The Everything 118th Congress Thread

[@DCGoldPants]

Biden should announce moving NASA out of Alabama next. 

[LadySkinsFan]

It's cheaper to keep space command in Colorado. Infrastructure is already there, personnel and families are already there. It was stupid to consider moving it to a Red state in the first place. I used to write and manage proposals for the space command in the 1980s. Peterson AFB is already there.

[Fan since a Fetus]

https://apnews.com/article/382b12b57733848fd1d083227aefa0bf
 

U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday that Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson’s view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.

 

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of Biden’s rationale for the decision.

 

In announcing the plans, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the decision was based on an “objective and deliberate process informed by data and analysis.” He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin supported the president’s decision.

 

Proponents of keeping the command in Colorado have argued that moving it to Huntsville and creating a new headquarters would set back its progress at a time it needs to move quickly to be positioned to match China’s military space rise. And Colorado Springs is also home to the Air Force Academy, which now graduates Space Force guardians, and more than 24 military space missions, including three Space Force bases.

 

Officials also argued that any new headquarters in Alabama would not be completed until sometime after 2030, forcing a lengthy transition.

Huntsville, however, scored higher than Colorado Springs in a Government Accountability Office assessment of potential locations and has long been a home to some of earliest missiles used in the nation’s space programs, including the Saturn V rocket. It is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.

 

According to officials, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who ordered his own review of the matter, leaned toward Huntsville, while Dickinson was staunchly in favor of staying put. The officials said Austin presented both options to Biden.

 

 

 

 There’s more to the article. so please read it. I didn’t know enough before my last statement. This article changed my mind a bit.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Fan since a Fetus

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

^^Another article - opinion - that also acknowledges Dickinson's support for Colorado. 

 

Whitmire: Tommy Tuberville leaves Alabama lost in space

 

Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command. Blame Kay Ivey. As Alabama governor, she is supposed to be our state’s first, best champion. 

Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command. Blame Tommy Battle. As Huntsville mayor, he is supposed to look out for the interests of his city.

Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command. Blame Katie Britt. Coach isn’t Alabama’s only U.S. senator.

Tuberville’s manipulation of Senate rules to stonewall military promotions isn’t a novel, genius political tactic. He’s a toddler who found a pistol on the nightstand. And when the gun goes off, and somebody gets hurt, it’s not the kid that’s to blame. It’s the grownups who didn’t do anything to stop it from happening in the first place.

...

“This fight is far from over,” U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, tweeted.

Ahem. It’s over.

What’s remarkable about Biden’s decision is how long it took. He could have flipped this switch the moment Donald Trump copped to rigging the game for Alabama on the Rick & Bubba Show. Trump’s dumb comments — which were probably another lie — gave Biden cover to do for Colorado what Trump claimed to have done for Alabama.

What Biden needed was a veneer of plausibility. He needed a general to say this was the right thing to do.

And what Alabama needed was military brass to say, “No, Mr. President, Colorado is not the best place for this. We did a study and …”

But who’s going to do that when Alabama’s senior senator is being a jerk to the very folks Alabama needed on our side?

In the end, the Associated Press reported, it was General James Dickinson, the head of Space Command, who persuaded the president that Colorado was the best choice.

 

https://www.al.com/news/2023/08/whitmire-tommy-tuberville-leaves-alabama-lost-in-space.html

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

On 1/25/2023 at 6:13 PM, China said:

Hawley introduces Pelosi Act banning lawmakers from trading stocks

 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading and owning stocks, using the name of his legislation to take a jab at Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

 

Hawley on Tuesday introduced the Pelosi Act — or the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act — renewing a legislative push to curtail stock trading by lawmakers that has failed over the last few years.

 

“Members of Congress and their spouses shouldn’t be using their position to get rich on the stock market,” Hawley tweeted in announcing his bill.

 

The GOP senator previously introduced legislation last year seeking to ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding stocks or making new transactions while in office.

 

Last year Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, sold millions of dollars worth of shares of a computer chipmaker as the House prepared to vote on a bill focused on domestic chip manufacturing. A spokesman for Pelosi said at the time that he sold the shares at a loss.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

On 5/5/2023 at 8:11 PM, China said:

 

Democratic congresswoman sold First Republic stock and bought JPMorgan just before bank sale, financial disclosures show

 

Members of Congress are facing renewed scrutiny after a new disclosure report filed by Florida Democrat Lois Frankel revealed that she dumped First Republic Bank stock prior to its collapse and purchased JPMorgan stock before JPMorgan purchased First Republic.

 

According to a financial disclosure report filed on April 28, Frankel sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in First Republic stock on March 16 and then bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in JPMorgan stock on March 22.

 

Frankel told CNN that her “account is managed independently by a money manager who buys and sells stocks at his discretion.” Congresswoman Frankel is not facing any investigations.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Democratic House member flouts stock disclosure law with over year late filing

 

A Democratic congresswoman with a history of stock trades that have alarmed ethics experts reported a large purchase of shares in a top company more than one year past the federally required deadline, records show.

 

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) revealed in a periodic transaction report on Thursday that the lawmaker and her spouse snagged $29,122 in shares of Blackstone, an influential private investment banking company, through a joint trust back on June 10, 2022. The buy was only made public after 418 days, falling in stark contrast to the STOCK Act, which requires members of Congress to disclose securities trades of more than $1,000 within 45 days.

 

The North Carolina Democrat has said in the past her investments are managed by third-party managers, who have control over the assets and don't leave Manning and her husband, Randall Kaplan, discretion over trade decisions. That said, Manning has been a repeat offender of the stock disclosure law, and in 2022 filed 51 trades worth up to $1.25 million past the deadline, according to documents.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LadySkinsFan]

Democrats, follow the ****ing laws! 

[China]

House GOP moderates’ patience with conservative demands wearing thin

 

Moderate Republicans and those in competitive districts have largely lined up behind Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other GOP leaders as they have acquiesced to the evolving demands from hard-line conservatives.

 

But their patience is wearing thin. 

 

“Here’s the deal. You’ve already used up the three genies that I have,” Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said. “From here on out, I’m gonna be taking care of home base.”

 

“The 2024 election cycle is shaping up to be one where it’s every man, woman and child for themselves. And a lot of members that are in tough seats,” Gonzales said.

 

In a sign that the clashes between conservatives and more moderate Republicans could get more difficult to manage, House leaders punted floor consideration of an agriculture funding bill until after the August recess.

 

Members of the House Freedom Caucus and their allies had pushed for even lower spending levels and other policy reforms, while more moderate members took issue with those demands and a provision that would nullify a Biden administration rule expanding access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

 

But hard-line conservatives have for months kept up a successful pressure campaign to push the GOP’s slim majority further to the right.

 

GOP leaders accepted conservative demands to add culture war amendments on issues like abortion and diversity initiatives to the annual defense authorization bill — a move that sunk Democratic support for the traditionally bipartisan legislation.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[@DCGoldPants]

34 minutes ago, China said:

GOP leaders accepted conservative demands to add culture war amendments on issues like abortion

 

 

[China]

Dianne Feinstein went to the hospital after a 'minor fall' at home, spokesperson says

 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., fell at home Tuesday and visited the hospital to get checked out, her office said.

 

“Senator Feinstein briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home. All of her scans were clear and she returned home,” a Feinstein spokesperson told NBC News in an email Wednesday.

 

She was at the hospital for about two hours, the spokesperson said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Captain Wiggles]

Quote

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) 

 

Boo..... I've voted for her in a number of general elections. Not sure why she keeps winning the primary here. This entire state refuses to nominate progressives consistently. Instead we get centrist corporate shills like Kathy Manning. I believe she's the one what was in the BIG Pharma before entering politics. 

[China]

Comer Slammed After Months of Unproven Attacks on Biden

 

House Republican Oversight Chairman Jim Comer is increasingly coming under fire after months of his committee’s investigations, including public and private hearings, have unearthed no reported factual substantiation of his allegations and attacks against President Joe Biden.

 

CNN in January reported that Chairman Comer “has cast the president and his family in hyperbolic language – at times going beyond the evidence that’s publicly available. The Kentucky Republican has painted Biden as ‘A President Compromised,’ and excoriated what he calls ‘the entire Biden crime family.’ He’s pointed to a handful of contested or vague emails to suggest Joe Biden’s involvement with his family’s deals.”

 

Little has changed, except charges from Democrats and even some Republicans that Chairman Comer’s claims about President Biden have never been proven.

 

On Wednesday, The Washington Post‘s Philip Bump asked point-blank, “So where’s the bribe, James Comer?”

 

“It has now been more than three months since House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) issued a release in which they accused President Biden of having been ‘allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,'” he wrote.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Larry]

[China]

[EmirOfShmo]

Sheriff: Ronny Jackson threatened to ‘beat’ state trooper after being handcuffed at rodeo

Aide to ex-White House physician says he wasn’t drinking and shouldn’t have been detained while trying to help a teen suffering a seizure.

 

WASHINGTON — Amarillo congressman Ronny Jackson threatened to beat a state trooper and “bury” a West Texas sheriff in the next election after deputies pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him at a rodeo, according to a sheriff’s incident report released Friday night.

Jackson, a former White House physician and retired rear admiral, portrayed himself afterward as the victim of overzealous officers who didn’t realize he was trying to put his medical expertise to use helping a teenager who was having a seizure.

The report on the July 29 incident from Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry portrays the GOP congressman as belligerent and uncooperative.

It says deputies asked Jackson to step back at least four times before they detained him, and he had also ignored the state trooper’s order to step back to let emergency responders help the girl.

He then unleashed profanity at the trooper and threatened to “beat [his] ass,” says the incident report, obtained through an open records request.

Jackson’s office, provided a copy of the report, disputed that he’d been drinking and accused officers of mishandling the situation.

...

“Congressman Jackson was not drinking and was prevented from giving medical care in a potentially life-threatening situation due to overly aggressive and incompetent actions by the local authorities present at the time of the incident,” said Jackson spokeswoman Kate Lair. “He was asked to help the teenager when no other uniformed medics were present. Congressman Jackson, as a trained ER physician, will not apologize for sparing no effort to help in a medical emergency, especially when the circumstances were chaotic and the local authorities refused to help the situation.”

According to Chief Deputy Sheriff JC Blackburn’s account, Jackson remained agitated even after he was released from handcuffs, and was “screaming profanity about the trooper.”

“I physically had to hold Congressman Jackson back from going towards Trooper Young,” Blackburn said.

 

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/11/sheriff-ronny-jackson-threatened-to-beat-state-trooper-after-being-handcuffed-at-rodeo/

[LadySkinsFan]

Ex physician to Trump, like I would want him anywhere near me in an emergency situation. 

[China]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:05 AM, China said:

 

 

Democratic House member flouts stock disclosure law with over year late filing

 

A Democratic congresswoman with a history of stock trades that have alarmed ethics experts reported a large purchase of shares in a top company more than one year past the federally required deadline, records show.

 

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) revealed in a periodic transaction report on Thursday that the lawmaker and her spouse snagged $29,122 in shares of Blackstone, an influential private investment banking company, through a joint trust back on June 10, 2022. The buy was only made public after 418 days, falling in stark contrast to the STOCK Act, which requires members of Congress to disclose securities trades of more than $1,000 within 45 days.

 

The North Carolina Democrat has said in the past her investments are managed by third-party managers, who have control over the assets and don't leave Manning and her husband, Randall Kaplan, discretion over trade decisions. That said, Manning has been a repeat offender of the stock disclosure law, and in 2022 filed 51 trades worth up to $1.25 million past the deadline, according to documents.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

'So extensive': GOP congressman violated federal law with up to $8.5M in late financial disclosures

 

One month after President Donald Trump took office in 2017, Republican Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) purchased up to $15,000 in stock in an agrochemical corporation — Monsanto — that no longer exists as an independent company.

 

But it wasn’t until six-and-a-half years later — on Aug. 10 — that Allen properly reported the transaction as a federal conflicts-of-interest law requires.

 

And the Monsanto trade was just one of 136 stock and other financial transactions — totaling between $3.05 million and $8.56 million — that Allen failed to properly report, according to an exclusive Raw Story analysis of federal financial disclosures.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Fan since a Fetus]

McCarthy is a spineless twerp. The only reason he will do that is to keep his job and satisfy the freedom caucus. However, this could be a smart play on his part. Supposedly, him and Schumer agreed to a deal to keep the government funded. I wonder if he is using this to pass the agreement and still giving the freedom caucus what they think is a win, when actually, the impeachment won’t go anywhere.

[@DCGoldPants]

9 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

McCarthy is a spineless twerp. The only reason he will do that is to keep his job and satisfy the freedom caucus. However, this could be a smart play on his part. Supposedly, him and Schumer agreed to a deal to keep the government funded. I wonder if he is using this to pass the agreement and still giving the freedom caucus what they think is a win, when actually, the impeachment won’t go anywhere.

 

Zero credit for the twerp. 100% of what he does is about protecting himself. Not even his party. Which is amazing since things like the abortion and student loan topics could be what loses them the house next year. 

[Fan since a Fetus]

8 minutes ago, @DCGoldPants said:

 

Zero credit for the twerp. 100% of what he does is about protecting himself. Not even his party. Which is amazing since things like the abortion and student loan topics could be what loses them the house next year. 

As I said he is a spineless twerp. He is a weasel. He’s smarter than a Boebert though. I believe he knows that you can’t shut the country down. But he weaseled his way into this position. I believe he can weasel through the freedom caucus and help get some stuff passed is all I’m saying.

 

he’s not completely stupid. He’s selfish and will save his own job at all costs. He has to know an impeachment would fail. I think he is using an angle here. I don’t like the guy, I’m not some sort of protector of him, just trying to get to the bottom of his motivation here. 

[Larry]

21 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

when actually, the impeachment won’t go anywhere.

Every one of them knows full well that impeachment won't go anywhere. 
 

Their SOP since Whitewater has been to "have an investigation", whose sole purpose has been to 

 

1) Make grandiose claims

2) Demand everything. 
3) Go through everything, and make grandiose claims about what you got. 

[LadySkinsFan]

Just now, Larry said:

Every one of them knows full well that impeachment won't go anywhere. 
 

Their SOP since Whitewater has been to "have an investigation", whose sole purpose has been to 

 

1) Make grandiose claims

2) Demand everything. 
3) Go through everything, and make grandiose claims about what you got. 

 

Which the grandiose claims don't really mean anything.