99-1, the Senate adopts amendment offered by Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Manchin to exclude "upper-income" earners from stimulus checks. It was adopted to the budget resolution, which is non-binding. But it's clear where the view of the Senate is on this topic. Rand Paul was a no

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1357457128160641025

Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement:

“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today.

“I made this clear to Marjorie when we met. I also made clear that as a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard than how she presented herself as a private citizen. Her past comments now have much greater meaning. Marjorie recognized this in our conversation. I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward.

“I understand that Marjorie’s comments have caused deep wounds to many and as a result, I offered Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns. Instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party.

“While Democrats pursue a resolution on Congresswoman Greene, they continue to do nothing about Democrats serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee who have spread anti-Semitic tropes, Democrats on the House Intelligence and Homeland Security Committee compromised by Chinese spies, or the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee who advocated for violence against public servants.

“In the end, this resolution continues to distract Congress, especially given the limited time that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership want the House to debate and work, on what it needs to focus on: getting Americans back to work, getting kids back to school, and providing vaccines to all Americans who need it.”

https://www.republicanleader.gov/leader-mccarthys-statement-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene/

The Walker Roaders — the supergroup featuring ex-members of the Pogues, Flogging Molly, and Dropkick Murphys — have released a new cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.”

The cover finds the Walker Roaders using a banjo to deliver the song’s iconic blues riff, while later bits of acoustic guitar and accordion float over the clattering percussion. The track arrives with a music video that blends archival footage — including some of Howlin’ Wolf — with shots of frontman James Fearnley singing “Smokestack Lightning” in his resonant baritone.

Walker Roaders’ cover of “Smokestack Lightning” marks their first bit of new music since the release of their 2019 self-titled debut album. The band decided to record the cover after Sandy Roberton, who worked for Chess Records publishing in the late Sixties, had a dream about the Walker Roaders recording the tune. After telling Fearnley and Ted Hutt about the dream, the pair couldn’t resist making it a reality.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/walker-roaders-pogues-flogging-molly-dropkick-murphys-smokestack-lighting-cover-1122061/

NEW: In 2019 Marjorie Taylor Greene organized a march that would "flood the Capitol Building" to protest "tyrannical" leaders, saying in a video that Democrats "should fear us" and "we should feel like we will" use violence "if we have to.” Me @Salon

https://twitter.com/SollenbergerRC/status/1356601390064402438

In a video posted to social media months before announcing her congressional candidacy, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called on supporters to "flood the Capitol Building" in a protest against "tyrannical" leaders, telling them that Democratic lawmakers "should fear us" and that "we should feel like we will" use violence "if we have to."

"All of us together, when we rise up, we can end all of this. We can end it," Greene said in the 90-minute rant, which was posted in February 2019 and unearthed on Sunday by Twitter user @zedster. "We can do it peacefully. We can. I hope we don't have to do it the other way. I hope not. But we should feel like we will if we have to. Because we are the American people."

Greene, an adherent of the QAnon fantasy movement whose internet posts about conspiracy theories had by that time already attracted a following, posted the video to recruit attendees for a Feb. 23, 2019, "Fund the Wall" march in Washington. At the time, the Southern Poverty Law Center described the event as Greene's "brainchild," citing national support from right-wing militia group American Defence Force. (It also featured members of Cowboys for Trump, including group leader Couy Griffin, who was recently arrested for his role in the Jan. 6 riots.)

In the video, Greene invoked a sprawling battle that pit "Americans" against an "out-of-control, tyrannical, insane" federal government, declaring that the latter's leaders should be "cowering in fear."

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin-Madison’s police chief has banned officers from using “Thin Blue Line” imagery while on duty.

The move by Chief Kristen Roman follows criticism on social media of a “Thin Blue Line” flag displayed at the police department’s office. The flag, which resembles a U.S. flag but has a blue stripe, is considered a sign of police solidarity, but has also been criticized as a symbol of white supremacy.

Roman said the flag has been “co-opted” by extremists with “hateful ideologies” and that her department needs to distance itself from the imagery to build trust with the community, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

“We must consider the cost of clinging to a symbol that is undeniably and inextricably linked to actions and beliefs antithetical to UWPD’s values,” she said in a Jan. 15 email.

https://www.koin.com/news/national/uw-madison-police-chief-bans-thin-blue-line-imagery/