A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
John Oliver discusses Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” what will happen if it’s passed, and what it has in common with Apple’s Terms and Conditions.
Since this episode aired on Sunday night, it passed the Senate 51-50 with JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. It hasn't gone back to the House as of my writing this entry, but it won't take long because Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump wants it passed by July 4th. If (when) the House passes the Senate version, it would make my prediction in Elon Musk calls budget bill 'a disgusting abomination' - MSNBC reports true, "What Musk wants will probably make the final result crueler, not kinder." As Oliver described, the bill is plenty cruel already.
Greer's premise/conceit is that Trump is like The King in Yellow and drives mad all who oppose him. I'd say he drives just about everyone mad by giving them permission to be their worst selves.
I'd say Senator Ernst succumbed to the curse. May the rest of us not follow suit.
Whether the House passes the Senate version or it has to go to a conference committee first, some version of this budget and tax bill will pass. When that happens, it will deserve its version of The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond. I'll save that for later. In the meantime, I'm closing with something a lot more fun, Meet the Moon Mammoths.
Michael F. explained in a comment: "For those out of the loop: John Oliver got the Erie minor league baseball team to agree to change their name and mascot to anything the show could come up with. This Sunday, he revealed their new name is the Erie Moon Mammoths!" As a paleontologist and space enthusiast, I approve!
Speaking of space, I know today is WorldUFODay, but I decided the "Big [not so] Beautiful Bill" was more timely and important. Priorities.
For the first time in more than two decades, Congress has expelled one of its own. Rep. George Santos is out of a job in the wake of his many lies and scandals. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports on the historic development.
That was the serious report analyzing the reasons for the expulsion, only the sixth in House history and the only one since the Civil War in which a conviction didn't come first (the three expulsions during the Civil War were of Representatives who took up arms for the Confederacy). Now for a more sensationalistic report from Inside Edition, George Santos Expelled From Congress, which shows the reactions to the expulsion.
Reporters mobbed George Santos as he was kicked out of Congress. He stormed out even before the vote to expel him was officially confirmed. The vote tally was decisive with Democrats and Republicans coming together to banish the congressman. He shook hands with a few representatives before walking out. Santos, who became a national figure of mockery for his endless lies, had to vacate his office immediately.
I'm outsourcing my reaction to Nelson Muntz.
With that expression of schadenfreude out of the way, I have to admit I got this wrong back in May and that I'm glad to be wrong.
Kevin "Pickled Tongue" McCarthy and Elise Stefanik aren't going to ask for Santos to resign. They care about his vote more than the dignity and integrity of the House of Representatives. We're stuck with Santos until he either loses re-election or resigns upon conviction (this includes a plea deal, which wouldn't surprise me in the least). Sigh.
Being expelled wasn't among the outcomes I foresaw and this vote shows I was right by not including it. It's not happening.
Indicted Republican George Santos was expelled from Congress on Friday, thus ending “one of the truly strangest chapters in the 234 year history of the U.S. House of Representatives." Rep. Dan Goldman and Mark Chiusano join to discuss.
Unlike McCarthy, Mike Johnson no longer needed Santos's vote for Speaker, although he voted no on expelling him. The rank-and-file GOP members of Congress, to say nothing of the Democrats, decided they had enough of Santos, so good riddance. The third time was a charm.
I expect to blog once or twice more about Santos being removed from Congress, once tomorrow when I anticipate Bowen Yang will make one last impersonation of him on Saturday Night Live and again on Tuesday when Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and especially Jimmy Kimmel will run a victory lap as they dunk on his departure while mourning the loss of a great subject for comedy. Stay tuned.
GOP infighting has turned the halls of Congress into a fight club, the U.S. and China set low expectations for the Biden-Xi meeting, and the new House Speaker took heat from his own party after passing a government spending bill with help from Democrats.
Seth takes a closer look at Republicans turning the U.S. Capitol into the UFC Octagon after former House speaker Kevin McCarthy allegedly assaulted a congressman and a senator challenged a witness to a physical fight during a hearing.
Seth and his writers echoed my sentiments about the confrontation between Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters president Sean O'Brien, which I expressed in a comment on LONG BEFORE TRUMP, WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE NORMALIZED FOX NEWS at No More Mister Nice Blog.
My wife used to work for the Teamsters and we live three miles away from the last place Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive, so we know anyone asking to fight that union's president is asking for trouble. I wonder if Senator Mullin has a clue about that.
Based on the way we bragged about it on right-wing televison outlets, I'd say Mullin either doesn't know or doesn't care. I'm glad he's not my senator!
Leslie Jones covers San Francisco's problematic cleaning spree,...USPS's [$]6.5 billion loss, and Desi Lydic weighs in on the many fights erupting in Congress.
I'm glad California Governor Gavin Newsom is owning what's going on, even if it doesn't make him look good outside of San Francisco. Inside the city, it probably make him look great. I just wish it didn't take a meeting of heads of state to get it to happen. And, yes, it would be cheaper to house the homeless instead of leaving them on the streets. Too bad our screwed-up priorities don't allow that.
I'm sorry to read about the problems the USPS is having. It is still a government agency, even if it operates a lot like a government-owned corporation such as Amtrak, though it lost its status as a cabinet-level department more than 50 years ago.
While I'm looking forward to Mike Johnson losing his Speakership because of doing the wrong thing, I'm relieved that he hasn't lost it for doing the right thing, as Kevin McCarthy was. Speaking of whom, he's living down to my nickname for him as he got back into the news.
Finally, I'm not as sure as Jones that Lydic would lose to Cruz, punch line or not — pun intended.
I'm wondering what to write about tomorrow, as it's the real date of LifeDay, which falls on November 17th and was originally a stand-in for Thanksgiving, but over the years, it has turned into Star Wars Christmas, so many fans celebrate it then. Stay tuned.
President Joe Biden (Mikey Day) delivers a Halloween message with the help of House speaker Mike Johnson (Michael Longfellow) and the spirit of Halloween (Christopher Walken).
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Michael Cohen testifying against Trump in his civil fraud trial.
I was rooting for Elise Stefanikbecause she already had a label, so I'm a bit disappointed that didn't happen. Now that Johnson is Speaker, I'm repurposing the Liar for Jesus label, which I created for my former Representative Tim Walberg and last used in 2015, for Johnson. I expect him to live down to the epithet and I probably won't be disappointed.
I was a bit disappointed, but not terribly surprised, to learn that Mike Pence had dropped out. I was hoping to have more laughs at his expense before he figured out that he wasn't going to beat the former guy. Now he isn't going to beat Ron DeSantis or NikkiHaley, either. Darn.
Speaking of TFG, I thought the depiction of him and Michael Cohen in conflict as rats fighting to be funny and fitting, if a bit unfair to rats and maybe Cohen. Weekend Updated missed TFG's reaction to Ivanka being called to testify, which the New York Daily News via Yahoo! Finance reported as Trump attacks 'unhinged judge' for requiring Ivanka to testify in New York fraud trial. This was after Judge Arthur Engoron fined TFG twice for violating the gag order. How much will the next fine be?
I've been refraining from mentioning Mitch McConnell's health problems, but I sincerely hope he's right that he's recovered. That written, I could see the Weekend at Bernie joke coming a mile away.
Enough politics. Follow over the jump for the clips that qualify today's entry as the Sunday entertainment feature.
Gretchen Driskell, seen here with former U.S. Representative Mark Schauer at a campaign event in February, leads Tim Walberg by five points in the first poll of the contest for Walberg's seat. Gretchen Driskell for Congress on Facebook, with permission.
While the election is more than a year away and Democratic State Representative Gretchen Driskell only declared her candidacy for Republican U.S. Representative Tim Walberg's seat in Congress last month, she has already achieved a small victory in her quest for higher office.
Yesterday morning, Inside Michigan Politics released the results of a poll it commissioned as a press release. This first poll in the contest for Michigan's Seventh Congressional District showed Driskell leading Walberg by five points, 42 percent to 37 percent with 21 percent undecided.
Driskell's campaign welcomed the news. On the campaign's Facebook page, she wrote "this poll shows what I've been hearing from working families, seniors, and small business owners every day: voters are ready for a representative who works on their behalf."
Dennis Darnoi, Director of Analytics and Research for Revsix, which conducted the poll, said in the press release "these numbers show what astute political observers already know, namely Michigan's 7th Congressional District can be a competitive battleground. In a presidential year, and with the right candidate and the right strategy, Democrats have a real opportunity to win this seat."
More at the link in the headline.
This is the first Examiner.com article I've written for the 2016 campaign and there are nearly 20 months to go. Looks like it will be a long slog. I'm sure I'm up for it.
Two political analysts lowered Tim Walberg's chances of holding onto his seat next year in the wake of the shutdown.
Credit: U.S. Congress (Wikipedia/Public Domain)
On Thursday, two political analysts revised their ratings of next year's contest for Michigan's Seventh Congressional District. Both of them thought that Republican incumbent Tim Walberg retaining his seat against Democratic challenger Pam Byrnes was less likely after the just-finished government shutdown.
In the morning, Stuart Rothenberg announced in Roll Call that he had moved Walberg's seat from "Safe Republican" to "Republican Favored."
That afternoon, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) passed along Cook Political Report's assessment of the race, which moved the seat from "Likely R" to "Lean R."
Both changes in ratings came after two polls showing Walberg in trouble. Two weeks ago, a poll came out showing Walberg losing to generic Democrat by nine percent. Later that week, the DCCC released a poll showing Walberg and Byrnes in a statistical dead heat, with Walberg ahead by one percentage point 43% to 42% with 14% undecided.
Details at the link, along with a video from Huffington Post about the shutdown is hurting Republicans more than Democrats. Yes, the bad news for Republicans from the shutdown keeps coming and coming.
In a poll released today, residents of Walberg's district said they'd vote for a Democratic challenger 51% to 42% over Walberg.
Credit: U.S. Congress (Wikipedia/Public Domain)
This morning, MoveOn.org released the results of a poll it commissioned, one that contains bad news for U.S. Representative Tim Walberg, who represents rural northern, western, and southern Washtenaw County in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Seventh District. The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed that Walberg would lose an election held today to a generic Democratic challenger by nine percentage points, 51% to 42%, after poll respondents were told he supported the federal government shutdown.
Walberg was not alone in receiving unfavorable news. Public Policy Polling surveyed twenty-four Congressional districts represented by Republicans in states won by Barack Obama last year. Those surveyed indicated that they would vote against the incumbent in seventeen districts, including all three in Michigan, without being prompted about the shutdown. The number increased to twenty-one after being told of their Representative's support for the shutdown. It would take the loss of only seventeen seats to flip control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Republican to Democratic in 2014.
"Democrats must pick up 17 seats to win control of the House. These poll results make clear that if the election were held today, such a pickup would be well within reach," pollster Jim Williams told National Journal. "The surveys challenge the conventional wisdom that gerrymandering has put the House out of reach for Democrats."
Much more at the link, including explanations of the responses to poll questions and quotes from Pam Byrne's campaign and Tim Walberg's office. There's also a video from Huffington Post, "These Republicans Really Hope You'll Forget The Shutdown Is Their Fault."
Thursday morning, former Democratic Michigan representative Pam Byrnes of Lyndon Township announced that she was challenging Republican incumbent Tim Walberg for his seat in Congress.
"Thrilled to announce I launched my campaign for Congress in the 7th today," Byrnes said on Twitter.
...
“Washington is broken and Tim Walberg is part of the problem. He puts special interests and corporations ahead of middle-class Michigan families. I have a track record of working across the aisle to get things done and create opportunities to help middle-class families thrive.”
There's more at the link, including Byrnes' background and Walberg's response.
Personally, I'm pleased that Byrnes is running. She was one of the possibilities I mentioned last November to challenge Walberg.
"For this district, I'm not sure of the exact politician that should be ran, but the archetype has to be a Dem based out of Jackson, if only because it gives them a fundraising base."
That's what Ruben Marquez is, and he lost the primary to Haskell. What about Jackson Mayor Martin Griffin?
Also, there are other places for a fundraising base, such as Monroe (although that's where Haskell's from), the Washtenaw County cities of Saline (Gretchen Driskell, anyone?) and Chelsea (the current Mayor looks like a Republican, but former State House Rep. Pam Byrnes lives nearby), Adrian (the Lenawee County Commissioner who represents the east side of the city, Karol "KZ" Bolton, is a Democrat), and Eaton County (State Representative Theresa Abed).
And you're right; this district is competitive. The Democrats just need the right candidate.
My former U.S. Representative, and that only because I was one of those who voted him out the first time and then moved out of his district before he could return to office the second time, has made the news again, and not in a good way. Progress Michigan has preserved it from going down the memory hole on YouTube.
Rep. Tim Walberg, in an interview with WTVB-FM, lies about his vote on the Violence Against Women Act. In fact, according to Walberg's own House website, there was no Republican version of VAWA - just an amendment. Although Rep. Walberg voted yes on a Republican amendment to VAWA, he voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
His spokeswoman Sarah Kuziomka later told MIRS that "Congressman Walberg has not been a guest on (WTVB-FM) in over three weeks." The above interview was aired on WTVB-FB on Friday, March 1, following Rep. Walberg's no vote on the reauthorization of VAWA.
Let's go through the offenses. First, he voted against VAWA. While it's something I disapprove of, it's not anything that surprises me, given what I know about the man, and it's not anything that his supporters would hold against him. Then he went on WTVB and lied about his vote. When he was called about it on Michigan Liberal and Eclectablog, the station pulled down its news story about his appearance. Walberg's spokesperson then lied about being on WTVB. And to think that Walberg used to be a minister; he should know better than to commit an offense against the Ninth Commandment.
That's not the first time Walberg's been caught lying about a vote. Progress for Michigan recalls what he did in 2007.
In Walberg’s first term, he sent a press release bragging about new buses for the Jackson Transportation Authority and a new runway for W.K. Kellogg Airport, which had been included in a bill he voted against. In an editorial, the Battle Creek Enquirer said “it is the height of cynicism for politicians to think they can voice public support for issues and then turn around and vote in opposition.”
Finally, Progress for Michigan called on him to apologize for the lie.
“Rep. Walberg’s tall tales should be saved for bedtime stories to his daughters and granddaughters who he claims to want to protect,” said Jessica Tramontana, Communications Director for Progress Michigan. “Walberg and his staff obviously believe they’re above reproach and can simply lie their way out of any situation. Walberg owes an apology to all Michiganders. We all deserve an honest and straightforward answer from our elected leaders, and shouldn’t have to search so hard for the truth.”
Time for the first pair of articles recapping the election results.
Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell has beaten incumbent Representative Mark Driskell for State House.
Credit: Gretchen Driskell for State Representative Facebook page.
At 9:01 on the morning of election day, Representative Mark Ouimet exhorted the fans of his campaign's Facebook page to do their civic duty.
"Election Day is here! Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this campaign! I now only ask one more thing from you- vote!"
Vote they did, but not enough for Ouimet to be re-elected.
I'm very pleased by this result. It makes up for the bad taste in my mouth after Ouimet won in 2010. Also, with the election of Driskell and Adam Zemke, Washtenaw County is now represented by only Democrats in the Michigan House.
John Dingell has been elected to Congress for a record 30th term.
U.S. Congress (Wikipedia/Public Domain)
Last night, the two U.S. Representatives whose districts include Washtenaw County cruised to victory.
John Dingell, whose new 12th Congressional District represents Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Willow Run in addition to the southwestern and downriver portions of Wayne County, handily defeated challenger Cynthia Kallgren to return to Washington, D.C., for his 30th term.
Tim Walberg, whose 7th Congressional District encompasses the rural northern, western, and southern parts of Washtenaw County, beat back a challenge from Kurt Haskell to return for a third term.
Dingell will now become the longest serving U.S. Representative ever.
As for Walberg, maybe next time. I have already been thinking ahead until then, as I posted over at Michigan Liberal.
"I don't think she was a good candidate, but Haskell is far, far worse than Sharon Reiner."
That's saying something. We'll see how that turns out tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to writing his political obituary, and I mean that literally. I'm the Washtenaw County Elections 2010 Examiner and his race is one I'm covering. As soon as he won the primary, I wrote him off.
"For this district, I'm not sure of the exact politician that should be ran, but the archetype has to be a Dem based out of Jackson, if only because it gives them a fundraising base."
That's what Ruben Marquez is, and he lost the primary to Haskell. What about Jackson Mayor Martin Griffin?
Also, there are other places for a fundraising base, such as Monroe (although that's where Haskell's from), the Washtenaw County cities of Saline (Gretchen Driskell, anyone?) and Chelsea (the current Mayor looks like a Republican, but former State House Rep. Pam Byrnes lives nearby), Adrian (the Lenawee County Commissioner who represents the east side of the city, Karol "KZ" Bolton, is a Democrat), and Eaton County (State Representative Theresa Abed).
And you're right; this district is competitive. The Democrats just need the right candidate.
Here's to recruiting a better candidate in 2014. If the Democrats can't, I might just run. You read it here first.
With 83% of the precincts reported in Washtenaw County as of 1:30 A.M., the Associated Press has called the winners of both the Republican and Democratic primaries in the Seventh Congressional District and the victor of the Democratic primary in the Twelfth Congressional District.
Incumbent Tim Walberg successfully fended off a primary challenge from Dan Davis to be the Republican nominee to be the Republican nominee for the Seventh Congressional District. Walberg will face Kurt Haskell, who defeated Ruben Marquez to become the Democratic nominee.
Democrat John Dingell, the longest serving current Representative in the House, survived a challenge from Daniel Marcin for his party's nomination for the Twelfth District seat. Dingell's opponent has not yet been determined, as the Associated Press has not yet called the winner of the Republican primary between Cynthia Kallgren and Karen Jacobsen, which Kallgren leads narrowly.
Details for all four primaries at the link in the headline.
As for what this means, both incumbents will very likely win. Haskell has a reputation as a flake (or worse) and Kallgren is too far right for the district. In the case of Dingell, that's sweet. In the case of Walberg, it's quite bitter. I used to live in his district and can't stand the man.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce announces its endorsements of candidates for Senate, U.S. House, and Michigan House. Three of these candidates will be on the ballot in Washtenaw County.
For Senate, the Chamber decided that either Clark Durant or Pete Hoekstra would be acceptable and endorsed both. This is in stark contrast to the Detroit Regional Chamber, which could not decide between the two and ended up not endorsing either.
In the 7th Congressional District, incumbent Tim Walberg earned the Chamber's approval, along with the seven other Republican incumbents running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan.
The Michigan Chamber endorsed the candidates based on the organization's belief about who would improve the economic climate, including focusing on job creation and economic growth through pro-business policies.
As I wrote in a comment on Daily Kos, file the above under "keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer." These are all people I recommend voting against! Every last one of them is a corn pone fascist who has been or would be terrible for sustainability. The worst one is probably Walberg, who was my representative from 2007-2009 and who I was very happy to vote out of office in favor of Mark Schauer in 2008. I was disappointed to see him returned to office in 2010.
I feel dirty just having written this article, even though I'm only reporting the news. I think I'll make up for it by reporting the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club's endorsements next. I'm sure I'll feel much cleaner and happier once I do that.
