tOfficial 118th US Congress Thread - Watching the Republicans "Govern"

[Trapper Gus]

There have been a couple of threads on what the 118th has been doing, but it is going to be pure performative art with little real policy for the next two years, and this thread is now here to try to capture the highlights.  Links to the existing threads on these will be added.

[Motown Spartan]

No message.

[Trapper Gus]

No message.

It took me awhile to realize this is sarcasm, but it is well known I am slow at this stuff.

Here are some links to other threads, as promised.

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24683-far-right-house-republicans-led-by-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-seek-to-cut-off-ukraine-aid

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24957-future-debt-ceiling-hostage-crisis

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24967-mtg-taking-the-hood-off-and-talking-directly-to-her-racist-constituents

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24785-is-george-santos-only-the-first-in-a-long-line-of-certifiable-psychotics-that-will-be-elected

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24945-dems-need-to-follow-this-lead-and-call-republicans-what-they-are

https://spartanswill.forumotion.com/t24923-republicans-dont-care-theyre-taking-their-hood-off-a-d-proud-of-it

[Trapper Gus]

AND ... this is too good to just post the link to the thread it is in ...

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[Trapper Gus]

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[Trapper Gus]

The report reveals the Republicans’ “dozens and dozens of whistleblowers” are, so far at least, three witnesses—whistleblower is actually a specific category and they do not meet that standard—who have left the FBI and have complained that the agency is biased against “conservatives.” Two of them lost their security clearances before they left, and while committee Republicans refused to show Democrats the men’s suspension notices, one revealed in his testimony that the notice arrived after he had improperly accessed documents from the FBI’s classified system. All three embrace a number of conspiracy theories. Under oath, they provided only right-wing accusations of bias without being able to attest to any first-hand knowledge of the things they alleged.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-3-2023

[Trapper Gus]

I'm beginning to wonder how much the circular firing squad that the republicans currently have become will affect the 2024 election?

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[Trapper Gus]

[Cameron]

I like Matt Taibbi. I think it's gross to try that hard to get some gotcha moment out of a journalist making a living doing journalism. DWS suuuuuuucks.

[GRR Spartan]

I was fortunate enough to have a class taught by acclaimed MSU marketing professor.  

He gave a lecture on product selection errors made by well known companies after they had run 100's of hours of research, collected completed questionnaires, had a dozen or more focus groups and another 100 plus hours of meetings before committing millions in production, ad campaigns etc.  He used examples of Ford with the Edsel, Ben Gay aspirin tablets and others.

To paraphrase Jennings said, If you put a group of people alone in a room long enough they will create their own reality and convince themselves that it exists outside of the room.

The late George Carlin warned, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

Put those together and we have a self-labeled “conservative" electorate who have created their own version of reality often relying on "alternative facts" who are electing many of the current GOP in Congress.

[Trapper Gus]

My roommate talked me into taking some sort of Intro to Bussiness course which was taught by that guy. He was an entertaining, and informative, lecturer.

[Trapper Gus]

I like Matt Taibbi. I think it's gross to try that hard to get some gotcha moment out of a journalist making a living doing journalism. DWS suuuuuuucks.

Taibbi allowed himself to be used by Musk to put out a one sided story. He is being taken to task for doing this.

[Cameron]

I like Matt Taibbi. I think it's gross to try that hard to get some gotcha moment out of a journalist making a living doing journalism. DWS suuuuuuucks.

Taibbi allowed himself to be used by Musk to put out a one sided story. He is being taken to task for doing this.

The clips I've seen don't really do much to make that case. Some incompetent bureaucrat calling Taibbi a "so-called journalist," DSW asking moronic leading questions and then childishly cutting off Taibbi when he tries to add any nuance or context. Just a complete waste of everyone's time and an absolute farce.

Not to mention it's a bunch of Democrats doing it, and this is meant to be the GOP dumbassery thread.

[Trapper Gus]

Taibbi allowed himself to be used by Musk to put out a one sided story.  He is being taken to task for doing this.

The clips I've seen don't really do much to make that case. Some incompetent bureaucrat calling Taibbi a "so-called journalist," DSW asking moronic leading questions and then childishly cutting off Taibbi when he tries to add any nuance or context. Just a complete waste of everyone's time and an absolute farce.

Not to mention it's a bunch of Democrats doing it, and this is meant to be the GOP dumbassery thread.

The Democratic Members are showing that the witnesses testimony about the Federal Government being politically weaponized to attack mostly conservative tweets on Twitter isn't supported by the witnesses investigations.  

The "game" played at Congressional hearing is that each member gets only a set amount of time to ask questions, thus Members often cut off witnesses in order to ask all the questions they can in their given time.  If the witness wants to reduce the number of questions they will try to give longer answers to use up the time.

[Cameron]

I understand the game, as such, but DSW's questions were fucking ridiculous. "Isn't it true that you hit the Las Vegas jackpot with this story and now you have money you didn't have before writing the story?" Bitch, what the fuck kind of dumb ass question is that? Dude is a journalist, he makes his living doing journalism. And then, when he wasn't falling all over himself to be like "oh yeah, I'm a fucking worthless dunce, but I got lucky with this Twitter files shit and now people give me money," she basically was like "We all know what answer I was trying to force, let's just act like he played along because it's obvious what answer I was trying to elicit." Absolute clown show shit.

[Trapper Gus]

I understand the game, as such, but DSW's questions were fucking ridiculous. "Isn't it true that you hit the Las Vegas jackpot with this story and now you have money you didn't have before writing the story?" Bitch, what the fuck kind of dumb ass question is that? Dude is a journalist, he makes his living doing journalism. And then, when he wasn't falling all over himself to be like "oh yeah, I'm a fucking worthless dunce, but I got lucky with this Twitter files shit and now people give me money," she basically was like "We all know what answer I was trying to force, let's just act like he played along because it's obvious what answer I was trying to elicit." Absolute clown show shit.

If I understand what happened, and I could be wrong, Taibbi allowed himself to be used by Musk via Musk feeding him an incomplete set of data regarding requests from parts of the government who were identifying disinformation being published on Twitter.

She is showing his motive for allowing this to happen.

I agree that the public questions of Congressional investigations, in real time, can be messy.  As we sort of saw in the January 6th hearings, the interviews before the hearing is where the real information is gathered.

edit - each "side" probably has a pre public hearing meeting (the staff) and doles out the questions across all the members on their "side" to create the entire case they are making, thus, unless we watch all of the questions, we miss the narrative each "side" is presenting.

[Trapper Gus]

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[Trapper Gus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/09/holes-jim-jordans-convoluted-weaponization-theory/

[Trapper Gus]

[Trapper Gus]

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[Trapper Gus]

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[Jake from State Farm]

[Trapper Gus]

This puts the political parties in an odd spot. A week ago, Biden and members of the administration began barnstorming the country to highlight how their policy of “Investing in America” has been building the economy: “unleashing a manufacturing boom, helping rebuild our infrastructure and bring back supply chains, lowering costs for hardworking families, and creating jobs that don’t require a four-year degree across the country,” as the White House puts it.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are doubling down on the idea that such investments are a waste of money, and are forcing a fight over the debt ceiling to try to slash the very programs that the administration is celebrating. Ignoring that the 2017 Trump tax cuts and spending under Trump added about 25% to the debt, they are focusing on Biden’s policies and demanding that the government balance the budget in 10 years without raising taxes and without cutting defense, veterans benefits, Social Security, or Medicare, which would require slashing everything else by an impossible 85%, at least (some estimates say even 100% cuts wouldn’t do it).

As David Firestone put it today in the New York Times: “Cutting spending…might sound attractive to many voters until you explain what you’re actually cutting and what effect it would have.” Republicans cut taxes and then complain about deficits “but don’t want to discuss how many veterans won’t get care or whose damaged homes won’t get rebuilt or which dangerous products won’t get recalled.” Firestone noted that this disconnect is why the House Republicans cannot come up with a budget. “The details of austerity are unpopular,” Firestone notes, “and it’s easier to just issue fiery news releases.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-3-2023

[Trapper Gus]

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee on Monday announced plans to hold a field hearing in Manhattan focused on violent crime in the borough.

...

"New York remains one of the safest big cities in the U.S. with a far lower murder rate than the most populous cities where the Committee Chairmen hail from – Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky," a spokesperson said.

https://www.axios.com/2023/04/10/gop-alvin-bragg-donald-trump

[DWags]

Here’s ol Ted Cruz with impeccable timing.

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[Trapper Gus]

Republicans Break the House Rules

[sεяεηιτλ]

Republicans Break the House Rules

I watched some key Jim Jordan moments, my god that is a charade. They are literally just trying to create moments that fox can cut into videos that make democrats look bad, except it's all made up. Fox viewers are in incredibly stupid, or is that just another possible media narrative I need to divest myself from, eh TG?

[Trapper Gus]

Republicans Break the House Rules

I watched some key Jim Jordan moments, my god that is a charade. They are literally just trying to create moments that fox can cut into videos that make democrats look bad, except it's all made up. Fox viewers are in incredibly stupid, or is that just another possible media narrative I need to divest myself from, eh TG?

My point about reporting, in some other thread I forget which one, is all about being critical of all reporting. I wouldn't watch Fox, because it angers me to do so and there is already enough anger (see said other thread) in this world. However, watching it, if you can deal with its slant, is fine as long as you question what it is reporting.

[sεяεηιτλ]

I watched some key Jim Jordan moments, my god that is a charade. They are literally just trying to create moments that fox can cut into videos that make democrats look bad, except it's all made up. Fox viewers are in incredibly stupid, or is that just another possible media narrative I need to divest myself from, eh TG?

My point about reporting, in some other thread I forget which one, is all about being critical of all reporting. I wouldn't watch Fox, because it angers me to do so and there is already enough anger (see said other thread) in this world. However, watching it, if you can deal with its slant, is fine as long as you question what it is reporting.

No way in hell am I watching fox, it literally rots the brain. I'm saying it's a general media narrative that fox viewers are stupid. That fox itself is illegitimate. Should I question that narrative?

Media narratives should be questioned. But at a certain point there's a general accepted truth that emerges. Fox viewers being largely dumb is one of them. There's no other real explanation. It happens somewhere between the emergence of the narrative and repeated revelations about the narrative over time.

[AvgMSUJoe]

No way in hell am I watching fox, it literally rots the brain. I'm saying it's a general media narrative that fox viewers are stupid. That fox itself is illegitimate. Should I question that narrative?

Media narratives should be questioned. But at a certain point there's a general accepted truth that emerges. Fox viewers being largely dumb is one of them. There's no other real explanation. It happens somewhere between the emergence of the narrative and repeated revelations about the narrative over time.

You watching Succession? Last episode in particular... that's how I think of Fox. Smarmy outcome driven bull shit to support a narrative they want.

Don't think ABC news or the other networks have enough time to propagate that sort of mind control.

[Trapper Gus]

Also today, the far-right House Freedom Caucus has called for an end to any discussions of raising the debt ceiling until the Senate passes its bill calling for extreme budget cuts. Forcing the nation into default will cause a global economic panic and, asked if they should compromise with the White House, Representative Bob Good (R-VA) said: “Why would we? We have a winning hand.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-18-2023

[Trapper Gus]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/23/house-gop-auctions-mccarthy-chapstick-debt-talks-00098347

[Robert J Sakimano]

it's almost like republicans/libertarians want America to fail.

[Trapper Gus]

Troubles in the Republican Party are not limited to the 2024 hopefuls. House Republicans continue to fight against House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), angry over the budget deal under which he pushed through a measure to suspend the debt ceiling. McCarthy tried to head off their protests with a promise to establish a commission to cut Social Security and Medicare, but it was not enough. Yesterday, members of the House Freedom Caucus said they would not permit votes on anything until he put in writing what they believed was the deal he made to get their votes for the speakership; that revolt continued today.

Tonight, Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reported that McCarthy appears to have agreed to let appropriators write bills that come in below the agreed-upon spending levels. Sherman’s colleague John Bresnahan noted: “The Fiscal Responsibility Act isn’t even a week old & Republicans in the House and Senate are already trying to redo it.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-7-2023

[Trapper Gus]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/conservatives-bring-house-halt-anger-mccarthys-debt-deal-remains-rcna88142

[Robert J Sakimano]

so has the GOP House brought Hunter Biden or Dr. Fauci to justice yet?

or is that just more lies they told their uninformed, ignorant republican/libertarian base in order to get elected?

[AvgMSUJoe]

so has the GOP House brought Hunter Biden or Dr. Fauci to justice yet?

or is that just more lies they told their uninformed, ignorant republican/libertarian base in order to get elected?

For all those obvious stuff the dems are getting away with, the Rs investigators must be total ass at their job.

Lock her up!!!

[Trapper Gus]

Yesterday, the Republican Study Committee, a 175-member group of far-right House members, released their 2024 “Blueprint to Save America” budget plan. It calls for slashing the federal budget by raising the age at which retirees can start claiming Social Security benefits from 67 to 69, privatizing Medicare, and enacting dramatic tax cuts that will starve the federal government.

...

When the Republican Study Committee calls Biden’s policies—which have led to record employment, a booming economy, and a narrowing gap between rich and poor— “leftist,” they have lost the thread of our history. The system that restored the nation after 1933 and held the nation stable until 1981 is not socialism or radicalism; it is one of the strongest parts of our American tradition.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-15-2023

[Trapper Gus]

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/22/senate-impeachment-biden-mayorkas

Several members of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) leadership team on Thursday expressed reluctance about potentially being drawn into an impeachment trial.

[Trapper Gus]

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