US enters new phase as women change the face of Congress

I've been waiting and seething for 2 years for this day and I can't get enough of the history being made.

US enters new phase as women change the face of Congress

Record 102 women were sworn into the House as balance of power shifts in Washington, and Nancy Pelosi makes history as speaker again


Among the historic class of new congresspeople who took the oath of office in the US House of Representatives on Thursday are the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, the first black women elected from Massachusetts and Connecticut, the first Hispanic women elected from Texas, and the youngest woman to be elected to Congress.

There is a former NFL linebacker, a doctor and a climate scientist. There are a number of former members of the military and intelligence services, many of them women. There are seasoned veterans of past presidential administrations and a handful of political neophytes who never held office before running for Congress in 2018.

A record 102 women were sworn into the House on Thursday, 35 of whom were elected for the first time in November in a historic wave of success for female candidates.

[...]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/03/us-enters-new-phase-as-women-change-the-face-of-congress

Rashida Tlaib's thobe and Ilhan Omar's hijab are making congressional history

Rashida Tlaib’s thobe and Ilhan Omar’s hijab are making congressional history


Thursday is a historic day for the federal government: As Democrats take over the House of Representatives amid a shutdown with no end in sight, the first two Native American women and the first two Muslim women will be sworn into a Congress with more women overall serving than ever before.

To mark the occasion, some first-term Congress members are standing out in more ways than one: During the swearing-in ceremony, instead of the typical congressional suit in a muted tone, Rashida Tlaib will wear a traditional Palestinian thobe. It’s a long tunic, often made of cotton and decorated with heavy embroidery, and worn for various occasions all over the Middle East. Tlaib’s is a deep burgundy with red embroidery.

Tlaib is the first Palestinian American woman to be elected to Congress, representing Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes parts of Detroit and its surrounding suburbs. She’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and she’s championed progressive policies like a $15 minimum wage, debt-free college, and Medicare-for-all, as well as the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the impeachment of President Trump.

[...]

Meanwhile, Deb Haaland of New Mexico, one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, wore a traditional Pueblo dress and turquoise jewelry to the swearing-in ceremony. On Thursday morning, she tweeted, “New Mexicans are in the house, the US House that is.”

[...]

The first-term female Congress members elected in November’s midterms have single-handedly helped create a more diverse Congress — and they’ve done so while wearing their identity proudly rather than assimilate to the old-fashioned uniform of dark suits for the House and Senate.

Their platforms and policies are more important in the grand scheme of things than what they wear, of course. But the embrace of their heritage and identity is already changing the rules in Congress. Ilhan Omar, who is one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress (Tlaib is the other), will be the first person to wear a hijab in Congress. Though she’s worn a hijab throughout her campaign, hats and head coverings have been banned in the House since 1837, a rule Omar pushed to change even before she was sworn in. The 181-year-old rule will be overturned as of January 3, formally allowing religious garments like hijabs and yarmulkes, as well as head coverings for illness and hair loss.

[...]

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/3/18166768/rashida-tlaib-ilhan-omar-congress-thobe-hijab

Who's Doing Good New Laws? Is It Dems? Is It DEMS? Yes It IS!

[ The new House and Speaker are icing on a very nice cake, as described so well at (slightly weird) Wonkette: ]

Who's Doing Good New Laws? Is It Dems? Is It DEMS? Yes It IS!


Slinky By Erin Perry Creative Commons 2.0


As ever, the new year brings with it a bunch of new laws going into effect and new people in office, so let's take a moment to pet and love some nifty new developments in the states. Maybe not all the states (Bad Georgia! Bad!) but there's some Good Laws and Good Government out there. Here, have a Snausage and celebrate!

California: That Doggie (And Kitty, And Bunny) In The Window Has To Come From A Shelter, Hooray!

[ ... see the link for more ]

Wisconsin: Dem Governor-Elect Won't SIT For Republican Power Grab

[ ... see the link for more ]

Treats EVERYWHERE!

There's also a nice grab bag of improved laws going into effect around the country. Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska will be expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act after voters passed initiatives -- they were all sick of their legislatures' foot-dragging. The new benefits won't all go into effect right away, but holy crap, we had to find an excuse to mention the one progressive thing in Idaho for AGES.

California, Illinois, and Oregon have new restrictions on guns that go into effect this week.

[ ... ]

The minimum wage is being raised in a whole bunch of places, including New York, California, and 20 others, hooray! A whole bunch of cities are also raising their minimum wage, too -- in all, the National Employment Law Project estimates about 17 million workers will see increases in the minimum wage this year.

And then there are all the states whose legislatures have taken action to reflect the #MeToo movement:

[ ... ]

https://www.wonkette.com/whos-doing-good-new-laws-is-it-dems-is-it-dems-yes-it-is

MJ: Bask in These Joyous Photos From the Historic Day.

Medicaid Expansion -- Having health care helps prevent homelessness

Medicaid expansion continues to reap social benefits: Having health care helps prevent homelessness

Joan McCarter


The decision by United States Chief Justice John Roberts to split the Affordable Care Act baby in 2012, upholding the constitutionality of the law as a whole but letting the states decide if they would implement the Medicaid expansion part of it, has been horrible for the people in those deeply Republican states that refused to take the expansion. The only upside is that it provides a pretty much unprecedented opportunity for social scientists to determine precisely what benefits affordable health care brings to society.

It created a basic lab. Neighboring states with matching demographic profiles could be compared side by side: those that expanded Medicaid compared to what would be sort of a control group, those that didn't. One of the findings so far is that expanding Medicaid increases voter participation. People are more invested in their government and society when they both see the benefits of it in their lives and have more time and energy and health to devote to it. A new study, reflecting the kind of stability that access to affordable health care gives people, shows that it is preventing homelessness.

[...]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1818300/-Medicaid-expansion-continues-to-reap-social-benefits-Having-health-care-helps-prevent-homelessness

Trump's infatuation with the death penalty

Here Are the People Trump Said the Death Penalty Should Be Used Against This Year

“You know, the Chinese and Filipinos don’t have a drug problem. They just kill them.”

[by] Jacob Rosenberg December 25, 2018

Over the last year, President Donald Trump has repeatedly emphasized the death penalty in televised speeches, statements, and tweets. Sometimes, it was invoked in reference to certain groups, like drug dealers; other times, the president applied it to a specific individual, as he did just after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre.

Trump’s infatuation with the death penalty isn’t new. Even before his foray into politics, he tweeted about cases where he thought capital punishment would be appropriate. He called for it when Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl made headlines for being captured after he deserted his post in Afghanistan and in the cases of the Boston Marathon bomber and the Aurora shooter. In comparison, a search of Barack Obama’s Twitter archive finds zero results for the words “death penalty.”

More famously, in 1985, Trump bought $85,000 in ads that called for the execution of the Central Park Five, who were ultimately exonerated through DNA evidence.

As president, Trump has clung to the death penalty as a tough-on-crime solution in specific circumstances, despite research that shows the death penalty has not deterred crime, and, in practice, is often arbitrary, racist, and imposed against innocent people.

Here’s a breakdown of how the president has discussed capital punishment in 2018.

Christmas at the border

Migrants stuck in Tijuana dream of US as they celebrate uncertain Christmas

Volunteers try to bring some cheer to Central Americans with traditional food and gifts but fear and anxiety haunt the holiday

[by] Sarah Kinosian in Tijuana 25 Dec 2018

“For us Christmas means tamales,” said Orbelina Orellana, mixing a cauldron of ingredients with a large wooden ladle.

In the background, punta music, from Honduras’s northern coast, played from a cellphone lying next to a pile of banana leaves that would later be used to wrap the traditional corn dish. “It’s more than food: it’s family, it’s home, it’s love, it’s us.”

Orellana is one of the thousands of Central Americans who arrived in Tijuana, just south of US border with the US state of California, in November. She came with the caravan of migrants and refugees who are spending their Christmas thousands of miles from home, in limbo, many of whom are unsure if or when they will ever make it into the US.

In preparation for 24 December, when Latin America celebrates Christmas, Orellana and three other women made 2,000 Honduran tamales in an empty dirt-floor lot with cinderblock walls, just around the corner from the old outdoor concert venue that is housing more than 1,200 caravan members.

“We wanted our new caravan family to be able to have our traditions. But being here is hard. I know my son and two daughters are sad right now. I keep reminding myself I’m here for their future,” Orellana, 26, says as she stirs, remembering her children back in Honduras. “They’re all pretty reserved kids, but on Christmas, they love to dance. I’ll miss that.”

[ ... ]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/25/central-american-migrants-tijuana-christmas

Senator "Public Hanging"

Irony Visits The Senate In The Form Of An Anti-Lynching Bill

As Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith presided, Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker got the Senate to agree to make lynching a federal crime for the first time in history.
By Karoli Kuns

<...>

That's right. Senator "Public Hanging."

<...>

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/12/irony-visits-senate-form-anti-lynching

25 45 now

It's time for the crazy man to get out of our White House, before he kills us all.

Amendment XXV
Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv

Orange and Demented

Sometimes you just need to let off steam. If you don't like this, well, sorry, I did the best I could with no talent. If someone's done something similar already, also sorry, now you have another version.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oranges_and_Lemons

Orange and demented
Cry the people, tormented.

"For WALL, gi' me 5 billion,
Or I'll cage all the children."

"All your promises, you're failing!"
Say deplorables, all wailing.

"You're illegally rich,"
Say the Hunters of Witch.

"Your whole family's criminal,"
Say all Attorneys General.

Impeach or resign,
For your freedom, you'll pine.

Here comes a scandal, but truth will be said.
Here comes Bob Mueller to lead you to Fed.
Tick, tock, tick, tock, Four walls and a bed!