Author: Pensito Editors

Fascism Doesn’t Pay: Gaetz-Greene Rolling Blunder Tour Is $280k in the Red

Pensito Editors
Ad for 'America First Rally' with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz
Ad for ‘America First Rally’ with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz

The Daily Beast: “At the height of the controversy surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and the revelations that he’s under investigation for sex trafficking, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) bet big on a nationwide joint fundraising tour with her embattled colleague. But new campaign filings show that not only did the gamble not pay off, but that the much-maligned Republicans actually spent four times as much as they raised.

“Greene, the House GOP’s top fundraiser, is now faced with a decision: She can continue to join forces with her beleaguered ally at the expense of her campaign war chest, or she can cut bait and let Gaetz fend for himself.

“Since Gaetz and Greene kicked off their joint fundraising committee with a May 7 event at The Villages in central Florida, their campaigns and joint fundraising committee have posted a combined loss of $342,000. And according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, that joint fundraising effort, ‘Put America First,’ reported only $59,345.54 in contributions.”

Pelosi Rejects Two of McCarthy’s Election-Deniers for Jan. 6 Commission; McCarthy Pulls All five of His Nominees (UPDATED)

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*Now McCarthy says that if he doesn’t get his way, he won’t nominate anyone and there will be on select committee:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on Wednesday rejected two Republicans picked by GOP leadership to serve on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said in response that Republicans will not participate in the investigation unless Pelosi changes her mind.

“House rules give the speaker final say over committee assignments, but the speaker normally defers to the minority leader’s choices of committee members to represent the minority party…

“The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting July 27. Under the rules, it would have enough members to make a quorum and proceed even if none of McCarthy’s picks served.

[…]

Taxpayer Perks for Some Members of Disgraced Ex-President’s Crime Family Ended July 20

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News & Guts: “Wednesday marks six months since Trump’s reluctant departure from The Oval Office. The milestone wipes away certain post-presidency perks, including funding for staff. Gone, too, is Secret Service protection for Trump’s adult children. Trump and his wife Melania are entitled to it for life; Barron, the couple’s 15-year-old son, will be protected by the Secret Service until he’s 16.”

Missouri Legislative Committee Holds Hearing on Bogus Critical Race Theory Fears – No African-Americans Allowed

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Kansas City Star: “A Missouri legislative committee on Monday held a hearing on how educators teach K-12 students about race and racism without hearing from any Black Missourians.

No Black parents, teachers or scholars testified to the Joint Committee on Education during the invite-only hearing on critical race theory. Aside from an official from Missouri’s education department, the only people who testified Monday were critics of critical race theory, which is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism.”

Critical race theory analyzes ways in which racist laws like segregation rules and voter suppression affect the law, culture and politics even after they have been overturned. It is taught in law schools, never in K-12.

With the Rise of Delta Infections, Gov. DeSantis’ Covid Denial Is a Renewed Threat to Floridians’ Lives

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Miami Herald Editorial: “The law [Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL] signed in May, SB 2006, gives him the authority to invalidate a local emergency order that ‘unnecessarily restricts individual rights or liberties.’ The governor’s campaign has been selling T-shirts and drink koozies emblazoned with ‘Don’t Fauci my Florida’ — there’s no doubt he would exercise that authority with gusto.

“Miami-Dade’s case rate jumped to 242 per 100,000 people last week from 150 the week before, and test positivity grew from 5.4 percent to 7.4 percent despite the county having the largest percentage of people who have received at least one vaccine dose (75 percent).

“Experts suspect groups with low immunization rates, such as younger people, are behind this surge. But knowing that for sure is hard because the state isn’t releasing county-by-county demographic information on vaccinations. The state also stopped classifying deaths by county, releasing hospital data and reporting coronavirus numbers on a daily basis, switching to weekly reports. That made it harder to get a real picture of the pandemic, but perhaps that’s the intention. Burying Florida’s COVID-19 stats is the governor’s MO, as it was throughout 2020.”

Three of Five of McCarthy’s Choices for Jan. 6 Select Committee Voted against Certifying Election

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AP News: “House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed.

“McCarthy has selected Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who recently visited former President Donald Trump on trips to the U.S.-Mexico border and Trump’s New Jersey golf club, to be the top Republican on the panel, according to a Republican familiar with the decision and an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi must approve the names before they are final, per committee rules…

“The five Republican men selected by McCarthy have all backed Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. [Ranking Member Jim Banks, R-IN, and Reps. Jim Jordan, R-OH, and Troy Nehls, R-TX) all voted to overturn Biden’s win that day, even after the rioting. [Reps. Rodney Davis, R-IL, and Kelly Armstrong, R-ND] were among the minority of Republicans who voted to certify Biden’s win.”

Fox News Reverses Course, Promotes Covid Vaccination

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“Well, here’s the thing. And one of the CDC officials said yesterday, look the pandemic right now is really just with people who have not been vaccinated. 99% of the people who have died have not been vaccinated. So what they are trying to do is make sure that all of the people who have not been vaccinated get vaccinated.”

– Steve Doocy, a co-host of Fox News’ “Fox And Friends,” promoting Covid vaccination Monday morning in an apparent sudden reversal for the network.

California GOP’s Official Recall Clown Car Roster Off by Nearly 100 Candidates Compared with 2003

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Los Angeles Times: “State elections officials announced late Saturday that 41 candidates had filed valid paperwork and met other requisites to appear on the recall ballot to replace Newsom, kicking off the final phase of campaigning before the Sept. 14 election. Secretary of State Shirley Weber will release a certified list of names that will appear on the ballot on Wednesday.

“It’s a far cry from the 2003 recall election of then-Gov. Gray Davis, a media spectacle where 135 candidates appeared on the ballot in a campaign that drew global attention.

“The current recall has not captured the public imagination the way the prior one did. Political experts say that’s because this effort appears less likely to succeed and lacks the novelty of California’s first gubernatorial recall. While there are two reality stars running, there’s no candidate with the stature of Schwarzenegger. The most famous candidate in the race, Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, decamped to Australia to film a reality television show shortly before the filing deadline.”