USA News and Discussions

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raklian
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To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
weatheriscool
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House elects McCarthy as speaker after days of defeats and concessions
Source: Washington Post
Today, the House elected Republican Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) as the nation’s 55th speaker after days of defeats and concessions to win over hard-line Republicans. McCarthy claimed the gavel on a majority vote on the 15th ballot, the most since before the Civil War.

McCarthy finally clinched the position after some GOP defectors agreed to vote “present” rather than against him, a move that lowered the threshold for McCarthy to prevail. McCarthy, 57, first elected to the House in 2006, will succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker. The turmoil over McCarthy’s nomination is a likely preview of the House under narrow GOP control.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... WRF4O56P6Y
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caltrek
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Progressive Critics Respond to McCarthy Finally Being Elected Speaker
by Jon Queally
January 7, 2023

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Progressive critics responded to the final vote by noting the price paid to win over the hostage-takers in the Republican conference.

"Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly put his personal ambitions ahead of our democracy," said Sean Eldridge, president of Stand Up America, referencing the GOP leader's membership in the "Sedition Caucus" to whom he said the new speaker had "sold his soul."

"He voted against certifying President Biden's victory and obstructed the investigation into the January 6 attack on our country," Eldridge said.

"This week," said Eldridge, "McCarthy made dangerous concessions to the most fringe members of the House in exchange for their support in his effort to become Speaker. The punishment for his political cowardice will be presiding over the GOP's conference of chaos for the next two years. Unfortunately, it's the American people who will pay the price."
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/mcca ... se-speaker

caltrek’s comment: McCarthy has a chance to prove Queally wrong. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will take it.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
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About the only thing this will do is fucking shut down the government for months on end next month with the debt limit. This is going to suck ass.
weatheriscool
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GOP Lawmaker Moves to Impeach Mayorkas
Source: Political Wire

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) “has filed impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, delivering on a promise he made last week before the 118th Congress was officially sworn in,” Fox News reports.
Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2023/01/10/go ... -mayorkas/
weatheriscool
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McCarthy expected to keep 3 Democrats off House committees
Source: ABC News
Speaker Kevin McCarthy and leading Republicans are expected to soon make good on a vow to keep three Democrats from seats on influential committees in the new House.

McCarthy's focus is Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, two California lawmakers who have served on the House Intelligence Committee.

"Speaker McCarthy confirms that Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Ilhan Omar are getting kicked off the Intel and Foreign Affairs Committees. Promises made. Promises kept!" Rep. Troy Nehls, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, tweeted on Tuesday.

McCarthy has long pledged to oust the three, citing objections to their behavior and the precedent of the previous House removing committee assignments for Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mccarth ... d=96344389
weatheriscool
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Biden 'surprised' government records found at old office
Source: AP

By ZEKE MILLER 51 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said he was surprised when informed that government records were found by his attorneys at his former office space in Washington. He was asked about the issue after the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents.

Speaking to reporters in Mexico City on Tuesday, Biden said his attorneys “did what they should have done” when they immediately called the National Archives about the discovery at the offices of the Penn Biden Center. He kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.

The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing “a small number of documents with classified markings” found at the office.

“I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office,” Biden said in his first comments since news of the Nov. 2, 2022, document discovery emerged Monday. He added that “I don’t know what’s in the documents” and that his lawyers had suggested he not ask.


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-politi ... osition_01
weatheriscool
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Supreme Court allows New York gun law placing restrictions on concealed firearms to remain in effect
Source: CNN Politics
CNN — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a New York gun law that places restrictions on carrying a concealed firearm to remain in effect while legal challenges play out.

In a brief order, the justices rebuffed an emergency request from challengers to the law who say it violates their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. They asked the justices to lift a federal appeals court order that froze a district court decision that invalidated key provisions.

The justices declined to do so. Justice Samuel Alito wrote, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, to say they agreed with their colleagues but stressed they were not ruling on the merits of the law, but simply declining to intervene in the dispute at this juncture. The case is currently before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I understand the court’s denial today to reflect respect for the Second Circuit’s procedures in managing its own docket, rather than expressing any view in the merits of the case,” Alito wrote. He urged the lower court to continue to “expedite” the appeal. The court’s order marks the first Second Amendment case to reach the high court since a major Second Amendment decision last summer that expanded gun rights nationwide.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/politics ... rk-gun-law
weatheriscool
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White House says classified documents were found in Biden's garage in Delaware
Source: NBC News
A "small number" of Obama administration documents with classified marking were found in President Joe Biden's Wilmington home, the White House said Thursday.

In a statement released on Twitter, Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber said the documents were found during a search for documents in Biden's two Delaware homes.

"All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the president's Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room," Sauber said.

No documents were found in Biden's Rehoboth Beach residence.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white- ... -rcna65509
weatheriscool
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U.S. will begin 'extraordinary measures' to stay under debt limit
Source: Washington Post
The Treasury Department on Friday said that it will begin “extraordinary measures” next week to prevent the United States government from defaulting on its payment obligations, as lawmakers in Washington prepare for a potentially devastating fiscal showdown.

In a letter to congressional officials, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the administration would on Jan. 19 begin repurposing federal funds to extend the date by which the government will run out of money. Congress must pass a law raising the debt limit from its current total of $31.4 trillion or the Treasury can’t borrow any more, even to pay for spending lawmakers have already authorized.

“The use of extraordinary measures enables the government to meet its obligations for only a limited amount of time,” Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders. “It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit. Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability.”

The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt in its history, and economists warn that doing so could trigger a panic on Wall Street and lead to millions of job losses. Many leading Republican lawmakers are demanding that their new House majority use the debt limit as leverage to force the Biden administration to accept sweeping spending cuts that Democrats oppose, creating an impasse with no clear resolution at hand.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-polic ... tion=alert
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