First, they’ll defund the war in Ukraine,
Then inflict Medicare and Social Security pain.
They’ll be great at meanness and autocracy,
But not so good at running a democracy.
The GOP has a plan for when it wins, and it’s insane.
“The emerging network — fueled by the widespread availability of medication abortion — has made the illegal abortions of today simpler and safer than those of the pre-Roe era, remembered for its back alleys and coat hangers. Distinct from services that sell pills to patients on the internet, a growing army of community-based distributors is reaching pregnant women through word of mouth or social media to supply pills for free — though typically without the safeguards of medical oversight.”
“With the battle for state legislatures taking on an elevated importance during this midterm cycle, a Democratic super PAC is investing more than $20 million in state legislative races, with about 70 percent of the funds going to support candidates in 25 districts across Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona,” the New York Times reports. “The investment is from Forward Majority, the super PAC, as Democrats across the country are pouring significant resources into state legislative races.”
A new Monmouth poll finds that 60% of Americans think Donald Trump should have to appear before the January 6 Committee and 77% say any such testimony should happen in public. However, only 36% at this time think Trump is “directly responsible” for the insurrection and just 40% think he should be criminally charged.
“We have a new rule in the Rules Committee. If you’re batshit crazy, you’re not getting an amendment. I’m sorry. We’re not doing this. We’re not doing this. I’m not going down that road. I’m not going to be part of any effort to legitimize people who are f**king lunatics.”
— House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA), who created a “new rule” on his committee for people like Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Insider reports. When one of her “flurry of nonsensical amendments turned out to be reasonable,” McGovern blocked it from going to the House floor and a Republican committee member wanted to know why, according to Robert Draper’s new book, “Weapons of Mass Delusion.”
Yahoo News: “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans will not hand a ‘blank check’ to Ukraine if his party wins next month’s elections, apparently confirming that bipartisan congressional support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia is wavering.
“McCarthy, speaking to Punchbowl News, acknowledged the significance of the conflict, but said Americans are dealing with economic problems at home and can’t afford to prioritize helping Ukraine.
“’I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,’ McCarthy said. ‘They just won’t do it.’
Republican lawmakers are so performative, they’re artsy,
But as for governing, they’re not much of a party.
Though they’re ignoble and sophomoric,
They occasionally do the historic.
Like the firing of a House Speaker — lying Kevin McCarthy.
“Why is your husband such a pig? Why would he get on TV and make an asshole of himself? Because he’s a deep state prick? Because he doesn’t represent the people? So what we’re gonna do is we’re going fucking follow you all over the place. We’re gonna be up your ass fucking nonstop. We are now Antifa. We’re gonna do what the left does because your fucking faggot of a husband gets on TV, ‘Oh, the bad guys, they did stuff. I’m gonna vote for Kevin McCarthy,’ — a piece of shit.”
– Anonymous caller’s voicemail message to the wife of an unnamed Republican congressman who voted against Jim Jordan for House speaker.
“The fact that you and I are living in a world where it is at least notionally possible that Jim Jordan would become the speaker of the people’s house and in line to the presidency of the United States is so utterly fantastic, not because Jim Jordan is some, transdimensional warlock. But because he’s an idiot… These Frankensteins were never supposed to get off the table.”
“It’s been 5 years since we have seen one another. I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does as well.”
— “Donald Trump will back in court next week for his New York civil fraud trial, setting up a potential face-to-face showdown with fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, who is expected to testify,” the AP reports.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation, not a round of fighting, at war. I am initiating an extensive mobilization of the reserves to fight back on a scale and intensity that the enemy has so far not experienced. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted by the Times of Israel.
“Republican 2024 presidential candidates blamed the Biden administration for the attacks Hamas terrorists launched against Israel on Saturday, pointing to the deadly developments as evidence of U.S. weakness on the world stage and claiming that the administration is partially responsible.”
“President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees brought in more than $71 million combined in this year’s third quarter,” Politico reports. “It’s a large, though not record-breaking, amount that has allowed Biden to launch a major TV and digital advertising campaign earlier than past presidents’ reelection efforts.”
Percentage of Israeli Jews who said the surprise attack from Gaza was a failure of the government of Prime Ministers Bibi Netanyahu. Among coalition government supporters, 79% blamed the leadership.
The US economy added 336,000 nonfarm jobs in September, nearly double the 170,000 jobs economists had predicted and surpassing the upwardly revised 227,000 jobs in August, according to government data released yesterday. The latest figure is the largest monthly increase since January. Most of the jobs in September were added in leisure and hospitality (96,000), government (73,000), and healthcare (41,000). Average hourly earnings in September were up 0.2% month-over-month and 4.2% year-over-year, slightly down from estimates of 0.3% and 4.3%. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% from the previous month. See all data here.
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “In all, the Georgia GOP has spent more than $1 million on legal fees since the beginning of last year, most of it for the Trump election interference case.”
“President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden’s 2-year-old German shepherd, Commander, has been involved in more biting incidents than previously reported at the White House,“ CNN reports. “While the US Secret Service has acknowledged 11 reported biting incidents involving its personnel, sources who spoke to CNN said the real number is higher and includes executive residence staff and other White House workers.”