The Johnson - Schumer Congress Thread

[Nymrohd]

They aren't going to vote for it.

I'd assume that most Democrats and enough Republican to make it a majority would vote for it? It's not like it takes that many Republicans and there are enough of them in swing states that need to appear bipartisan.
Ofc after it is voted it is entirely possible that the Treason Caucus tries to unseat McCarthy right?

[Breccia]

I'd assume that most Democrats and enough Republican to make it a majority would vote for it?

Maybe, but cracks are starting to form.

There are increasingly public complaints. Yes, some Reps/Sens are probably just saying "this is bad" before they eventually vote yes, but right now my eyes are on the Rules Committee that has first dibs. Remember not too long ago, when McCarthy didn't win Speaker? Then he didn't win again, and didn't win again? And then he didn't win again ten more times? Then he won and now we have had Speaker Greene twice?

The committees are stacked with a mix of wannabe Trump cult leaders, and actual cultists.

Now, if you're right, "most" Democrats and "enough" Republicans like it, if this thing is basically moderate, then a few holdouts won't stop the debt ceiling deal from going to full vote, where of course it would pass. If that's not the case, it won't make it out of committee.

And the Senate isn't a sure thing, either.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had pledged last week to use “every procedural tool at my disposal” to slow down a debt limit bill that does not meet his standards.

He may have help, Sen. Graham at least. In this context, "slow down" is just as bad as "stop". We have until the 5th.

[Breccia]

Russia issues arrest warrant for Sen. Lindsey Graham


"For what?"

For expressing his opinion on the current state of the Ukraine War.

In an edited video of his meeting on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was released by Zelenskyy's office, Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, noted that "the Russians are dying" and described the U.S. military assistance to the country as "the best money we've ever spent."

While Graham appeared to have made the remarks in different parts of the conversation, the short video by Ukraine's presidential office put them next to each other, causing outrage in Russia.

Later, Zelenskyy's office issued video of Graham's actual remarks showing the shorter version had been edited. The Reuters news agency made the video available.

The longer version shows Graham also saying, "This is the 457th day of a war that was supposed to last three days. You amaze me, your country amazes me."

"It's about our people," Zelenskyy replies. "And of all your people, your people help our people - all our appreciation."

Graham then says, "It's just ... you remind me of our better selves in America. There was a time in America that we were this way: fighting to the last person, we were going to be free or die."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that "it's hard to imagine a greater shame for the country than having such senators."

The Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, has moved to open a criminal inquiry against Graham, and the Interior Ministry followed up by issuing a warrant for his arrest as indicated Monday by its official record of wanted criminal suspects.

This was then followed by prominent Russians wanting him to die.

No, really.

“Senator [Lindsey] Graham has something to compare with. One of their [US] investments led to World War II and the Holocaust,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed in a statement on Telegram. State TV host Vladimir Solovyov followed Zakharova’s lead on his program, Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, as he angrily exclaimed: “Your dirty American money also fully supported the Nazi regime in Germany! You are a Nazi beast and you’re following in the footsteps of your predecessors. I’ll repeat it once again: you will croak, but the Russian people will live forever!”

On his Telegram account, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called Graham, “an old fool” and resorted to thinly-veiled threats: “In his beloved America, not only ordinary people are regularly killed, but dirty money is also being spent on killing senators. He should recall the sad fate of Robert Kennedy, Huey Long, Clementa Carlos Pinckney, John Milton Elliott, Wayne Owens and other American politicians.”

Alleviating any doubt about the meaning of Medvedev’s comments, Simonyan went even further during her appearance on Solovyov’s Sunday show. After first acknowledging that Graham’s statements may have been portrayed in a video out of context, Simonyan said that she ordered her staff “to look into it.” She invoked the name of a Soviet Lieutenant General Pavel Sudoplatov, who was involved in several major intelligence operations, including the assassination of Leon Trotsky.

Simonyan ominously pointed out: “If Lady Graham really said that the money for the killing of Russians is the best money the US ever spent... I hope that in our country, the sons or grandchildren of Sudoplatov are alive, his pupils, or the descendants of his pupils. It’s not even hard. We have his address.”

I especially like blaming the US for the Holocaust. First, fuck you Russians saying that. Second, Graham was born in 1955. Nothing about him personally had an effect on WWII. Third, I don't agree with the man most of the time (we both like his wife, that's about it) but I think calling him in particular a Nazi isn't going to take. Racist maybe, Nazi no.

Mr. President, I encourage you to try to bring us together as a nation after this horrific event in Charlottesville. Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them.

Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer. I, along with many others, do not endorse this moral equivalency.

Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the Party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world.

-- still up on senate.gov, Aug 16, 2017

[Corvus]

Amazing how russia just ignores the whole alliance they had with nazi Germany.

Graham's response was 'see you in the Hague.'

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/0...hague-00099168

[gondrin]

Man, Graham finally grew a backbone. I wonder if it will melt away when Trump starts to attack him for saying anything bad about Russia.

[Gorsameth]

Man, Graham finally grew a backbone. I wonder if it will melt away when Trump starts to attack him for saying anything bad about Russia.

That's not a backbone. Putin isn't going to touch a US senator.

He will still fold before the crazy Republican cultists.
Heck those Americans are considerably more likely to shoot him then a Russian is...

[Dontrike]

Man, Graham finally grew a backbone. I wonder if it will melt away when Trump starts to attack him for saying anything bad about Russia.

Just wait, in a few days he'll be right back to praising Russia and saying Ukraine is full of Nazis.

[Breccia]

FOX News reports (+1 CNN point) that Graham now vows to end the deal over defense spending.

I will use all powers available to me in the Senate to have amendment votes to undo this catastrophe for defense. I support raising the debt limit for 90 days to give us a chance to correct this disaster for defense.

Where was that line of thinking about the Trump tax cuts? "Let's push the deadline back 90 days so we can read them?" Didn't hear much then.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1663584034553724946

Republicans once again saying the quiet part out loud: That a deal on the debt ceiling is disastrous for their presidential aspirations as a party and America must default on its obligations so that they can have a great policy issue to run their eventual candidate on.

How dare lawmakers...do their jobs and try to run the country instead of focusing on the real issue: Making sure Republicans have something to run campaigns on in 2024.

[Gorsameth]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1663584034553724946

Republicans once again saying the quiet part out loud: That a deal on the debt ceiling is disastrous for their presidential aspirations as a party and America must default on its obligations so that they can have a great policy issue to run their eventual candidate on.

How dare lawmakers...do their jobs and try to run the country instead of focusing on the real issue: Making sure Republicans have something to run campaigns on in 2024.

I don't know. I think "Biden saved the US economy from default by following the constitution while Republicans tried to force our great nation to default on its debt like some 3e world banana Republic" is a great issue for Democrats to run the next election on.

[Edge-]

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/30/hou...t-ceiling-deal

Oh no, it may only take roughly 5 months for the uneasy alliance between McCarthy and the Freedumb/Terrorist Caucus to fall apart.

Gonna be great fun if, in the midst of rushing to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default at the last minute because Republicans think the debt ceiling is a great presidential campaign issue for 2024, the House also has to deal with another leadership race because Republicans can't find a single member in their party they all agree should lead the House.

Could this all be a bunch of hot air like we usually get from this crowd? Yeah, very likely! But just a reminder that McCarthy is absolutely beholden to these extremists. I do wonder how long the handful of more moderate, pro-business Republicans will continue to tolerate being cucked by these losers.

[Paranoid Android]

CBO says debt limit provisions negotiated by the White House will *expand* direct spending on SNAP and the number of recipients on net.

The expansion to veterans, homeless, and foster youth is larger than the effects of the age 49-54 work requirements

Don't brag about how the Republicans will miss out being more cruel by some technicality.

Very strange that Republicans want their voting age base to pay the price.

[Edge-]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/0...s-out-00099447

So you know how Senator Tommy from 'Bama has basically spend the whole year attacking the US military?

Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) national security adviser told POLITICO that he has resigned over a Washington Post story suggesting he was instrumental in orchestrating the senator’s controversial blockade of hundreds of senior military nominations.

A profile by the Washington Post on Friday depicted Morgan Murphy as taking credit for Tuberville’s hold, which has roiled the Department of Defense. The blockade is a response to the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, which Tuberville opposes.

Murphy said the Post article “overstated” his role in the senator’s blockade, and he resigned on Tuesday out of respect for his former boss. The profile “was factual in many respects, but simply overstated my role in decisionmaking,” he said.

“He is the boss and calls the shots and always has,” Murphy said in a phone interview. “I am, was, at the end of the day, a staffer. I didn’t take kindly to a perception otherwise.” From his 23 years in the Navy, he understands and respects the chain of command, Murphy added.

Two people with knowledge of the discussions around Murphy’s resignation said the Post story’s presentation of Murphy’s role in the blockade irked Tuberville. They were granted anonymity to discuss sensitivities around a personnel move.

Well then, I guess Tommy doesn't like anyone else taking credit for his attacks on the men and women serving in the US military. Something he seems very proud of still, especially despite his lack of military service himself.

[Paranoid Android]

I love that Manchin in his greed with Mountain Valley pipeline may have sabotaged it.

Virginia Democrats Tim Kaine and Jennifer McClellan aren't happy with the White House for not alerting them of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project's inclusion in the debt ceiling deal — and they're not hiding it.

https://twitter.com/politico/status/...ZBcuIinQw&s=19

Problem is Kaine is a conservative Democrat. Likely posturing cause that's all the Dems do. Even my two Minnesota Senators will in the end.

[Elegiac]

I love that Manchin in his greed with Mountain Valley pipeline may have sabotaged it.



https://twitter.com/politico/status/...ZBcuIinQw&s=19

Problem is Kaine is a conservative Democrat. Likely posturing cause that's all the Dems do. Even my two Minnesota Senators will in the end.

No, the problem is that a deal being worked out means Politico is having to reach for any excuse to keep readers fearful and engaged.

The reality is that this deal represents a significant victory for Democrats given the split Congress - especially since it takes the debt ceiling out of the equation for next year's elections.

[Edge-]

especially since it takes the debt ceiling out of the equation for next year's elections.

Many Republicans are still big mad about this. I'm honestly curious if Emmer can actually wrangle the votes (lord help me I still can't believe they still use "whip" in current year given my understanding of the origins of that terms use) from the Treason caucus or if we might get a surprise revolt from moderate Republicans who aren't happy at some of the apparent concessions to get the Treason caucus on board.

[Elegiac]

Many Republicans are still big mad about this. I'm honestly curious if Emmer can actually wrangle the votes (lord help me I still can't believe they still use "whip" in current year given my understanding of the origins of that terms use) from the Treason caucus or if we might get a surprise revolt from moderate Republicans who aren't happy at some of the apparent concessions to get the Treason caucus on board.

Like I said previously, agreeing to a bipartisan deal and then unilaterally reneging on it would be political suicide for swing district Republicans. Even if Y'all Qaeda decides to be shitty, there will likely be more than enough Democratic votes to get it passed.

[Edge-]

Like I said previously, agreeing to a bipartisan deal and then unilaterally reneging on it would be political suicide for swing district Republicans. Even if Y'all Qaeda decides to be shitty, there will likely be more than enough Democratic votes to get it passed.

I know Democrats aren't jazzed about it either, but the expansion of SNAP benefits is an nice, seemingly unintended side-effect.

I do wonder if they'll go after McCarthy though, they sure are talking up a big game like they want to.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1664080051531390976

And it passed.

With more Democrats voting for it than Republicans. At least it was bipartisan.

itssomething.psd

[VMSmith]

wtg Congress, avoiding a disaster for the wealthy off the backs of the poor. I'm sure they're all proud of themselves, too.

Tell me again about the "lesser of two evils"?