I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of Republicans playing chicken with the jobs, services, resources and investments of the American people. There should be consequences for their actions.

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of Republicans playing chicken with the jobs, services, resources and investments of the American people. There should be consequences for their actions.

Dr. King speaks a truth that is difficult to ignore. It's way past time to make amends for this great cruelty.

https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-governed-in-america-arent-getting

Just read it, people. (my words)

“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have
wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
— Former US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/16/gina-lollobrigida-obituary

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-15-2023

Letters from an American: Heather Cox Richardson:



'After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”

Dr. King told the audience that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.'

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-12-2023

Letters from an American: Heather Cox Richardson: January 12, 2023

'After news broke yesterday that President Joe Biden’s lawyers had found a second batch of documents in his home in Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney General Merrick Garland today appointed Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents...But it presents a problem for MAGA Republicans. Unable to attack Biden for having documents marked classified in his possession without also faulting Trump...House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this morning that he did not “think there needs to be a special prosecutor,” and that Congress should conduct its own investigation.

While there is still a great deal we don’t know about either case, there are obvious and key differences between Biden’s and Trump’s handling of documents...In Trump’s case, NARA repeatedly asked him simply to return the documents it knew he had. He refused for a year...Trump is apparently being investigated for obstruction and for violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to withhold documents from a government official authorized to take them...

So far, anyway, Biden’s possession of documents marked classified appears very different from Trump’s. Biden’s team offered up to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) the information that Biden had documents in his possession, has apparently been zealous about searching for them, and is apparently cooperating with the Justice Department.'

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-11-2023

As always there is tons of pertinent information in these 'Letters from an American'. This is what stood out to me.

'...On Monday evening the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to cut funding for the Internal Revenue Service...If the House measure were to become law—which it will not because the Senate will not pass it—it would add significantly to the deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that the Republicans’ bill would increase the deficit by nearly $115 billion over ten years.

'...The Biden administration has focused on tax evasion among the wealthy and has sought since the beginning of Biden’s term to crack down on tax cheats...The administration responded to the House measure with uncharacteristic saltiness. “With their first economic legislation of the new Congress, House Republicans are making clear that their top economic priority is to allow the rich and multi-billion dollar corporations to skip out on their taxes, while making life harder for ordinary, middle-class families that pay the taxes they owe,” responded the Office of Management and Budget.'

It's going to be an interesting year. It looks like the Biden Administration is going to step on these cockroaches whenever they stray into the light. (my words).

https://hartmannreport.com/p/is-the-anti-mccarthy-crowd-in-the

'There’s absolutely no doubt that a default by the United States would cripple our economy and lead to a crisis not seen since the Republican Great Depression....Congressman Ralph Norman was asked if he and his colleagues actually intended to force McCarthy (or any other Speaker) to “shut down the government rather than raise the debt ceiling,” Norman replied: “That’s a non-negotiable item.” When asked if he was talking about shutting down the government or actually defaulting on the debt, Norman said: “That’s why you need to be planning now what agencies — what path you’re gonna take now to trim government. Tell the programs you’re going to get to this number. And you do that before chairs are picked.”

'Is the Anti-McCarthy Crowd in the Bag for the Billionaires, Putin, or Both?''...investigative journalist Dave Troy noting that America’s rightwing billionaires aren’t the only ones who want the US government to fail. So does Vladimir Putin...I plugged the names of each of the 20 Republicans who voted against McCarthy...along with the word “Russia.” Here’s what I found about 15 of them:

Andy Biggs voted against legislation to document Russian war crimes in Ukraine, as did Paul Gosar and Scott Perry.
Matt Gaetz, Dan Bishop, Paul Gosar, Ralph Norman, and Scott Perry all voted against suspending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.Dan Bishop, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Chip Roy all voted against a bill to ban imports of Russian oil and gas.Those four also voted against legislation to strip Russia from “most favored nation status” by the World Trade Organization.Paul Gosar and Matt Rosendale both voted against a resolution that reaffirmed US support for Ukrainian sovereignty.John Brecheen is new to Congress...Voting against Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a pet Putin peeve, were Michael Cloud, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Ralph Norman, and Chip Roy.Eli Crane says of the US supporting Ukraine...Paul Gosar tweeted: “Putin puts Russia first as he should.” Mary Miller, Bob Good, Ralph Norman, Andy Biggs, and Matt Gaetz co-sponsored legislation to forbid any further delivery of military equipment to Ukraine.Mary Miller tweeted: “I will vote NO on sending additional money to Ukraine…” Scott Perry voted against aid to Ukraine....'