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2022 Republican House of Representatives
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[b]The GOP Goes Down the Rabbit Hole[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/01/the-gop-goes-down-the-rabbit-hole/672689/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20230109&utm_term=The%20Atlantic%20Daily]Tom Nichols[/link]: The new House Judiciary chair, Jim Jordan, will lead the committee on weaponization, virtually guaranteeing that its hearings will turn into a festival of prancing nonsense that is unlikely to do very much but enhance Jordans visibility while he tears into U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies at the expense of American national security.
Meanwhile, Jordans fellow leader in the Coalition of the Unhinged, Paul Gosar, also tweeted on Saturday that Republicans will conduct a real investigation into J6. The effort to attempt a coup between traitor Gen. Mark Milley and Pelosi will be reviewed and exposed. This, apparently, is a reference to when Pelosi, as speaker, called Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two days after January 6 because she was concerned that Trump might try to start a war as a diversion from his election loss. (She wasnt alone: Trumps secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, among others, [link=https://www.businessinsider.com/pompeo-worried-trump-would-go-to-war-to-stay-in-office-book-2021-7]reportedly had the same concern[/link]. So did I.)
I doubt that most Republicans in Congress actually believe that the most senior military officer in the United States is a traitor. And yet, they all remain quietbecause under the GOPs rules, any one member can move to vacate the speakers chair and start the whole leadership fiasco all over again, and that includes Gosar, the dentist from Arizona turned conspiracy-obsessed crank who now sits in the Peoples House.-
It’s funny how Marge is trying to walk back her crazy by saying something like I got sucked into the internet just like a lot of people. Yeah Sure.
The Dems should just move to vacate the speaker’s chair.-
House Republicans on Monday commissioned a special investigative panel focused on the coronavirus pandemic, hoping to leverage their new, powerful majority to press scientists and federal officials about the origin of the public health crisis and the governments response to it.
Man oh man
This is going to blow up directly in their faces
The biggest F up in the response to the pandemic was trump
And his looniesBring it on
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So true. More moving to the center.
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[link=https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/politics/house-abortion-bill/index.html]House passes ‘born alive’ abortion bill [/link]
The House also voted on Wednesday to pass a separate measure condemning recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups and churches.
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Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican who has been a vocal critic of her partys abortion messaging, called on Republican leadership to balance womens rights with the right to life, warning Wednesday that there are political dangers for Republicans if they dont find some middle ground on the issue.
I have been very vocal, both privately with my leadership, and also publicly, Mace said. This is an issue that we lost on. We buried our heads in the sand after Roe v. Wade, and we lost seats because of this issue.
[b]Mace voted for both abortion-related bills[/b] that were on the House floor Wednesday, but expressed concern over a potential federal abortion ban if it includes language that requires women to report their rapes or imprisons doctors who provide the procedure.
(show vote … going nowhere in the Senate … whipping moderates who have pro-choice districts in order to pass something that does … nothing … seems impractical.)
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next time someone from the GOP says a baby is being born alive and killed, I’d like to see someone ask where it’s happening.
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[link=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mccarthy-confirms-that-schiff-swalwell-omar-will-lose-committee-seats-report]Republicans announce they will remove Schiff, Swalwell, Omar from committee seats
[link=https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1613574162622156802]https://twitter.com/atrup…us/1613574162622156802[/link]
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Winning the battle and losing the war. Pretty soon they’ll be lucky to win as many battles as Putin does.
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Republicans have unanimously voted to promote Marjorie Taylor Greene, who previously suggested 9/11 was faked, to the Homeland Security Committee.
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[link=https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1623409452643758088?s=46&t=4KbVRxf8Kl5cAvoNm0hjtw]https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1623409452643758088?s=46&t=4KbVRxf8Kl5cAvoNm0hjtw[/link]
In House hearing, Clay Higgins (R-LA) tells Twitter execs they are going to be arrested for interfering in the 2020 election
Clay Higgins, who is very scary, threatens that the ex-Twitter employee witnesses will be arrested for unspecified crimes pic.twitter.com/v8ZntV8WgK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 8, 2023
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From hearings there was also[link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2023%2F02%2F08%2Fmedia%2Frepublicans-hearing-twitter-bias-reliable-sources%2Findex.html] this[/link]
I am aware of no unlawful collusion with, or direction from, any government agency or political campaign on how Twitter should have handled the Hunter Biden laptop situation, James Baker, Twitters former deputy counsel, told the committee while under oath.
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And this
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Matt Taibbi, one of the journalists Musk handpicked last year to comb through Twitters internal messages for evidence of free speech violations, [link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2022%2F12%2F23%2Fpolitics%2Ftwitter-files-elon-musk-fbi-hunter-biden-laptop%2Findex.html]said himself[/link] that there is no evidence that Ive seen of any government involvement in the laptop story.__________
And I learned something new from these shambolic Congressional Twitter hearings yesterday. Twitter only blocked the sharing of the laptop story for one day. All that wailing about “Censorship!” and claiming that Twitter affected the election……one day? Seriously?
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[link=https://twitter.com/JoeNBC/status/1623473436197543936]https://twitter.com/JoeNB…us/1623473436197543936[/link]
Joe Scarborough: “Twitter broke rules for Donald Trump. They let him accuse me of murder a dozen times and were too scared to cross him. Now Republicans lie about a bias against all Trumpers. Its like them lying about the FBI targeting Trump when the FBI helped elect him. Its all rank horsesh*t.”
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Jonathan Turkey got smoked at their weaponization of government meeting
[link]https://youtu.be/Z8n37MGFxAA[/link]
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
Jonathan Turkey got smoked at their weaponization of government meeting
[link=https://youtu.be/Z8n37MGFxAA]https://youtu.be/Z8n37MGFxAA[/link]
Yeah. He basically came in with no more information than any other schlub off the street who read Matt Taibbi and tried to pass it off as expert legal analysis.
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The key quote from the whole hearing me
“I am aware of no unlawful collusion with or direction from any government agency or political campaign on how Twitter should have handled the Hunter Biden laptop situation.”
~James Baker, Twitter’s deputy general counsel at the time of the 2020 election.
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[link=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/08/1155491204/ex-twitter-officials-reject-gop-claims-of-government-collusion] Ex-Twitter officials reject GOP claims of government collusion[/h3] [/link]
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Quote from dergon
And I learned something new from these shambolic Congressional Twitter hearings yesterday. Twitter only blocked the sharing of the laptop story for one day. All that wailing about “Censorship!” and claiming that Twitter affected the election……one day? Seriously?
Yep, and 110k in Russian ad buys threw the 2016 election for DJT.
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What is the price for influencing Q-publicans? Seems all you need is access to a computer to post nonsense to have those people believe anything. Does not cost anywhere near $110k to get them to believe in pizza parlor child sex rings or Jewish lasers.
It’s the stupidity and credulousness of Americans Russians depend on. All they have to do is, like Tucker, “Just asking a question…” about rampant conspiracies against “them.” Hardly any money need be spent at all, it’s all there for free. Go to a library & use their computers if you can’t afford a slow internet service and a computer that costs <$500. Get a free account on Facebook and Twit & you can post all kinds of conspiratorial sh1te about our government.
Not only do you not have to spend a lot of money to do that, you can become rich with people [i][u]paying you[/u][/i] to post sh1te. Look at Rush. Or Alex Jones. Or Tucker. Or all of Fox.
Propaganda doesn’t work merely by being obvious, it’s all about creating distrust.
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Flowchart on how to create propaganda
[link=https://www.popsci.com/how-to-start-spread-conspiracy/]https://www.popsci.com/how-to-start-spread-conspiracy/[/link]
How to make $$$ with fake news conspiracies:
[link=https://www.dw.com/en/the-conspiracy-business-how-to-make-money-with-fake-news/a-56660466]https://www.dw.com/en/the-conspiracy-business-how-to-make-money-with-fake-news/a-56660466[/link]
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[h1]Kevin McCarthy Made a Promise to Vote to Replace US Tax Code with National Sales Tax[/h1]
[link=https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/01/18/2023/one-good-tax-santos-dog-committee-mccarthy]Semafor[/link]As part of his deal to become House speaker, Kevin McCarthy [link=https://twitter.com/sarahnferris/status/1612931558662365184]reportedly promised[/link] his partys conservative hardliners a vote on legislation that would scrap the entire American tax code and replace it with a jumbo-sized national sales tax.
The assurance got relatively little attention at the time, drowned out by the many other concessions McCarthy made to win his gavel. But with Democrats already attacking the proposal, some conservatives see it as a political headache in the making.
Said Grover Norquist: This is a political gift to Biden and the Democrats. I think that this is the first significant problem created for the Republican Party by the 20 people who thought that there was no downside to the approach they took.”[/QUOTE]
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Keeps getting better and better for the Dems, and those of us who want both parties to move to the center.
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[h1][b]GOP Bomb-throwers take over House Oversight[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/01/19/meet-house-oversights-new-brawlers-00078499?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014e-f0ed-dd93-ad7f-f8edad790000&nlid=630318]Playbook[/link]: McCarthy this week rewarded Trumps most bombastic allies including some of the members who initially opposed him as speaker with seats on the high-profile House Oversight Committee, ground zero for the GOPs investigations of President Biden.
The panels roster is set to include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Scott Perry (R-PA), who will join the likes of Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) a lineup sure to turn 2154 Rayburn into the Madison Square Garden of heavyweight political brawling.
Its a risky strategy, to say the least.
[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/us/politics/republicans-trump-house-oversight-committee.html]New York Times[/link]: They were deeply involved in President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. They have come to the defense of people being prosecuted for participating in the deadly storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Some have called for violence against their political enemies online, embraced conspiracy theories or associated with white supremacists.
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The second line on the government website is about Comer revealing Biden something or other.
[link]https://oversight.house.gov/[/link]
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[h1] [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/20/doj-gop-house-investigations-00078805]Politico[/link] [/h1]
[h2]DOJ reserves right to not cooperate with certain House GOP requests[/h2] Its an early marker of how the Justice Department plans to navigate a Republican majority intent on aggressive oversight over the Biden administration.The Justice Department [link=https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000185-d087-dde8-a9af-d4afeba70000]is signaling[/link] that it has the right to not cooperate with Hill Republicans requests to peek into their ongoing investigations
The Justice Department letter cites a 1982 directive from President Ronald Reagan, stressing that the administration would try to respond to congressional oversight requests and avoid invoking executive privilege, reserving it for use only in the most compelling circumstances.’Quote from DOJ to Jim Jordan
The Department will be better able to meet your needs at hearings if your request is specific concerning the information the Committee seeks. While we will work diligently to accommodate requests for public testimony, it may not always be possible to participate or to address all the topics the Committee wishes to raise. When information is not appropriate for a public hearing, we will make appropriate efforts to determine if such information can be shared in a different setting, such as a briefing, a closed hearing, or through the provision of other information.
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Consistent with longstanding policy and practice, any oversight requests must be weighed against the Departments interests in protecting the integrity of its work. Longstanding Department policy prevents us from confirming or denying the existence of pending investigations in response to congressional requests or providing non-public information about our investigations. The Departments obligation to protect the governments ability to prosecute fully and fairly is vital to the Executive Branchs core constitutional function to investigate and prosecute criminal matters. The Departments mission to independently and impartially uphold the rule of law requires us to maintain the integrity of our investigations, prosecutions, and civil actions, and to avoid even a perception that our efforts are influenced by anything but the law and the facts. So does the Departments obligation to protect witnesses and law enforcement, avoid flight by those implicated in our investigations, and prevent additional crimes and attacks.
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Finally, the Department is committed to protecting the rights of whistleblowers (i.e., employees or applicants for employment who have made a protected disclosure), and to complying with both the letter and spirit of the Whistleblower Protection Act, 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8). Nothing in the foregoing is intended to impact the requirements, obligations, rights, sanctions, and liabilities created by controlling executive orders and statutory provisions.
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translation: “Go pound sand.”
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[h3][link=https://www.axios.com/2023/01/13/florida-swing-voters-gop-investigations]Florida swing voters focus group on House GOP investigations[/link][/h3]Focus-group participants expressed little appetite to go after Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan or whether Twitter leaned left before Elon Musk’s acquisition.
But they said they do see legitimacy in holding the administration accountable for the crisis at the southern border and applying extra scrutiny to law enforcement agencies given how much power they hold.
Florida swing voters were supportive of House Republicans’ plans to investigate the [link=https://www.axios.com/2023/01/11/republican-federal-law-enforcement-weaponization]FBI and Justice Department[/link] as well as the Biden administration’s handling of the immigration crisis, in the latest Axios [link=https://engagious.com/swingvoters/]Engagious/Schlesinger[/link] focus groups.
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Swing voters swing right.
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Quote from Frumious
Swing voters swing right.
Interesting focus group. Guess Frumi just read the headline again.
[ul][*]Six of the 13 are registered as Democrats, four as Republicans, and three as independents. [/ul]
Amazing. More Dems than Reps. Democrats are swinging right now. Could be a problem.-
The polling firm Engagious has an ongoing longitudinal focus group study they call the “swing voter project”
[link]https://engagious.com/swingvoters/[/link]
It originally focused on Obama ’12 –> Trump ’16 voters and looking at their opinions heading into 2020.
You can watch some of the focus groups if you like. The point is, their votes are still up for grabs by either party… that’s what makes them “swing.”
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Does a voter, a centrist or independent or swing voter, whatever you want to call them, actually change their vote from election to election? Do issues or policies actually change a voters vote? If one voted for Obama then Trump, what does that say? Trump had more votes in 2020 than in 2016, what does that say about swing voters? Does it say anything?
I am very dubious about a claim that there are many swing voters who change their votes from 1 party to another each election. Ive seen swing voters since Blue Dog Democrats voted for Reagan in 1980. Have they voted differently each election or did they just become Republicans? How do swing voters explain how once hated Republicans in the Southern states became the party of the South? -
Quote from dergon
The polling firm Engagious has an ongoing longitudinal focus group study they call the “swing voter project”
[link=https://engagious.com/swingvoters/]https://engagious.com/swingvoters/[/link]
It originally focused on Obama ’12 –> Trump ’16 voters and looking at their opinions heading into 2020.
You can watch some of the focus groups if you like. The point is, their votes are still up for grabs by either party… that’s what makes them “swing.”
Correct. They are the key. They actually swing middle.
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What are the issues and policies that would get a “swing” voter to change their vote from election to election? Race & Black Lives Matter, school curriculum & history, policing, crime, public violence like school shootings, 2nd Amendment rights, gun control, immigration, inflation & the economy, democracy, voting rights, equality, LGBTQ rights, military & wars, climate change, affordable healthcare, women’s rights and abortion, personhood at conception with full rights?
How would these issues cause a “swing” voter’s vote to change between parties between elections?
If I am a registered Democrat & voter 2x for TRump, what does that explain about me being a “swing” voter? Am I a Democrat or “Swing” voter or just a Republican or just a Trumper?
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As part of his desperate bargain to get the Speaker’s gavel, McCarthy committed to allowing the Unfair Tax to get a vote. I hope this passes the House – it will obviously never pass in the Senate, and the campaign ads written by this abomination would be delicious in 2024.
[b][link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fcongress-vote-whether-abolish-irs-163355705.html]Congress to Vote on Whether to Abolish the IRS and Introduce a 30% National Sales Tax[/link][/b]
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Right now, the average price for a loaf of bread is, [link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Ffred.stlouisfed.org%2Fseries%2FAPU0000702111]approximately[/link], $1.87. Under a new law proposed by House Republicans, that price would go up to more than $2.50. This would be the result of the Fair Tax Act, a bill proposed by around 30 House Republicans. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has promised to bring it before the chamber for a vote, although he has not specified when or under what conditions.The Fair Tax Act is the latest incarnation of an idea that has bounced around for more than a generation. The proposed law would eliminate the IRS entirely and with it all federal taxes, including the income, payroll, estate and corporate taxes. In its place, Congress would enact a flat 30% sales tax on all goods and services nationwide.
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One [link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taxpolicycenter.org%2Ftaxvox%2Fdo-republicans-really-want-cut-taxes-wealthy-and-raise-them-everyone-else]study[/link] from 2011 found that the results of a 30% sales tax, as proposed under the Fair Tax Act, would shift the nation’s tax burden overwhelmingly. A national sales tax, the study found, would cut taxes for top earners by around 40%. Meanwhile, poorer households would see their tax burden increase by anywhere from 200% to 1,000%.-
A 30% sales tax! What a brilliant idea! All those rural voters who support the GQP would be just ecstatic paying 30% sales tax when so many pay no income taxes now.
These people are clearly insane. Whats The Matter With Kansas becomes WTF is wrong with the brains of these people that theyd support a proposal making their household economy worse while giving the upper income groups a free & massive tax cut?-
Yes, best strategy is let them blow themselves up.
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In Lake County here the republican commissioners decided they wanted to raise the sales tax .5%. About a month voter they’re rescinding. People are ready to lynch the commissioners and they would’ve simply lost sales by people driving to Geauga or Ashtabula counties.
The 30% sales tax is nuts. Is there a number anyone would get behind to switch from paying income tax to a sales tax? Also it no matter what the number it would for sure favor the wealthiest consumers.-
Quote from DICOM_Dan
Is there a number anyone would get behind to switch from paying income tax to a sales tax? Also it no matter what the number it would for sure favor the wealthiest consumers.
No. No number. Because of precisely the content of your second sentence.
The national sales tax with elimination of income tax would be hugely regressive. It’s even more regressive than the “flat tax”
People would have to pay 30% on everything they spend. Since poor people spend virtually 100% of everything they make they would be hit the hardest.
While the wealthiest spend only a small amount of what they make and are able to save money and invest it… those savings would essentially be tax deferred investments for huge amounts of money.
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I thought the question was rhetorical.
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[h1][b]McCarthy Loses Another Vote (Ken Buck) in effort to Block Omar[/b][/h1]
The GOP effort to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee took another blow Friday, with Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) pledging to oppose it, [link=https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/gop-rep-ken-buck-opposes-ousting-ilhan-omar-committee-rcna67965]NBC News[/link] reports.
Said Buck: I think that we should not engage in this tit for tat. I am opposed to the selection or the removal of Congresswoman Omar from committees.
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[link=https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1620874964219084802?s=20&t=rDlUbCxOEJmSBGt8JeJSmA]https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1620874964219084802?s=20&t=rDlUbCxOEJmSBGt8JeJSmA[/link]
Marjorie Taylor Greene gets out to a fast start using her new platform on House committees to spread misinformation. She claims a public school in Illinois received $5.1 billion in federal funding to teach critical race theory.Greene: Can you tell me how much money went to CRT?
Dodaro: CRT?
Greene: It’s a racist curriculum used to teach children that somehow their white skin not equal to black skin and other things pic.twitter.com/ssFZE7Gxlz— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2023
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1st problem for that school, what to do with all that money. $5 billion for a school. WOW!
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[link=https://twitter.com/meiselasb/status/1621019274193276928]https://twitter.com/meise…us/1621019274193276928[/link]
MAGA Republicans in the House have swapped out the American flag lapel pins with AR-15 pins.-
For the most part they’ll do what they can to be creepy and offensive. And I’d even call myself pro AR-15.
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Quote from DICOM_Dan
And I’d even call myself pro AR-15.
Combine that with an ignorance of other cultures and it could be dangerous. Add in a vote for Trump and most on the left would want you cancelled.
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Just my 2 cents ownership of an AR15 is fine by me. I like shooting them. I think people should have to go through some safety about guns before purchasing them. You should have to go through training to carry one concealed or otherwise. I think the idea of red flag laws that would allow removal of guns., make sense. Keep them from known abusers. I’m for gun ownerships, hunting, shooting sports. I’m also for responsible ownership, common sense gun laws, and safety.
I don’t feel like these dippy dos wearing their stupid pins is wise. I don’t think it needs to be glorified. All guns should be respected.-
Quote from DICOM_Dan
Just my 2 cents ownership of an AR15 is fine by me. I like shooting them. I think people should have to go through some safety about guns before purchasing them. You should have to go through training to carry one concealed or otherwise. I think the idea of red flag laws that would allow removal of guns., make sense. Keep them from known abusers. I’m for gun ownerships, hunting, shooting sports. I’m also for responsible ownership, common sense gun laws, and safety.
I don’t feel like these dippy dos wearing their stupid pins is wise. I don’t think it needs to be glorified. All guns should be respected.
Yes, a reasoned response that should be respected.
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[h1][b]Jim Jordan Subpoenas Merrick Garland over School Board Memo[/b][/h1]
The House Judiciary Committee fired off its first subpoenas under the leadership of Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), targeting a trio of Biden administration officials including Attorney General Merrick Garland over a short-lived memo dealing with threats against school board members, [link=https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3843177-jordan-subpoenas-garland-wray-over-school-board-memo/?email=066c0990fa413d52c3842f29a42abb22ffa00eae&emaila=02c3337a6605235631b8cab2e023d54e&emailb=e0d37ab6f97ed06914f0e75a1ebed673001a81f7f84978ff9209f3e23f7ba5d3&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=02.03.23%20JB%20Jordan%20subpoenas]The Hill[/link] reports.
The subpoenas, sent also to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, follow a series of more than 100 letters on the 2021 memo from Judiciary Republicans.
