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LetMyPeopleVote
LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
April 20, 2024
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/20/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-house-passage-of-the-national-security-package/
Statement from President Joe Biden on House Passage of the National Security Package
https://twitter.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1781766339792695780https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/20/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-house-passage-of-the-national-security-package/
APRIL 20, 2024
Statement from President Joe Biden on House Passage of the National Security Package
Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.
This package will deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world; and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia. I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first. I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.
###
Statement from President Joe Biden on House Passage of the National Security Package
Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.
This package will deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world; and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia. I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first. I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.
###
April 20, 2024
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/19/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-uaw-vote-in-tennessee/
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
https://twitter.com/GeneSperling46/status/1781518954781102264https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/19/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-uaw-vote-in-tennessee/
APRIL 19, 2024
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers. I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen. Across the country, union members have logged major wins and large raises, including auto workers, actors, port workers, Teamsters, writers, warehouse and health care workers, and more. Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.
Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken workers’ voice.
###
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers. I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen. Across the country, union members have logged major wins and large raises, including auto workers, actors, port workers, Teamsters, writers, warehouse and health care workers, and more. Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.
Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken workers’ voice.
###
April 20, 2024
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/19/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-uaw-vote-in-tennessee/
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
https://twitter.com/GeneSperling46/status/1781518954781102264https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/19/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-uaw-vote-in-tennessee/
APRIL 19, 2024
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers. I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen. Across the country, union members have logged major wins and large raises, including auto workers, actors, port workers, Teamsters, writers, warehouse and health care workers, and more. Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.
Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken workers’ voice.
###
Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee
Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers. I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen. Across the country, union members have logged major wins and large raises, including auto workers, actors, port workers, Teamsters, writers, warehouse and health care workers, and more. Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.
Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken workers’ voice.
###
April 20, 2024
And then there were three: Gosar joins effort to oust GOP speaker
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been looking for at least one Republican ally in her effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. This week, she found two.
https://twitter.com/stevebenen/status/1781381807436398983
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/three-gosar-joins-effort-oust-gop-speaker-rcna148596
The winds have shifted direction quickly. On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky signed onto Greene’s motion-to-vacate measure, and today, the duo became a trio. NBC News reported:
According to some accounts, the number of Republicans prepared to kick Johnson out of the speaker’s office is likely to inch higher soon......
If Greene were to force a vote on the House speaker’s fate, she’d have more than enough votes to oust Johnson — if Democrats were to vote against him the same way they voted against then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October.
If, on the other hand, members of the Democratic minority were to rescue the incumbent GOP leader — a dynamic that keeps coming up — Johnson would almost certainly keep his gavel, though he’d be weakened badly, and his dependence on Democratic support would complicate his future.
In case that weren’t quite enough, there’s also the question of what, exactly, Democrats might expect from the House speaker in exchange for rescuing him. Would passage of security aid suffice? Would that only be part of a larger Democratic wish list?
A third House Republican has signed onto an effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson from power, giving his opponents the votes they’d need to remove the Republican leader unless Democrats stepped in to save him. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., signed onto the “motion to vacate” authored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., both Republicans said Friday.
According to some accounts, the number of Republicans prepared to kick Johnson out of the speaker’s office is likely to inch higher soon......
If Greene were to force a vote on the House speaker’s fate, she’d have more than enough votes to oust Johnson — if Democrats were to vote against him the same way they voted against then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October.
If, on the other hand, members of the Democratic minority were to rescue the incumbent GOP leader — a dynamic that keeps coming up — Johnson would almost certainly keep his gavel, though he’d be weakened badly, and his dependence on Democratic support would complicate his future.
In case that weren’t quite enough, there’s also the question of what, exactly, Democrats might expect from the House speaker in exchange for rescuing him. Would passage of security aid suffice? Would that only be part of a larger Democratic wish list?
April 20, 2024
GOP rep: Some Republicans 'would like to see the Russians win'
A growing number of GOP lawmakers are complaining that some of their Republican colleagues want Russia to win a war against a U.S. ally. This isn't normal.
https://twitter.com/stevebenen/status/1781292103307235372
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gop-rep-republicans-see-russians-win-rcna148522
Five days later, the House Intelligence Committee’s Republican chair, Ohio’s Mike Turner, was about as candid while echoing the sentiment, conceding that some of his GOP colleagues were peddling rhetoric that’s “directly coming from Russia.” Soon after, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, a longtime GOP lawmaker, said he believes many congressional Republicans are now working as “the arm of Vladimir Putin.”
The list keeps growing. The Hill reported:
In context, it was clear that the Nebraska Republican was referring to members of his own party.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1781022052809371960
.....A growing number of GOP lawmakers are complaining — out loud, on the record, and occasionally even on camera — that there are Republican members of Congress siding with a U.S. adversary, taking steps to help Russia win a war against a U.S. ally. They’re effectively warning Americans that there are some GOP officials on Capitol Hill who aren’t just echoing the Kremlin’s position, they’re also actively and deliberately taking steps to help Russia prevail in an ongoing conflict.
This ... isn’t normal.
The list keeps growing. The Hill reported:
Republican Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.) ripped into his colleagues who oppose further funding for Ukraine, arguing they “would like to see” Russia win the more than two-year war against Kyiv. “Now for Ukraine, they have no more artillery. If we do not do this, the Russians will be in Kyiv. Unfortunately, a few of my colleagues would like to see the Russians win. I don’t know why that is the case. I think it’s a terrible thing,” Bacon said in an interview with C-SPAN.
In context, it was clear that the Nebraska Republican was referring to members of his own party.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1781022052809371960
.....A growing number of GOP lawmakers are complaining — out loud, on the record, and occasionally even on camera — that there are Republican members of Congress siding with a U.S. adversary, taking steps to help Russia win a war against a U.S. ally. They’re effectively warning Americans that there are some GOP officials on Capitol Hill who aren’t just echoing the Kremlin’s position, they’re also actively and deliberately taking steps to help Russia prevail in an ongoing conflict.
This ... isn’t normal.
April 19, 2024
New York AG says $175 million Trump fraud bond isn't properly backed, should be voided
Next week will be fun
https://twitter.com/MvgProperties/status/1781413462318477477
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/new-york-ag-says-175-million-trump-fraud-bond-isnt-properly-backed-should-be-voided.html
The New York Attorney General’s office on Friday asked a judge to effectively void a $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump to secure a much larger monetary damage award in his civil business fraud case.
The AG’s office in a filing said that Trump and other defendants in the case had failed to show there is enough identifiable collateral to back the bond for the judgment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The filing notes that the surety Trump used to obtain the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, is “a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state’s insurance department, had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million.”
The filing opposes a joint motion by Trump and KSIC to justify the insure as the surety company holding the bond.
Lawyers for AG Letitia James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require Trump and other defendants to put up a replacement bond within seven days of ruling on the issue.
The AG’s office in a filing said that Trump and other defendants in the case had failed to show there is enough identifiable collateral to back the bond for the judgment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The filing notes that the surety Trump used to obtain the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, is “a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state’s insurance department, had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million.”
The filing opposes a joint motion by Trump and KSIC to justify the insure as the surety company holding the bond.
Lawyers for AG Letitia James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require Trump and other defendants to put up a replacement bond within seven days of ruling on the issue.
April 19, 2024
New York AG says $175 million Trump fraud bond isn't properly backed, should be voided
Source: CNBC
The New York Attorney General’s office on Friday asked a judge to effectively void a $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump to secure a much larger monetary damage award in his civil business fraud case.
The AG’s office in a filing said that Trump and other defendants in the case had failed to show there is enough identifiable collateral to back the bond for the judgment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The filing notes that the surety Trump used to obtain the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, is “a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state’s insurance department, had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million.”
The filing opposes a joint motion by Trump and KSIC to justify the insure as the surety company holding the bond.
Lawyers for AG Letitia James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require Trump and other defendants to put up a replacement bond within seven days of ruling on the issue.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/new-york-ag-says-175-million-trump-fraud-bond-isnt-properly-backed-should-be-voided.html
April 19, 2024
Mike Luckovich-A Woman's right to Choose to be controlled or punished
https://twitter.com/mluckovichajc/status/1781301914623176723
April 18, 2024
As Republicans use Trump for fundraising, he now expects a 5% cut
GOP candidates and campaign committees routinely reference Donald Trump in fundraising appeals. Now, the former president expects a 5% cut of the money.
https://twitter.com/RoseSpitznogle/status/1781046768949715357
Three years later, the former president’s posture has evolved, though it’s still awfully strange. NBC News reported:
In fact, according to a memo obtained by NBC News, Trump’s co-campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, requested a split of “a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC. This includes but is not limited to sending to the house file, prospecting vendors, and advertising.”.....
According to a report in Politico, which was first to report on this week’s memo, the former president’s operation insisted that the rationale behind the 5% take is to “dissuade ‘scammers’ from using Trump’s brand without his permission and diluting his ability to raise cash.”
And who knows, maybe there’s some truth to this explanation. But it’s far easier to believe that Trump and his team are badly in need of cash; they’re trailing President Joe Biden and his operation in the dash for campaign funds; there’s only so much money to be made selling Trump-endorsed Bibles and gold sneakers; and this 5% take might help give the presumptive GOP nominee a modest boost at a time of need.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign operation is asking any down-ballot candidates or Republican groups who use Trump’s name, image or likeness in fundraising solicitations to give some of the money to Trump’s main fundraising committee.
In fact, according to a memo obtained by NBC News, Trump’s co-campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, requested a split of “a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC. This includes but is not limited to sending to the house file, prospecting vendors, and advertising.”.....
According to a report in Politico, which was first to report on this week’s memo, the former president’s operation insisted that the rationale behind the 5% take is to “dissuade ‘scammers’ from using Trump’s brand without his permission and diluting his ability to raise cash.”
And who knows, maybe there’s some truth to this explanation. But it’s far easier to believe that Trump and his team are badly in need of cash; they’re trailing President Joe Biden and his operation in the dash for campaign funds; there’s only so much money to be made selling Trump-endorsed Bibles and gold sneakers; and this 5% take might help give the presumptive GOP nominee a modest boost at a time of need.
April 18, 2024
Biden leans into allegations of Trump disparaging U.S. troops
The more President Biden leans into allegations that Donald Trump disparaged fallen U.S. troops, the more John Kelly’s confirmation of the story matters.
https://twitter.com/stevebenen/status/1781016701070393794
President Joe Biden brought this up during an appearance in Pittsburgh yesterday at the United Steelworkers headquarters.
Two hours earlier, during a Q&A with reporters at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, the Democratic incumbent pointed to the same anecdote.
What's more, Biden told the same story during an appearance a day earlier in his original hometown of Scranton......
But it was six months ago when the story took an important turn when retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, confirmed the story with on-the-record comments to CNN.
“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said in October 2023. Referring to his former boss, Kelly added, “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.
“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason — in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”
“... I was reminded of what my opponent said in Paris not too long ago. They asked him if he would go visit American gravesites. He said, no, he wouldn’t do it, because they were all ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ I’m not making that up. His staff who was with him acknowledge it today. ‘Suckers’ and ‘losers.’”
Two hours earlier, during a Q&A with reporters at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, the Democratic incumbent pointed to the same anecdote.
“... Trump refused to go up to the memorial for veterans in Paris, and he said they were a bunch of ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ To me, that is such a disqualifying assertion made by a president — ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ The guys who saved civilization in the 1940s — ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’”
What's more, Biden told the same story during an appearance a day earlier in his original hometown of Scranton......
But it was six months ago when the story took an important turn when retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, confirmed the story with on-the-record comments to CNN.
“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said in October 2023. Referring to his former boss, Kelly added, “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.
“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason — in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”
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