Republicans have another reason to be upset: a monthly jobs report of 199,000 more jobs that is called “robust,” “upbeat,” and “stronger than expected,” with the unemployment rate dropping to a near-50-year low (3.7 percent, compared with a forecast of 3.9 percent).
Heather Long Xeeted this:
- 4.7 million more jobs than pre-pandemic
- Below 4% unemployment for two years
- Wages growing faster than inflation
- Women (ages 25 to 54) at an all-time high for labor force participation
Usually anti-President Joe Biden, Maria Bartiromo admitted, “Overall you’ve got to look at this report as a big positive. We’ve got more jobs created than expected.” She agreed with Joe Lavorgna, former chief economist of the White House National Economic Council under Deposed Donald Trump (DDT), that “the economy is a lot stronger than anybody understands.” Those who refuse to give Biden any credit for the economic achievements are the same people who blamed him for all the country’s economic problems.
The holiday season is growing closer, and Congress has four more working days before their three-week vacation. When members return on January 9, they have eight days before the January 19 shutdown. And just three days until the next shutdown deadline on February 2. Instead of working on stopping the multiple shutdowns, House members have been playing with retribution against Democrats. What they almost certainly won’t accomplish before the end of the year:
Federal spending: The House may have abandoned five pending appropriation bills. Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) staff has talked with that of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) with no agreement. House conservatives refuse to spend money outside their last summer’s debt deal caps and push emergency money such as assistance for Israel and Ukraine under those caps.
Foreign aid: The GOP senators failed to vote for Biden’s $100+ billion proposal, moving the discussion to border security decisions acceptable to Republicans to pass aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has said that Democrats must pass border restrictions to “pay” for the foreign aid.
FAA: Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration was decoupled from government funding to save the agency from a shutdown, but the temporary fix expires on December 31. With no progress, Congress may need to pass another delay, extending FAA’s authorization until March 8.
Farm bill: The 2018 farm bill’s stopgap extension ends September 30, 2024, with no movement until next year. Meanwhile, the parties are fighting over funding for the $1 trillion-plus food and agriculture bill.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes:
“Authoritarianism revolves around the power to commit crimes with impunity. That is why protecting and promoting criminals and turning violent and corrupt activities into patriotic and necessary actions are always priorities of authoritarian parties and governments….
“Crime, and the law, have a different meaning for authoritarians and their enablers. In the amoral and transactional world of leaders such as Trump, all means are justified to get to power and stay there. So, actions that might be defined as criminal in a democracy take on a different meaning in an autocracy.”
Speaker Johnson claims that Republicans are the “law-and-order team,” but his “team” keeps proving him wrong, starting with blurring faces of January 6 insurrectionists on the 44,000 hours of tapes he will release. The DOJ already has the footage, but Johnson wants to protect those attacking the U.S. Capitol from public view.
The Washington, D.C. circuit court ruled that DDT is subject to the gag order to not comment on the testimony of likely witnesses or single out others that might interfere with the case but permits him to attack Special Counsel Jack Smith. As might be expected, DDT threw another tantrum, playing the victim, and his lawyers will appeal the decision either to the full circuit court or the Supreme Court. Donald Ayers, George H.W. Bush’s AG, wrote that the criminal and civil cases against DDT “are graphic demonstrations for all to see that our democratic rule of law, and not Donald Trump, is indeed supreme.”
In attempts at revisionist history, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnamy slammed Biden for the new crime rate data showing an increased murder rate. The statistics were for 2020, DDT’s last year in the White House. Earlier, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) blamed Biden for Covid-related schools disclosures—also in 2020. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) blamed Biden for “paying people to stay home” in 2020 with the bill that DDT signed into law. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) blamed Biden for a Michigan woman whose sons died of overdoses in 2020. While MAGA folk lie about how bad things were in 2020, ignorant that DDT was in the White House at that time, other Republicans claim that 2020 was great because of DDT.
In 2020, people experienced a deadly contagion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives as officials struggled for a solution, a recession, a collapse in the job market, nationwide social-justice protests after George Floyd’s murder, and an increased murder rate. Since then the number of Covid deaths dropped and the unemployment rate fell while the economy grew at a healthy pace.
Last Thursday, 20-week pregnant Katie Cox, carrying a fetus that will die, succeeded in obtaining a court order for an abortion in Texas. Without the procedure, she will lose her fertility and possibly her life. AG Ken Paxton, under indictment for bribery and fraud, sent letters to three hospitals threatening them with legal action if they followed the court’s ruling. Following that, the state Supreme Court temporarily blocked the decision from a Travis County district judge with no indication of when they will rule on the restraining order. The state’s top court is also considering a case in which 20 women claim they were denied medically necessary abortions; the state argues that the women lack standing because they are not currently seeking abortions. Paxton disagrees that a lethal fetal anomaly qualifies a patient for an abortion under the state’s anti-abortion ban’s narrow medical exception.
After DDT said he would be a dictator only on “Day One,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) stated that DDT has a great sense of humor and “the most quick-witted leader in a generation.” He follows the GOP spin that criticism of DDT’s authoritarian plans, laid out in detail, are “legitimizes illegal and violent conduct,” ignoring Republicans’ promoting violence for years. He wants people concerned about DDT’s authoritarianism goals to “take a chill pill.” Vance should take his own chill pill after he demanded DOJ investigate Robert Kagan, who called for “resistance against Trump ‘Dictatorship’” in the Washington Post. Kagan isn’t alone in his position; this theme has become common.
In addition, Vance wants Secretary of State Antony Blinken to look into whether Kagan’s wife, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, should have her security clearance revoked because her “close relationship with her husband might compromise her judgment about the best interests of the United States.” Vance wrote:
“Based on my review of public charging documents that the Department of Justice has filed in courts of law, I suspect that one or both of you might characterize this article as an invitation to ‘insurrection,’ a manifestation of criminal ‘conspiracy,’ or an attempt to bring about civil war.”
Ruth Marcus pointed out the conservative backgrounds of both Kagan and Nuland, also describing DDT as “a defeated candidate accused of pressuring state officials to subvert election results, scheming to submit slates of false electors, and strong-arming his vice president to refrain from performing his constitutionally prescribed role.” Vance has mislabeled Kagan as a “left-wing journalist” instead of a conservative who left the Republican party because of DDT.
Karen Tumulty wrote:
“A Donald Trump ally who worked in his Justice Department said Tuesday that if the former president is elected again, his administration will retaliate against people in the media ‘criminally or civilly.’”
In another act of hatred, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced a bill to guarantee that transgender youth in foster care will be put into homes with transphobic parents. The misnamed bill, the Sensible Adoption for Every (SAFE) Home Act, cuts federal funding to any child welfare agencies and groups that doesn’t follow the requirement. Banks calls the transphobic environment as “loving homes” and is reacting to a proposed HHS rule requiring children to be placed in a safe, supportive environment free from hostility, mistreatment, or abuse based on a child’s LGBTQI+ status. This week, 18 GOP AGs signed a letter opposing the rule change, stating it violates constitutional rights. Mistreatment of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care is linked to an increased risk of depression, suicide, homelessness, food insecurity, illegal drug use, and other serious health risks.
Even some GOP House members are becoming nervous about the intent of the chamber’s radical right. The Judiciary Committee is warring with the Intelligence Committee about the warrantless surveillance powers. On the Intelligence Committee, conservative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said that the “disagreement … should frighten the hell out of us” because of “the reforms coming out of the Judiciary Committee.” Judiciary members are equally critical of Intelligence ones. Judiciary wants a warrant before the government reviews information on surveilled people from the U.S.; Intelligence doesn’t. In addition, Intelligence voted down an amendment including provisions dealing with election interference. To fuel the fire, Speaker Johnson is bringing both bills to the floor next week.
Nel's New Day 