr. wins election to U.S. House in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, beating incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski. Categories: National News Facebook Twitter Pinterest Source link

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[irvinenewshq]

Democrats need U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia after OPEC oil lower

A gaggle of Democratic lawmakers needs the U.S. army out of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following an announcement from OPEC that it might lower oil manufacturing by 2 million barrels per day. Reps. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, Sean Casten of Illinois and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania this week launched the “Strained Partnership Act” that mandated the removing of all U.S. troops from each nations together with missile defenses such because the Patriot and Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection system (THAAD). “Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s drastic lower in oil manufacturing, regardless of President Biden’s overtures to each nations in current months, is a hostile act in opposition to the USA and a transparent sign that they’ve chosen to facet with Russia in its conflict in opposition to Ukraine,” the lawmakers mentioned in a press release. The transfer by the Group of the Petroleum Exporting International locations is more likely to drive up oil costs in an already-tight world financial system and, coming so near the midterm elections, is broadly seen as a severe political blow in opposition to Mr. Biden. He was broadly criticized for providing a fist-bump to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman throughout a go to to the Kingdom in July. U.S. intelligence officers concluded the Saudi chief was behind the killing of Washington Put up journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Democratic lawmakers mentioned Saudi Arabia and the UAE have relied on an American army presence to guard their safety and oil fields for a number of years. SEE ALSO: Biden says he doesn’t remorse Saudi journey, at the same time as OPEC+ agrees to chop manufacturing “We see no purpose why American troops and contractors ought to proceed to supply this service to nations which might be actively working in opposition to us,” they mentioned of their assertion. “If Saudi Arabia and the UAE need to assist [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, they need to look to him for his or her protection.” Originally published at Irvine News HQ

#Irvine News HQ

[loulou1943]

[midnightfunk]

Oh, that’s what it took to wake up the GOP?

#rep. tom malinowski #rep. justin amash #us constitution #us congress #checks and balances #congressional oversight #states rights #newsweek #donald trump #the manchurian president #rep. dan phillips #10th amendment

[space-mouse]

.

#shdlfhgsjshdgslsj it's campaign attack ad season / #and the algorithm thinks that repeating ''tom malinkowski: he's TOO LIBERAL'' / #at me / #might prevent me from voting blue all the way down the ticket / #lmaoooo / #suz yells #....*malinowski #i do know my reps' names

[bighermie]

#tom malinowski

[recentlyheardcom]

Republican Tom Kean Jr. defeats Rep. Malinowski in New Jersey

Republican Tom Kean Jr. defeats Rep. Malinowski in New Jersey

Rep. Tom Malinowski, a second-term Democrat from New Jersey, was defeated on Wednesday by his Republican opponent, Tom Kean Jr., the namesake of a popular former governor running in his fourth run for Congress. The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Kean on Wednesday night, hours after Mr. Malinowski conceded defeat in northern New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District. “We did as well or…

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[don-lichterman]

Malinowski defeated in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District

Malinowski defeated in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D) is projected to lose his reelection bid to former state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R) in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, flipping the Garden State seat red. Louisiana mayor running for reelection killed in crash hours before polls close Longtime Republican lawmaker Chabot upset in Ohio CNN and ABC News called the race. The victory by Kean, a former minority leader of…

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[eraserdude6226]

Keep going, ignore what happened in Virginia because that just had to be a one-off, right??

Ignore all those school boards being upended and conservatives being placed on them because "well, that just local things"!!

Keep on thinking that way until the parents vote you out. Have fun looking in on the new reps!!

#2022redwave #redwave2022 #red wave 2022 #2022 red wave

[beardedmrbean]

The American Civil Liberties Union helped scuttle a bill this week that would have enabled the Biden administration to liquidate Russian oligarchs’ assets and turn the proceeds over to Ukraine.

ACLU officials told lawmakers on Tuesday that the legislation could run afoul of due process protections in the U.S. Constitution because it does not allow its targets to challenge the government’s actions in court, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. ACLU officials warned that the measure would probably be struck down by the judicial branch if enacted as proposed, giving Russia a potential propaganda victory over the United States, the people said.

U.S. seizes superyacht of Russian billionaire close to Putin

The legislation — co-sponsored by Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) — would have allowed the Biden administration to confiscate property worth more than $5 million belonging to Russians who had been sanctioned by the U.S. government. Under the bill, those assets could be sold for cash that would then be given to Ukraine for military and humanitarian assistance. The amount of those funds could run in the billions.

On Tuesday night, lawmakers voted to dramatically weaken the measure by turning it into a “Sense of Congress” resolution that does not create the new authority. The amended measure also creates a task force giving the Biden administration 60 days to “determine the constitutional mechanisms” through which President Biden could confiscate the assets, after which lawmakers could create a new legislative proposal.

The ACLU’s objections to the bill fueled existing concerns among some members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs who were already uneasy about it, two of the people said. A companion bill in the Senate faces an uncertain path to passage, as well, despite bipartisan support. Supporters of the legislation say they will try to resolve ACLU’s concerns in a revised version of the bill.

“This bill was so unconstitutional that it raised the prospect that a sanctioned Russian national could win in an American court, which likely would have struck down both the statute and the sanction as being unconstitutional,” said Christopher Anders, federal policy director of the ACLU, in an interview.

The jockeying over the House legislation may represent the first part of a much broader debate about what to do with the potentially substantial sums of Russian oligarch assets expected to be seized by U.S. and European officials in retaliation for the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s billionaires have about as much financial wealth stashed in offshore foreign accounts as the entire country’s population has in Russia itself, according to a 2017 paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Biden told Russia’s oligarchs at the State of the Union that the United States and Europe would work to “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

But what exactly should become of the money has remained an open question. Typically, U.S. sanctions simply freeze the assets of the sanctioned individual. It normally takes a determination by a court of law that a crime has been committed for those assets to be confiscated and then repurposed or sold by the government.

Malinowski and Wilson have said an expedited approach to this process is justified because of the extraordinary atrocities reported in Ukraine. Their bill would have given Biden new unilateral power to liquidate and sell Russian oligarchs’ assets — a power typically available to the president only when a declaration of war has been made, according to sanctions experts. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution says no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”

Congress breaks stalemate on Ukraine measures, sends two bills to Biden for enactment

In an interview Friday, Malinowski said that the ACLU was “doing its job ... to enforce guardrails of due process and to raise questions about precedent,” adding that the organization had raised legitimate questions. Malinowski said he was open to amending the legislation as needed to protect due process, including by incorporating a new judicial mechanism, but he also expressed determination not to allow seized Russian assets to flow back to that country should the sanctions be lifted after the war.

“There is no way we’re going to return Russia’s wealth to Putin while Ukraine lies in ruin and Ukrainians are burying their dead. It’s not going to happen,” Malinowski said. “So the question is: Do we let these assets sit somewhere for decades subject to uncertain litigation, or do we find a way to use at least some of them to rebuild the country that Putin is destroying? ”

Malinowski also said that U.S. authorities should not be deluded by what he characterized as the false notion that Russian oligarch assets are forms of private property. Instead, Malinowski said, the United States should look at these holdings as a form of Russian state assets — since the Russian state effectively exerts power over their management and use.

“The Russian state is responsible for destroying Ukraine, and these are effectively Russian state assets even if the person whose name is on the title is not Vladimir Putin,” Malinowski said. “This wealth was amassed in a country with no due process, that then takes advantage of due process in our country to protect it. In that sense, we have been totally complicit in the corruption of Putin’s corrupt enterprise and have some responsibility in helping to unravel it."

Malinowski said the legislation would also apply to the frozen Russian central bank funds that had been kept overseas. He added: “It would not be a good outcome if we allowed our commitment to property rights and due process enable the return the assets that were stolen precisely because these people destroyed property rights and due process in Russia.”

Treasury Department officials have provided feedback to congressional staff on the measure, according to a Treasury spokeswoman, although it has received no formal endorsement from the administration.

Sanctions experts say they struggle to identify precedent for the bill.

“The idea of trying to seize these assets and use them for some kind of restitution has got a lot of attractive elements to it,” said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University. “The real issue is it is a fairly significant expansion of sanctions authority. It’s not the kind of thing we usually do. It’s a completely noble goal, but it does not take too much to extend this precedent out in ways we may not be comfortable with.”

Malinowski pointed to the U.S. government’s decision to refuse to seize Afghanistan’s central bank reserves as a potential precedent for the bill. He added that lawmakers have the ability to create new authorities, as well.

The ACLU’s position on the bill may not be politically popular at a time where both Republicans and Democrats are clamoring for more punitive measures against Russia. But that is in line with the organization’s history of defending unpopular causes on principle. The ACLU defended the free speech rights of alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017, and in 2020 defended the rights of anti-Semitic protesters in Michigan picketing outside a synagogue.

Adam M. Smith, a partner at Gibson Dunn and a former Obama administration sanctions official, said the bill was written carefully to achieve a kind of “karmic justice” for Ukrainians.

“The bill was purposefully very narrow on which parties would have been subject to the seizing,” Smith said. “The drafters were sensitive to civil liberties concerns and tried to achieve a balance.”

The fate of the bill remains unclear for now. Norm Eisen, senior fellow at the D.C.-based Brookings Institution, said the legislation’s constitutional challenges should be resolved in a committee amendment process that provides time for due process concerns to be resolved.

“Whether it is a revived version of this bill or another alternative, Congress must move with resolve to pass legislation closing the implementation gaps that will make sanctions against Russian aggression even more effective for the long haul,” Eisen said in an email.

#nunyas news