babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
Profile Information
Gender: Female
Hometown: NY
Home country: US
Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 170,328
Hometown: NY
Home country: US
Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 170,328
Journal Archives
A Warnock win sidelines Manchin and Sinema, but that's not the only reason to bust ass for him
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/14/2136087/-There-are-so-many-reasons-why-we-need-to-re-elect-Raphael-Warnock-Now-is-not-the-time-to-slack-off
A Warnock win sidelines Manchin and Sinema, but that's not the only reason to bust ass for him David Nir for Daily Kos Elections Daily Kos Staff Monday November 14, 2022 · 3:16 PM EST Share this article After the Senate races in Arizona and Nevada were called over the weekend—meaning, of course, that Democrats would retain control of the Senate—some very foolish commentators began to suggest that Democrats “don’t need” to win next month’s Senate runoff in Georgia. That, to borrow a phrase, is utter malarkey. The list of reasons why we need to re-elect Sen. Raphael Warnock is not only lengthy, each one would be powerful motivation on its own without all the others. But collectively, they make an unassailable case for why we need to keep busting our asses every minute of every day from now until the polls close on Dec. 6. Let’s take it from the top. 1) Having 51 seats is a million times better than 50. First off, a larger majority reduces the influence that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have over the Democratic caucus. That alone is a showstopper. But it also means that Democrats would have more flexibility in the event of any absences—a real concern, given the age of many senators. On top of that, Kamala Harris would no longer have to be on standby to break ties. 2) Judicial nominations would move much faster. Under the deal reached between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell last year—which McConnell dragged his feet on agreeing to—both parties were given equal numbers of seats on Senate committees. As a result, committee votes can end in ties. Most crucially, this has allowed Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to slow down judicial nominations because moving a tied nomination to the Senate floor requires the entire Senate to vote on a so-called “discharge motion.” With 51 seats, however, Democrats would have a majority on every committee. They’d be able to skip the discharge step, meaning Joe Biden’s nominees can receive confirmation votes before the full Senate much more rapidly. 3) Raphael Warnock is an amazing senator. The fact that Warnock was able to turn Georgia blue and, along with Jon Ossoff, secure the most unlikely of majorities for us in the 2021 runoffs is a testament to his remarkable connection with Georgia voters. In office, Warnock’s priorities have always been in the right place. It would be easy for a freshman senator in a swing state to want to “distance” himself from his party, but Warnock has been with us on everything. He’s also been Democrats’ foremost leader in the fight to cap the price of insulin. 4) Black representation matters, period. Warnock is one of just two Black Democrats in the Senate, but this is about so much more. Do Democrats really want to tell Black Americans—the party’s most loyal constituency—that we didn’t give it our all to re-elect Warnock? And it’s not simply a matter of electing a Black candidate, as Republicans reductively want to believe, but about electing the candidate who’s the choice of Black voters. That choice couldn’t be clearer: According to exit polls, 90% of Black Georgians cast ballots for Warnock. 5) Herschel Walker is unfit to serve in the Senate. Walker is a dangerous serial liar who has been accused of abusive, violent behavior by those closest to him. He belongs nowhere near Congress. 6) The 2024 Senate map is very tough for Democrats. We need to pad our majority right now because in two years, we’re going to be defending 23 seats while Republicans will only have to protect 10. What’s more, our list includes three red states—Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia—and 10 more potential swing states. To ensure our party’s long-term prospects, we’ve got to focus on the present. There are many more reasons this race matters, and I encourage you to add your own in comments. But these should be more than enough to convince any waverers that there can be no letting up. And we have to do our part. |
Posted by babylonsister | Tue Nov 15, 2022, 10:17 AM (4 replies)
The Trump Org's Courtroom Shenanigans Are Wearing Thin
The Trump Org’s Courtroom Shenanigans Are Wearing Thin
HEAR NO EVIL The Trump Organization’s accountant is showing just how sloppy the company’s finances were. But his reluctance to come clean all the way is pissing off prosecutors—and the judge. Jose Pagliery Political Investigations Reporter Published Nov. 15, 2022 4:56AM ET snip// The company that Trump used to launch himself into stardom and eventually catapult him to the White House is now on trial in New York City, accused of breaking the law by showering its former CFO with untaxed benefits. Last week, prosecutors revealed that arrangement extended far beyond just Allen Weisselberg, documenting how several other executives were able to artificially lower their pre-tax wages by diverting some of their pay toward luxury cars, high-end Manhattan apartments, and even categorizing huge chunks of their full-time salaries as “independent contractors.” snip// The trial on Monday revealed that the CFO shifted $6,000 of his salary to his wife, Hilary Weisselberg, in what seemed like a bid to simply get her to qualify for benefits like taxpayer-funded Social Security. On more than one occasion, the company’s top financial officer would redirect his salary in a way that would score him cheaper prices and a lower tax bill. Jurors were shown a bill reflecting how Weisselberg used a company discount to buy $1,800 of electronics at a local P.C. Richards store—reducing his taxed salary. But that frugal approach also extended to the way he treated blue-collar workers. McConney, sporting a broad smile beneath his white mustache, testified that his former boss was so cheap that he once harangued him for tipping too much on a business meal during a trip in Florida. McConney recalled the way Weisselberg scolded him by saying, "Why are you spending 20 percent? I only leave 15. I don't know why you’re spending so much money." snip// The company faces a bank and tax fraud lawsuit from the New York Attorney General, and Justice Arthur F. Engoron appointed retired federal judge Barbara S. Jones to ensure the company doesn’t shift around its assets and become an empty shell before the $250 million lawsuit goes to trial. She is also tasked with ensuring the company doesn't keep engaging in fraud by lying to banks, insurance companies, and tax authorities. more... https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-trump-organizations-courtroom-shenanigans-are-wearing-thin?ref=scroll |
Posted by babylonsister | Tue Nov 15, 2022, 09:09 AM (3 replies)
Elizabeth Warren Shoots Down Chuck Todd And Gives Biden Credit For Midterm Win
https://www.politicususa.com/2022/11/13/elizabeth-warren-shoots-down-chuck-todd-and-gives-biden-credit-for-midterm-win.html
Posted on Sun, Nov 13th, 2022 by Jason Easley Elizabeth Warren Shoots Down Chuck Todd And Gives Biden Credit For Midterm Win Chuck Todd tried to claim that voters preferred Republicans on 4 out of 5 issues, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took him to school and credited President Biden for the midterm win. https://twitter.com/i/status/1591841040482172928 Transcript via: Meet The Press: CHUCK TODD:
I want to get to a couple things in the lame duck in a minute. But I want to ask you something about the message voters sent. You know, in the exit poll, we asked, “Which party do you trust more,” on five sets of issues. And the Republicans were more trusted on foreign policy, crime, inflation, and immigration. The only issue they weren’t trusted more on was on the issue of abortion. And the reason I ask this question this way is for you, Senator. The voters seem to perhaps not be happy with Democratic governance, but there was just no way they were going to go to Trump candidates. I think that’s pretty clear. Do you have a concern that Democratic– Democrats can’t win if they’re running against, say, normal Republicans, kind of like Chris Sununu or Mike DeWine, people like that? SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
No. I do not have such a concern. In fact, look. Donald Trump didn’t do his party any favors with his preening and his selection of truly awful candidates. But this victory belongs to Joe Biden. It belongs to Joe Biden and the Democrats who got out there and fought for working people. The things we did were important and popular. Remember, right after Joe Biden was sworn in, all of the economists and the pundits in his ear who were saying, “Go slow, go small.” Joe Biden didn’t listen to them. And in fact, he went big. He went big on vaccinations. He went big on testing. But he also went big on helping people who were still unemployed, on setting America’s working families up so they could manage the choppy waters in the economy following the pandemic. And then with the Inflation Reduction Act, we delivered again and delivered big. You know, $35 cap on insulin. There will be a cap of $2,000 on what seniors spend on prescription drugs. We’re cutting the cost of utilities, cutting the cost of insurance payments, and forcing giant corporations that have been paying nothing to pay a 15% minimum corporate tax. Every one of those things is popular. The Republicans, every single one of them voted against every provision I just described. The president’s leadership put us in a position, every candidate, up and down the ballot, to talk about what Democrats fight for and what we deliver on. And by doing that, we were able to address the values and the economic security of people across this country. And it sure paid off. It paid off at historic levels. snip// This was Biden’s win. The President had the vision. President Biden had the agenda, and most importantly, Biden had faith that the American people would reward Democrats if they worked hard for them. Sen. Warren wasn’t having any of Chuck Todd’s bad midterm take. Democrats won because their coalition is the majority of the country. If people like Chuck Todd refuse to recognize this reality, they will continue to get elections wrong. |
Posted by babylonsister | Mon Nov 14, 2022, 08:48 AM (29 replies)
Don't Party Just Yet: Jamie Raskin Raises Specter Of House Speaker Trump
Don't Party Just Yet: Jamie Raskin Raises Specter Of House Speaker Trump Republican election deniers are projected to constitute more than a third of the new House, which could give Trump a leg up. Mary Papenfuss Nov 13, 2022, 08:50 PM EST Amid celebrations of the dismal GOP midterm performance, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) warned Sunday that election deniers that will constitute more than a third of the new House could make Donald Trump their speaker. The numbers alone are a “statement about the political contamination of the GOP by Donald Trump,” Raskin said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. snip// “One potential candidate whose name has been floated is Donald Trump himself because the speaker of the House does not have to be a member of the House,” he continued. “And they are talking about putting Trump right there.”
They “talk about it repeatedly,” Raskin noted. “If Trump decided he wanted to do it, it would pose a profound problem for their party because they refuse to do the right thing.” more... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/155-house-election-deniers-trump-speaker-jamie-raskin_n_637173b6e4b09d758bd8b9aa |
Posted by babylonsister | Mon Nov 14, 2022, 08:20 AM (36 replies)
David Frum: The Midterms Message for Republicans
The Midterms Message for Republicans Voters to GOP: We don’t like your MAGA candidates and their agenda. By David Frum November 13, 2022, 3:46 PM ET snip// Trump never rose above 50 percent approval (in any credible poll) on any single day of his presidency? Not interested: All that matters is what his base thinks. Republicans were crushed in 2018 in the highest midterm turnout of eligible voters since before the First World War? Not interested: The result showed only that voters wanted more Trump and more Trumpiness. Trump got swamped by a margin of 8 million votes in 2020? Joe Biden won the second-highest share of the popular vote than any presidential candidate since 1988, next only to Barack Obama’s blowout win in 2008? No need to pay attention: After all, Rudy Giuliani and Dinesh D’Souza said the election was stolen! Besides, check out those Latino votes for Trump. Democrats won two Senate seats in formerly bright-red Georgia after winning the state’s electoral votes in the presidential contest? Only a temporary setback; wait ’til next time. By then, Trump will have helped get elected a bunch of “America First” secretaries of state who will rewrite the rules so that a Democrat can never win again. “Next time” is now. In every way you can measure, 2022 was a crushing repudiation—not only of Trump personally or of Trump’s allegations that the 2020 election was corrupted, but of the larger Republican Party. For the first time since 1934, the party of the president lost not a single state legislature in a midterm year—and actually made gains in the Midwest: Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Every last one of the candidates running for offices to control elections who endorsed Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election went down in defeat, as did up-ballot election deniers such as Blake Masters in the Arizona Senate contest and Lee Zeldin, who ran for governor in an otherwise good Republican year in New York. more... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/lesson-republicans-their-midterms-maga-debacle/672108/ |
Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 10:16 PM (32 replies)
Pence to Muir: Trump's words on 1/6 'endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol'
Pence to Muir: Trump's words on 1/6 'endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol'
ABC News TAL AXELROD November 13, 2022, 5:01 PM Former Vice President Mike Pence said in an exclusive interview with ABC's "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir that former President Donald Trump's rhetoric was "reckless" as a mob of his supporters ransacked the Capitol last year — with Pence and others temporarily forced into hiding. "I mean, the president's words were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem," Pence told Muir.
Pence said he was "angered" over a tweet from Trump as the insurrection unfolded, when the former president said he "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done" after he rebuffed pressure to not certify now-President Joe Biden's 2020 victory. "I turned to my daughter, who was standing nearby, and I said, 'It doesn't take courage to break the law. It takes courage to uphold the law,'" Pence, who is releasing the memoir "So Help Me God" on Tuesday, told Muir in his first network TV interview since the insurrection.
more... https://www.aol.com/news/pence-muir-trumps-words-1-230100617.html |
Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 09:43 PM (11 replies)
Pelosi Says Decision To Run Again For Speaker Will Depend On Family And Democratic Party
Pelosi Says Decision To Run Again For Speaker Will Depend On Family And Democratic Party "The speaker has awesome power, but I will always have influence," the California Democrat said as control over the House remains up in the air. By Sanjana Karanth Nov 13, 2022, 04:36 PM EST House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on Sunday about her future as the chamber’s top official, saying that any decision she makes about running again for the position will depend on what her family and fellow House Democrats want. The question about Pelosi’s future as speaker comes as control over the House remains up in the air, with several races still yet to be called. With Democrats performing better than the party in power historically has during midterm elections, the House is looking at an extremely slim majority that could either go for the GOP or remain in Democrats’ hands. “We will see when the people have finished speaking and the votes have been counted as cast. I’m very proud of our Democratic candidates, both the incumbents seeking reelection, and our red-to-blue, our challengers. They never took any guidance from those who would say, ‘This is over, Democrats can’t win because history says,’” Pelosi told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“[Democratic candidates] knew their purpose. They knew why they were running: to protect our democracy, save our planet, protect our values and the rest … They knew their districts. They related to their constituents, and they have produced a great result,” she continued. “Who would have thought two months ago that this red wave would turn into a little tiny trickle, if that at all?” more... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-decision-run-again-speaker-family_n_6371555be4b09d758bd8aaa0 |
Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 07:49 PM (3 replies)
Dark Times: Isolated and Meanspirited Trump Has Never Been More Irresponsible and Chaotic
Dark Times: Isolated and Meanspirited Trump Has Never Been More Irresponsible and Chaotic by David Badash | November 13, 2022 - 7:37am — from The New Civil Rights Movement snip// CBS News’ Chief Election and Campaign Correspondent Robert Costa, co-author of a book on Trump with Watergate reporter Bob Woodward, reveals what’s going on at Mar-a-Lago. “Dark time in Trump’s inner circle,” Costa reports. He says he spoke “to several longtime friends, donors, and aides in the past 24 hours.”
“Many say he’s listening to very few people,” and is “isolated, and meanspirited about his potential rivals,” which is clear to everyone who reads the news or Trump’s Truth Social posts. “Several of them say they’re tired of his rants and are avoiding him.” Trump, according to longtime top advisor Jason Miller, was quite possibly going to announce his third White House run on Monday, right before Election Day. In thinly veiled terms Trump publicly suggested he was talked out of it. Costa also quotes a Trump advisor who says: “I have never seen him more irresponsible and chaotic then he is today.” “He seems to be in self-destruct mode,” they add. more... http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/david-badash/103952/dark-times-isolated-and-meanspirited-trump-has-never-been-more-irresponsible-and-chaotic |
Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 12:33 PM (37 replies)
Border Chief Finally Resigns After Saying He Wouldn't Go
https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-magnus-resigns-as-head-of-customs-and-border-protection?ref=home
Border Chief Finally Resigns After Saying He Wouldn’t Go OUTTA THERE Published Nov. 13, 2022 8:41AM ET Days after telling staff that he had no intention of quitting, the embattled head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection has resigned. Chris Magnus submitted his resignation to President Biden on Saturday, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was accepted. The head of Homeland Security had asked Magnus to step down amid an increase in migrant crossings at the country’s southern border. But in an email to staff late last week, Magnus wrote, “I have no plans to resign as C.B.P. commissioner,” he wrote. The Associated Press reports that Magnus was told he would be fired if he didn’t go voluntarily.
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Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 11:39 AM (3 replies)
The Rude Pundit: Blaming Trump Lets Republicans Off the Hook (and Other Observations...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2022/11/blaming-trump-lets-republicans-off-hook.html
The Rude Pundit Proudly lowering the level of political discourse 11/12/2022 Blaming Trump Lets Republicans Off the Hook (and Other Observations on a Pretty Good Election) (Started writing this early in the week, but because Covid is still a thing, I've been back in Louisiana with to see a sick, hospitalized family member. Things are looking good now, but it was dicey. Get vaccinated. Wear masks. Do the shit you need to do.) In the wake of Republicans having their raging red wave erections slapped flaccid by the firm, stinging hand of reality in the 2022 midterm elections, blame for this epic cock block has seemed to come to rest on one major cause: Donald Trump, who really was once president of the United States (something that still boggles my mind every goddamn day) and is still, to some, the de facto leader of the Republican Party. "A red wave of criticism crashes into Donald Trump after midterm losses," says the Washington Post, quoting current Republicans about how Trump's endorsements and his general Donald Trumpishness didn't help. The Guardian goes with "Republicans have someone to blame for their disappointing result: Donald Trump." And Fox Business quotes former Trump adviser Mercedes Schlapp, which is the name of a real adult human and not an SNL character or terrible branding exercise, saying that Republicans were being too hasty to blame Trump. The problem, of course, is that blaming Trump is some cheap-ass bullshit. Oh, sure, Donald Trump always has and always will suck the hair off donkey balls if he thinks it can get him some attention and devotion (and cash). His ego is a black hole of need, and those who venture to the event horizon are almost always remorselessly sucked in and sucked dry. But Trump didn't force any of the candidates to buff his dickhead to a bright orange sheen. They all had a chance to bail on him after the January 6 insurrection, but they didn't. They fucking went along with whatever lies he wanted to tell. They went along for the ride, like the ass remoras they are, nourishing their ambitions from his free-floating verbal detritus. Republicans are to blame for Republicans fucking up the midterms. snip// However, the real problem isn't that Republican politicians suck. No, the actual blame belongs with their voters, as it always has. You don't get off the hook because you supported absolute garbage candidates like Blake Masters or Lee Zeldin or Kari Lake or Dr. Oz, for fuck's sake. Fuck you for being so gullible, so simple, so hateful that you'd rather put Doug Mastriano in office than someone who actually gives a shit about your problems, like Josh Shapiro (unless your "problems" include critical race theory and drag queens, in which case, grow the fuck up, you idiot children). Fuck you for thinking that Fox "news" and other assholes tell you anything about what the world is like. Kids claiming they're cats and shitting in litter boxes? Goddamn, how do you look yourself in the mirror and not laugh at how dumb and debased you are for believing things like that. Join reality or go live on fucknut island somewhere, unvaxxed and uneducated. Blame them all, Trump, Republicans, their media, their voters, because they form a clusterfuck of insanity and degradation, a heaving shitball heading towards a cliff. 2022 was us stepping out of the way before it dragged us with them. We're not out of danger yet, but, goddamn, it sure feels like we dodged a catastrophe. |
Posted by babylonsister | Sun Nov 13, 2022, 07:03 AM (21 replies)
