The Senate, Task Two!

[JackLuis]

Lindsey Graham’s own words get thrown back in his face in new anti-Trump attack ad

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is getting hit with a new attack ad that throws the senator’s own words back in his face.

The ad, which was produced by a super PAC called “Lindsey Must Go,” shows all the times that Graham attacked President Donald Trump before abruptly changing to becoming a major supporter of the president.

“I think he’s a kook,” Graham says at the start of the ad. “I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.”

The ad then cuts to Graham at a Trump rally repeatedly thanking Trump for being “a damn good president.”

 

[bodysong]

McConnell attacks House for not being in session,
then sends the Senate into week-long recess

May 22, 2020 9:58 AM

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stood on the floor Thursday morning,
lecturing and lambasting the House with predictable venom-

"The Democratic House has essentially put itself on paid leave for months," he said.
"Since the early days of the crisis, self-described People's House has been suspiciously
empty of people. […] I'm wondering if we should send Senators over there to collect
their newspaper and water their plants?" Then he recessed the Senate for the next ten
days for Memorial Day.

What's McConnell been doing since he forced senators and all the support staff
for the Senate back to work in unsafe conditions?

Nothing related to the public health or economic crisis from COVID-19.

The Judiciary Committee had hearings on more of Trump's ideologically extreme
and judicially inexperienced and unsound nominees. All McConnell managed to
get down in the time the Senate was back was hurl political insults and push bad
nominees.

In House Speaker Pelosi's words-
“We have the HEROES bill. Others say he has the zeroes bill."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...on-the-sends-the-Senate-into-week-long-recess

On the Heroes Act, Pelosi expressed confidence that McConnell would eventually
come to the table. Nevertheless, for now she argues, “He has decided to obstruct.”
As for more funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to combat
food insecurity, she chastised Republican opposition. “Aren’t they ashamed to say …
‘I don’t want to spend money to feed people in America’?” (No.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/21/nancy-pelosi-is-fire/

 

[JackLuis]

Ex-RNC head tips off Democrats how to derail Lindsey Graham’s ‘sham’ Biden investigation

On MSNBC Saturday, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele advised Democrats how to fight the politically motivated investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“I’m going to give you the last word on this,” said host Joy Reid. “You have Lindsey Graham pretending to investigate Joe Biden, who used to call him his friend, a piece in which Trump is mad at people like Lindsey Graham, because they’re not doing enough to slime Joe Biden.”

“Look, the investigations into Biden and Burisma and Hunter and all of that — I just have this to say,” said Steele. “If anybody gets subpoenaed, don’t show up, or if you do, say I’ll show up when all the folks who were subpoenaed in the administration show up, we’ll do this together. Because the reality of it is, it exposes what this really is about. This is not about anything serious. This is not about anything that is, you know, a death knell to the national security of the country. This is about raw politics and using the agencies of the federal government to go after your political opponents.”

 

[JackLuis]

Graham announces hearing on police use of force after George Floyd killing

Ms Lindsey facing a tough election panders to Blacks! Police violence has been a problem forever and now Graham is 'concerned.'

 

[JackLuis]

McConnell: Next coronavirus bill will be final COVID-19 package

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Friday that the next potential relief bill will be the final coronavirus stimulus legislation.

"We're taking a careful look at a fourth and final bill. You can anticipate the decision being made on whether to go forward in about a month. It will be narrowly crafted," McConnell told reporters in Kentucky.

The GOP leader's prediction that the bill would be the final economic package comes as lawmakers are nowhere near a deal that could pass both chambers and get President Trump's support.

The House passed legislation this week to provide more flexibility for the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, by extending the window that businesses have to use the funding.

They also passed a nearly $3 trillion bill earlier this month that, among other provisions, provided a second round of stimulus checks, had more money for state and local governments and expanded food assistance.

But Senate Republicans have declared the bill to be "dead on arrival," and have shown few signs that they are going to quickly offer their own proposal.

So Mitch has decided that they can't keep giving money to Wall Street?

 

[JackLuis]

GOP Senators Duck Questions About Trump's OANN Antifa Conspiracy Tweet

Another week, another tweet, another Walk of Shame on the part of Republican senators who desperately wish Donald Trump didn't tweet and wish harder that if he was going to tweet, he wouldn't tweet conspiracy theories from anonymous blogs amplified by former Sputnik reporters now working for OANN.

But you know, he did do that thing. He did!

Here's the tweet, which has been up for hours at the time MSNBC reporters tried to get Republican Senators to comment on it.

Watch Senators John Cornyn, John Kennedy, Lamar Alexander, Marsha Blackburn, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Richard Burr, Richard Shelby and Ron Johnson skulk by with no comment.

Senator Mike Braun shrugged and muttered something about him tweeting a lot before escaping to his luncheon. Rick Scott said he hadn't seen the tweet and couldn't comment. How conveeeenient.

Only Senators Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski had anything to say, and that wasn't much. Murkowski pronounced it "not helpful," and Romney expressed aggravation about what was said before vowing he wouldn't dignify it with further comment.

Confederates of PeeResident Trump afraid to fly their freak flags in public.

 

[JackLuis]

Wall Street firm tells clients to expect a Democratic Senate in 2021: report

On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Signum, a Wall Street financial advisory firm with a policy and research division and experts knowledgeable of Washington, is now telling clients to expect Democrats to take control of the U.S. Senate in the November election, and prepare for resulting policy changes.

“In a note to Signum’s clients, Chairman Charles Myers and senior partner Lew Lukens said that while they were initially convinced Republicans would maintain control of the upper chamber, they have changed their minds and think Democrats are going to take it back,” reported Brian Schwartz. “‘As Joe Biden’s lead over Trump in national and battleground polling has widened, several Senate races have become closer. We are changing our call and now predict the Democrats will take the Senate,’ they wrote on Tuesday.”

Bye Bye Mitch!

 

[jaF0]

Chickens. Eggs. Hatching.

 

[JackLuis]

Potential political ‘earthquake’ brewing as Booker takes lead over McGrath in Kentucky

Progressive state Rep. Charles Booker on Thursday overtook centrist Amy McGrath for the first time in the vote count of Tuesday’s primary, raising hopes of a potential upset in the race to face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November.

On Thursday morning, with more than 74,000 votes counted and 79% of the state’s precincts reporting their in-person, Election Day numbers, officials reported Booker had 43.5% of the vote versus 40% for McGrath.


As Intercept journalist Ryan Grim pointed out, Booker has won 80% of the in-person vote in Jefferson County so far, signaling that many of the incoming absentee votes are likely for him as well.

“McGrath will have to hunt extremely hard to find the votes to make that up elsewhere,” Grim tweeted.

Booker was endorsed by progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and by Kentucky’s two largest newspapers and members of the state’s Democratic establishment including former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.

In its endorsement of Booker, the Courier-Journal editorial board wrote, “It’s time to shake up the establishment” and criticized McGrath for being “overly moderate,” “unimaginative, and uninspiring.”

People are for progressives not limp dicked centrists!

 

[KeithD]

Trump may be bringing out the black vote in a way he never envisioned (he doesn't think ahead on all sorts of things). The Obama-connected black candidate out of four pretty liberal Democrats that were vying to run in my congressional district won with 68% of the primary vote this week. He runs against a religious nut who works at Falwell's Liberty University and who unseated the incumbent Trumper congressmen who just wasn't Trumper enough for the Republicans in this gerrymandered district that goes down the whole center of the state.

 

[YDB95]

Trump may be bringing out the black vote in a way he never envisioned (he doesn't think ahead on all sorts of things). The Obama-connected black candidate out of four pretty liberal Democrats that were vying to run in my congressional district won with 68% of the primary vote this week. He runs against a religious nut who works at Falwell's Liberty University and who unseated the incumbent Trumper congressmen who just wasn't Trumper enough for the Republicans in this gerrymandered district that goes down the whole center of the state.

Dems need a perfect storm for that seat...but they may well get one.

 

[jaF0]

Gee Mitch, Who ya' gonna call?

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/mitch_mcconnell_favorableunfavorable-6672.html#!

 

[JackLuis]

Gee Mitch, Who ya' gonna call?

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/mitch_mcconnell_favorableunfavorable-6672.html#!

OMG, Trump is down 10-14% and Mitch is down 23%!!

Could it be that he is going down after 30 years!

 

[Ziggins]

McConnell has over 88,000 primary votes. The two Dems add up to a bit over 60,000. That seat looks safely red.

 

[KeithD]

Yeah, I say not to draw conclusions on that race until after it's happened.

 

[jaF0]

Registered Voters:

D 1,677,777
R 1,491,224
Other 307,390

Rs are outnumbered by 493,943

https://elect.ky.gov/Resources/Documents/voterstatsdistrict-20200604-144820.pdf

 

[Tigersman]

New state

The House passed along party lines a bill that would make the District Of Columbia our 51st state. Now the bill goes to the Republican controlled Senate where it will die. The Republicans do not want another blue state so they will follow party lines.

 

[Veroe]

McConnell has over 88,000 primary votes. The two Dems add up to a bit over 60,000. That seat looks safely red.

He's also consistently the least popular politician in the country. Even the republicans in kentucky that vote for him don't really like him so much mostly because he's more the old tax cuts for the donor class and slashing gov't overreach cures everything establishment model rather than part of the new Trump style nationalist sentiment that's dominant among Republican voters right now, but the man is extraordinarily skilled at playing this game. That's why he's still in power with a large number of his own people not liking him so much. That man wallows like a pig in mud in everything that people hate about Washington politics.

I only wish I lived in KY so I could have the privilege of voting him out and doing the country and the state a great service.

You're probably right though, Ziggins, he's savy enough at the game and has enough of a lead on either Mcgrath or Booker's likely voters that unless a miracle were to occur he'll still be steering the country and the Republican party itself in the completely wrong direction for years to come.

 

[jaF0]

Even the republicans in kentucky that vote for him don't really like him


and has enough of a lead on either Mcgrath or Booker's likely voters that unless a miracle were to occur

The Rs in KY actively voted OUT an R Governor they didn't like while voting Rs IN to every other state office.

As noted above, if the Ds and Others would just simply go to the polls, Mitch would be gone, no miracle required. Add in the same Rs that voted against Bevins and it would be a done deal.

 

[Veroe]

The Rs in KY actively voted OUT an R Governor they didn't like while voting Rs IN to every other state office.

As noted above, if the Ds and Others would just simply go to the polls, Mitch would be gone, no miracle required. Add in the same Rs that voted against Bevins and it would be a done deal.

You are right, JaFO, if everything lines up it looks good...but McConnell is Emperor Palpatine level smart at the political game. If we want him out we absolutely can not take that for granted.

And Bevin's loss was because he was dumb and didn't play the game well at all. McConnell is smart at this.

 

[JackLuis]

Joe Scarborough rains hell on #MoscowMitch over silence on Trump/Russia bombshell report

MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for silence in the wake of a bombshell New York Times report.

The newspaper on Friday reported that Russia was offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The report said President Donald Trump had been briefed on options for response but had not authorized any action.

After silence from Republicans, Scarborough pressed the topic, referring to McConnell as “Moscow Mitch.”

“What will #MoscowMitch say about Russians putting bounties on American troops’ heads and Donald Trump saying nothing about it?” he asked. “Is #MoscowMitch as beholden to Putin as the compromised commander in chief?”

 

[JackLuis]

Tom Cotton Presents:
86 Ways To Say DC Has Too Many Black People To Be A State

The United States, supposedly, was founded on the idea that taxation without representation is not okay. And yet those who live in Washington DC, our nation's very capital, drive around in cars with license plates that say "taxation without representation," because of how they pay taxes without being allowed any real representation in Congress.

Today, the House will vote on whether or not to allow Washington DC, unrepresented federal district, to become Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, actual state, with representation and everything. The general assumption is that it will pass the House along party lines and then get stalled in the Senate, because of all the Republicans there. Republicans don't want DC to be a state, because it would likely go Democratic — which would then give Democrats two more Senators, and that's not fair because Republicans enjoy having an advantage in the Senate. It would be much better, they think, for DC residents to selflessly sacrifice their interest in being represented so that Republicans can hold onto this advantage.

And so yesterday Sen. Tom Cotton went on an 18-minute-long spiel about how DC should not be a state, all of which really just amounted to "There are a lot of Black people there."

 

[Ziggins]

The simplest way to resolve the DC issue is reduce it to the federal properties and return the rest to Maryland and Virginia. Meanwhile, there are better statehood candidates: Jefferson, Puerto Rico, and Superior. If we want to keep the number 50, we will need some new states as Florida and Delaware disappear.

 

[KeithD]

The simplest way to resolve the DC issue is reduce it to the federal properties and return the rest to Maryland and Virginia. Meanwhile, there are better statehood candidates: Jefferson, Puerto Rico, and Superior. If we want to keep the number 50, we will need some new states as Florida and Delaware disappear.

Virginia already got back the Virginia segment many years ago (1847). It's Arlington County.

 

[JackLuis]

George Conway calls out every senator who voted ‘not guilty’ at impeachment trial for missing their chance to dump Trump

In a brief but to-the-point tweet on Sunday, a disgusted George Conway posted the names of every U.S. senator who voted against ousting Donald Trump from the Oval Office when they had the chance, and are now having to deal with the fall-out from a New York Times report that the president has known since March that Russia is paying bounties for the murder of U.S. military members.

The conservative Conway — who is both married to senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and is a founder of the Lincoln Project that has become a major thorn the president’s side — took to Twitter to post a screenshot of the names of the senators who passed on a chance to rid themselves of the president along with an all-encompassing condemnation.

“To the people on the attached list,” he wrote, “ALL. OF. THIS. IS. YOUR. FAULT.”

Take that (list of traitors!)