This evening, by a vote of 336 to 95, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund the government. Pushed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), the measure funds the government at current spending levels. Funding for different parts of the government will run out on two separate dates: January 19 and February 2. The measure does not include any funding for military aid to Israel or Ukraine.
After reading Joyce Vance’s informative Substack newsletter today, I was almost afraid to open Heather’s. I’m glad I did. Although the behavior of the so-called Republican leaders is beyond appalling, reading about all that Joe Biden is doing for our country has provided solace.
The brutish behavior of the Republicans is in extreme contrast to the Democrats, who are at the work of operating the government. The question we will have to answer is how did such low life individuals get elected in the first place.?
As Dr. Richardson points out almost every day, the Trump/MAGA/Republican Party does not want to govern, many of them don’t seem to want a government. It’s not clear what they are so angry about, or what they want to accomplish. It’s clear that they can’t even get along with each other. Yet today, in order to appease his flock, the new Speaker endorsed Trump, the day after Trump did his “I wanna be Hitler” speech. This is not good for America or the world.
Today Nobel prize winning, NYT columnist Paul Krugman attempted to understand the gap between the reality of the economy and the perception of it by many Americans. These people are far more pessimistic than they should be compared to historical reality. Basically he states that what people feel about the economy has more to do of what they are told to feel about it by partisan organizations. To quote him “And it’s a running joke among economists I talk to that even mainstream news organizations apparently find it hard to say nice things about the Biden economy. When, say, a new employment report comes in, the headlines don’t usually say things like “Job growth comes in above expectations”; they’re more likely along the lines of, “Rapid job growth may slow soon, experts say, posing problems for Biden.”. “ So there you have it: by all facts inflation is down, wages up, gas prices down, and people are spending. As the actor in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” said, “What we've got here is failure to communicate.”
It’s sad to see both houses of Congress and SCOTUS behaving corruptly and uncivilly. May voters have intelligent civilized representatives to send to DC. To find and vote for these people is a challenge we have to meet if we are to continue as a democracy. Senator Klobuchar’s new rule for senatorial “holds” may save our military, but it is getting registered to vote and voting blue that will save US.
EDIT: See bottom for how much Sen. Mullins is worth.
I retired to Oklahoma from NYC in 2021. I wanted to live in a small town on Route 66 instead of a big, expensive city. I watched video today that showed the Oklahoma Senator standing up as if about to fight but also saw his earlier claim to being an ordinary guy who had made $50,000 a year running a plumbing company. The union leader had called the Senator “greedy” in a tweet back in June, and one commentator (might have been Jake Tapper but I’m not sure) mentioned what thin skin you must have to want to fight someone over a Tweet from June. But here’s the kicker on this story to me: Tulsa World newspaper (the largest in the state I think) ran a report on all this today that said our Senator is worth somewhere in the neighborhood on $30 million dollars! So, his claim to being just an ordinary small businessman doesn’t fly!
Today's Republican antics weren't all physical. Let us not overlook another little tidbit:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) began the morning by calling Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) a "p***y" for voting to block her impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Honestly, it's like being in middle school ("junior high school", as it once was called) all over again.
Is it any wonder Congress has the lowest approval rating -- 17% -- since 2017??
When will the mainstream media realize that many of us want the “boring” news of Biden’s accomplishments and not the circus that is the Republican House of Representatives and the rants and dangerous rhetoric of Trump and his cronies? Soon, please.
With all the information available to everyone, I'm dumbfounded that people still vote for these childish political hacks to make decisions affecting not just the US, but the entire world. Shameful. Which makes me realize there are a lot of Americans who admire the violence, ignorance, treason, and corruption demonstrated by some Congressional Republicans and other MAGAs.
Which means the rest of us have to WORK WORK WORK - not just comment on Substack - to elect people who practice decency, trust, and patriotism.
A typical day on Capitol Hill which 50 years ago would seem outrageous, at least the senators don’t use canes like the southern representative who attacked Charles Sumner back before the civil war. I guess not much has changed. Thank you Heather!
Well dang HCR, some good news--and I consider the idiotic toddler tantrums of the Rethuglicans to be good news because they are so ridiculous that if the commnercial media actually reports on this it'll be a revelation to at least some folks.
Someone please get Bernie a bigger gavel. It looked like a baby rattle on tv. He needs a big, loud gavel to interrupt the fool sitting next to him, who wants to fist fight committee witnesses. The Congressional GOP is a motley crew.
And why is it that so many people dislike Joe Biden?
He may not be progressive enough for me, but given the situation we're in (2024/trump/maga), he's actually done pretty well.
I will vote for him, and not just to defeat trump.
I think he's an honest man who is doing the best he can for America.
After reading Joyce Vance’s informative Substack newsletter today, I was almost afraid to open Heather’s. I’m glad I did. Although the behavior of the so-called Republican leaders is beyond appalling, reading about all that Joe Biden is doing for our country has provided solace.
The brutish behavior of the Republicans is in extreme contrast to the Democrats, who are at the work of operating the government. The question we will have to answer is how did such low life individuals get elected in the first place.?
As Dr. Richardson points out almost every day, the Trump/MAGA/Republican Party does not want to govern, many of them don’t seem to want a government. It’s not clear what they are so angry about, or what they want to accomplish. It’s clear that they can’t even get along with each other. Yet today, in order to appease his flock, the new Speaker endorsed Trump, the day after Trump did his “I wanna be Hitler” speech. This is not good for America or the world.
The Speaker endorsed Trump? I had to read that sentence a few times. Trumps "vermin" speech is as sick as it gets.
Thank California, the fifth largest economy in the world, for aggressively cutting emissions.
You’re welcome.
Today Nobel prize winning, NYT columnist Paul Krugman attempted to understand the gap between the reality of the economy and the perception of it by many Americans. These people are far more pessimistic than they should be compared to historical reality. Basically he states that what people feel about the economy has more to do of what they are told to feel about it by partisan organizations. To quote him “And it’s a running joke among economists I talk to that even mainstream news organizations apparently find it hard to say nice things about the Biden economy. When, say, a new employment report comes in, the headlines don’t usually say things like “Job growth comes in above expectations”; they’re more likely along the lines of, “Rapid job growth may slow soon, experts say, posing problems for Biden.”. “ So there you have it: by all facts inflation is down, wages up, gas prices down, and people are spending. As the actor in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” said, “What we've got here is failure to communicate.”
It’s sad to see both houses of Congress and SCOTUS behaving corruptly and uncivilly. May voters have intelligent civilized representatives to send to DC. To find and vote for these people is a challenge we have to meet if we are to continue as a democracy. Senator Klobuchar’s new rule for senatorial “holds” may save our military, but it is getting registered to vote and voting blue that will save US.
EDIT: See bottom for how much Sen. Mullins is worth.
I retired to Oklahoma from NYC in 2021. I wanted to live in a small town on Route 66 instead of a big, expensive city. I watched video today that showed the Oklahoma Senator standing up as if about to fight but also saw his earlier claim to being an ordinary guy who had made $50,000 a year running a plumbing company. The union leader had called the Senator “greedy” in a tweet back in June, and one commentator (might have been Jake Tapper but I’m not sure) mentioned what thin skin you must have to want to fight someone over a Tweet from June. But here’s the kicker on this story to me: Tulsa World newspaper (the largest in the state I think) ran a report on all this today that said our Senator is worth somewhere in the neighborhood on $30 million dollars! So, his claim to being just an ordinary small businessman doesn’t fly!
More on how much Mullins is worth...
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/mullins-and-herns-net-worth-jump-with-sale-of-businesses/article_8be47a40-3e7a-11ed-97ba-fbb2aa7c3285.html
The White House is looking into women's health issues.
Meantime in Congress, "Boys will be boys."
Today's Republican antics weren't all physical. Let us not overlook another little tidbit:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) began the morning by calling Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) a "p***y" for voting to block her impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Honestly, it's like being in middle school ("junior high school", as it once was called) all over again.
Is it any wonder Congress has the lowest approval rating -- 17% -- since 2017??
When will the mainstream media realize that many of us want the “boring” news of Biden’s accomplishments and not the circus that is the Republican House of Representatives and the rants and dangerous rhetoric of Trump and his cronies? Soon, please.
With all the information available to everyone, I'm dumbfounded that people still vote for these childish political hacks to make decisions affecting not just the US, but the entire world. Shameful. Which makes me realize there are a lot of Americans who admire the violence, ignorance, treason, and corruption demonstrated by some Congressional Republicans and other MAGAs.
Which means the rest of us have to WORK WORK WORK - not just comment on Substack - to elect people who practice decency, trust, and patriotism.
A typical day on Capitol Hill which 50 years ago would seem outrageous, at least the senators don’t use canes like the southern representative who attacked Charles Sumner back before the civil war. I guess not much has changed. Thank you Heather!
Well dang HCR, some good news--and I consider the idiotic toddler tantrums of the Rethuglicans to be good news because they are so ridiculous that if the commnercial media actually reports on this it'll be a revelation to at least some folks.
Someone please get Bernie a bigger gavel. It looked like a baby rattle on tv. He needs a big, loud gavel to interrupt the fool sitting next to him, who wants to fist fight committee witnesses. The Congressional GOP is a motley crew.