February 21, 2020

Paul Ryan Lauded For Inspiring Millions Of Young Gutless Fucking Cowards To Take On Leadership Roles

WASHINGTON—Noting the former congressman’s deep, unwavering commitment to shying away from every one of his civic responsibilities, the Heritage Foundation lauded Paul Ryan Thursday for inspiring millions of young gutless fucking cowards to take on leadership roles.
“Thank you, Mr. Ryan, for showing countless milquetoast little weaklings across the United States that if they want a place in politics, they can have it,” said Heritage Foundation spokesperson Katherine Primm, adding that she was grateful so many young candy-ass pushovers had the chance to see someone just like them not just get elected but also become speaker of the House. “Before Paul Ryan, you’d never see a spineless coward taking charge, but now, faint-of-heart boys and girls will finally have the determination to become leaders and then cower in front of more powerful people and bend to their will. Before, it was just the brave who led—but thankfully, that era is behind us forever.”
At press time, thousands of newly inspired chickenshit Americans had reportedly begun fundraising for congressional runs in 2020.

https://politics.theonion.com/paul-ryan-lauded-for-inspiring-millions-of-young-gutles-1836291461?utm_campaign=SF&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true


https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1230912314121113606


Paul Ryan says he doesn’t agree with Mitt Romney’s impeachment vote

February 18, 2020

Pardons for sale!

https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1229895101746483201


NEW — The son of one of Trump’s pardon recipients gave $85k to Trump victory this August. His wife gave $50k that same month. On top of that, they made an in-kind contribution for $75k in air travel.



President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted clemency to 11 people, including several convicted felons who are either Fox News regulars or have been championed by the president’s favorite cable-news network.

Unsurprisingly, a key influence that led to Trump’s decision, particularly as it related to Blagojevich, was Fox News. The same could partly be said of the decision on Kerik, a frequent Fox News guest whose pardon was backed by several of the network’s stars; Milken, whose pardon was supported by Fox Business Network host and Trump loyalist Maria Bartiromo; and Angela Stanton, an occasional pro-Trump TV pundit whose pardon was pushed by frequent Fox News guest and evangelical leader Alveda King.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump made the Fox News connection abundantly clear, telling reporters that he decided to commute the rest of Blagojevich’s sentence because he’d seen the ex-governor’s wife Patti Blagojevich pleading her husband’s case on Fox.

For those who didn’t receive the Fox News treatment, it appears that in at least one case, cold hard cash did the talking. Paul Pogue, a construction company owner who pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes by $473,000 and received three years probation, was issued a full pardon and clemency by the president. According to FEC filings, Pogue’s family has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct contributions and in-kind air travel to the Trump Victory Fund. Beginning in August 2019, Ben Pogue—CEO of Pogue Construction and son of Paul Pogue—and his wife Ashleigh made over $200,000 in contributions to the campaign.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-grants-clemency-to-another-round-of-people-he-saw-on-fox-news?ref=home

February 13, 2020

McClatchy filed for bankruptcy , bought by hedge fund that owns National Enquirer. Really bad news.

McClatchy Co., the owner of the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and other newspapers, has become the latest casualty of the collapsing industry to fall into hands of an investment firm.

Only a day after Warren Buffett’s long-time business partner predicted the death of newspapers, the struggling McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in New York with plans to hand majority ownership of one of the industry’s largest newspaper publishers to hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, owner of the scandal-plagued tabloid National Enquirer.


The plan further tightens the grip of financial firms on the newspaper industry, renewing concerns over the cost-cutting and loss of local coverage that often follows ownership by financial firms. Funds from Chatham to Alden Global Capital LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC have swooped in to take stakes in hundreds of papers, including once-mighty names as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News. The nation’s largest newspaper chain is owned by New Media Investment Group Inc., which is managed by Fortress.

If McClatchy’s bankruptcy plan succeeds, more than one-third of the total circulation of U.S. newspapers will be controlled by private equity firms or hedge funds, according to analyst Ken Doctor.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/mcclatchy-company-newspaper-publisher-files-for-bankruptcy

February 9, 2020

After being booed, Amy Klobuchar responds "Hi, Bernie people"

https://twitter.com/TomDangora/status/1226533115331518466


In NH Sanders supporters start to boo
@amyklobuchar
.

She responds "Hi, Bernie people!"

February 7, 2020

In 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders told the House Democratic caucus: "The goal isn't to win elections."

https://twitter.com/JamesCarville/status/1225834943508512770




Hey Democrats, it’s the winning, stupid! By James Carvill

Political parties do not exist for factions to gain power over them and lose elections so long as the faction maintains its grip. They exist to win elections. Without power, they are nothing.

In 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders told the House Democratic caucus: “The goal isn’t to win elections.” Maybe the stakes involved with Donald Trump weren’t crystal clear then, but by God they should be now. Winning this election is all that matters — and the way to do it is not running some rat race to the furthest reaches of leftwing zombie land.

Never in my life have I seen the Democratic party suffer a case of political amnesia this bad. A little over a year ago, the party stormed the House of Representatives in the midterm elections with the largest winning margin ever.

And how did we do it? By running a diverse coalition of candidates — young, black, brown, women, gay, straight — with one basic message: while the president gets things done only for himself, we are going to get real things done for you. While the president targets your protections for pre-existing medical conditions, we are going to lower the cost of prescription drugs. While he marches to the orders of the National Rifle Association, we are going to protect your child’s life. We care about climate, infrastructure and broadband — it goes on.


https://www.ft.com/content/aa0677e0-48fe-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d


https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/1225850398675738624

February 6, 2020

Common Cause Files Complaint Against Pro-Bernie Sanders Group Our Revolution for Violating Soft Mone

Common Cause Files Complaint Against Pro-Bernie Sanders Group Our Revolution for Violating Soft Money Ban

Today, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization established by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016 and now supporting his 2020 presidential campaign, violated the federal ‘soft money’ ban. Sen. Sanders has been a longtime critic of super PACs and so-called “Dark Money” groups. The complaint documents that Our Revolution has solicited contributions explicitly to elect Sanders president, received contributions far in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit and spent funds in connection with federal elections, including current voter mobilization efforts supporting Sanders in Iowa.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

“Americans expect and deserve to have our campaign finance laws enforced and they expect political organizations to abide by the law, regardless of their political views,” said Paul Seamus Ryan, Common Cause vice president for policy and litigation. “The facts surrounding Our Revolution, including its founding by Sen. Sanders, its receipt of six-figure contributions, its failure to disclose donors to the FEC, and its political spending in Iowa and elsewhere, point to a clear violation of the federal soft money ban. Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and we work to hold power accountable regardless of party affiliation or policy positions. It is critically important that the soft money ban be enforced, or outside groups founded by candidates will become a commonplace means to evade contribution limits and disclosure requirements.”

In 2018, Common Cause filed a complaint against America First Policies and America First Action, outside groups founded by President Trump’s campaign after the 2016 election, alleging violation of the same soft money ban that Our Revolution appears to have violated. That complaint is still pending.

To read the FEC complaint against Our Revolution, click here.

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-files-complaint-against-pro-bernie-sanders-group-our-revolution-for-violating-soft-money-ban/

February 5, 2020

GOP:He didn't do it Trump:I did it

https://twitter.com/radleybalko/status/1225097248020799488



GOP: He didn't do it.
Trump: I did it.

GOP: He didn't mean to do it.
Trump: I wish I'd done it sooner.

GOP: He did it for benign reasons.
Trump: I did it for the worst reasons.

GOP: He's sorry.
Trump: I'm never sorry.

GOP: He's chastened.
Trump: I'm doing it again tomorrow.

February 5, 2020

The real story on Trump's Venezuela debacle by Sen. Chris Murphy

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1225156756445286400

Amazing that Trump tried to put a positive spin on his Venezuela debacle last night.

THREAD: 1/ Here's the real story on how Trump's Venezuela policy has been an utter failure, empowering Maduro and weakening the U.S. in our hemisphere and the world.


2/ Trump's theory of the case was as simple as it was ignorant of reality: recognize Juan Guaido as the leader of Venezuela and Maduro would just back down. It was an idea, not a strategy, and it had no hope of working.


3/ Some of us counseled holding back recognition of Guaido as leverage to get Maduro to make concessions. But Trump played his most important card on day one, leaving him no room to maneuver. Diplomatic malpractice.

4/ Trump's isolation from our allies now began to hurt. We moved to impose sanctions on Maduro, but the EU - insulted time and again by Trump - largely wouldn't help. Without Europe, our sanctions were at best feckless.

5/ And then it got worse. Turkey, UAE, and India, in league with Russia, sided against the U.S. and constructed a means for Maduro to avoid sanctions. A nuclear meltdown of American diplomacy - the nations that mattered on sanctions were either neutral or actively undermining us.

6/ But it got EVEN WORSE - Trump appointed Elliott Abrams as our envoy, even though most of our Latin American allies viewed Abrams as a proponent of U.S. Western Hemisphere imperialism. Abrams, assured to alienate our allies, was probably the worst pick possible for this job.

7/ Trump's reversal of the diplomatic thaw with Cuba also meant that there was no way to work with Cuba, a huge backer of Maduro, to ease an end to the regime.

8/ Now panicking in the face of months of failure, the U.S. tried to secretly organize a military coup, but we bungled it, and it failed miserably and publicly, leaving Guaido more isolated and embarrassed than ever before.

9/ Today, Venezuela is becoming a second Cuba. Guaido is not in charge, but we pretend he is. Maduro has China/Russia/Cuba/India/UAE/Turkey on his side, and he is growing stronger by the day.

In the end, Trump was the best thing that ever happened to Maduro.

February 5, 2020

Nichole Wallace is wearing symbolic black today

Very appropriate.

February 5, 2020

Manchin will vote to convict!

https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1225160393930219520