Time For A Democratic Majority In The House...

[Sue U]

The first two members of Congress to support Trump have now been indicted (first Chris Collins and now Hunter). Tell me that isn't a campaign ad that writes itself.

I don't know why Tom Price (former congressman and Sec of HHS) hasn't been charged with insider trading and official corruption, or why Scott Pruitt (former EPA) hasn't been charged with abuse of his office, or why nobody's demanding Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross's head for stealing more than $120 million from investors, to name just a few of the most obvious criminals in the Trump Administration. White guys, go figure.

[Guinevere]

The first two members of Congress to support Trump have now been indicted (first Chris Collins and now Hunter). Tell me that isn't a campaign ad that writes itself.

I don't know why Tom Price (former congressman and Sec of HHS) hasn't been charged with insider trading and official corruption, or why Scott Pruitt (former EPA) hasn't been charged with abuse of his office, or why nobody's demanding Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross's head for stealing more than $120 million from investors, to name just a few of the most obvious criminals in the Trump Administration. White guys, go figure.

PRIVILEGED white guys.

Speaking of which -- I had the misfortune to hear the so-called president explaining "elite" at his kklanrallyk yesterday. I don't have time right now, but wasn't "elite" something the Repubs tried to throw at educated Dems and Obama, to try and separate/alienate them from the "average" voter. It was a term of derision. Because now the so-called president is claiming the title - he's the mostest elitist, and deeming all his trumpanzees elites.

The mind continues to boggle. I think the meanings of "irony" and "hubris" need to be updated . . . .

[RayThom]

[rubato]

"... 16. Throughout the relevant period, the HUNTERS spent substantially more than they earned. They overdrew their bank account more than 1,100 times in a seven-year period resulting in approximately $37,761 in “overdraft” and “insufficient funds” bank fees. Their credit cards were frequently charged to the credit limit, often with five-figure balances, resulting in approximately $24,600 in finance charges, interest, and other fees related to late, over the limit, and returned payment fees. ... "

they have only slightly less financial common sense than the latest SC nominee. Only slightly.

yrs,
rubato

[BoSoxGal]

I bet they are just the kind of judgmental conservative motherfuckers who publicly belittle poor people for not saving enough or managing their money properly, etc.


Twats!

[Lord Jim]

A real class act is the Distinguished Gentleman From California:

Duncan Hunter appears to blame wife for $250K campaign cash scandal



Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was indicted along with his wife earlier this week on federal charges for having stolen more than a quarter million dollars in campaign funds, appeared to blame his spouse of two decades for the alleged crimes in an interview Thursday night.

Hunter, a California Republican representing parts of San Diego, told Fox News that his wife, Margaret, had been in charge of family expenses as well as his campaign.

"When I went away to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave her power of attorney. She handled my finances throughout my entire military career and that continued on when I got into Congress," Hunter said on "The Story."

"She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that’ll be looked at too, I'm sure, but I didn't do it," he added.

According to a 47-page grand jury indictment — which alleged wire fraud, filing false campaign finance records, prohibited use of campaign funds and bank fraud — the San Diego County couple used thousands of dollars of campaign cash to take trips to Italy, Hawaii, London and elsewhere, and to cover school tuition, dental work and theater tickets.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congre ... al-n903476

[Lord Jim]

Gee whiz, maybe if the Republicans on The Hill had actually been doing their jobs for the past year and a half and fulfilled their oversight and investigatory responsibilities themselves, (rather than either cowering in fear from, or openly conspiring with, Trump) they wouldn't have to be worried about this:

Scoop: Republicans secretly study their coming hell

Congressional Republicans are getting ready for hell. Axios has obtained a spreadsheet that's circulated through Republican circles on and off Capitol Hill — including at least one leadership office — that meticulously previews the investigations Democrats will likely launch if they flip the House.

Why this matters: Publicly, House Republicans are putting on a brave face about the midterms. But privately, they are scrambling to prepare for the worst. This document, which catalogs requests Democrats have already made, is part of that effort.

It has churned Republican stomachs. Here are some of the probes it predicts:

President Trump’s tax returns

Trump family businesses — and whether they comply with the Constitution's emoluments clause, including the

Chinese trademark grant to the Trump Organization

Trump's dealings with Russia, including the president's preparation for his meeting with Vladimir Putin

The payment to Stephanie Clifford — a.k.a. Stormy Daniels

James Comey's firing

Trump's firing of U.S. attorneys

Trump's proposed transgender ban for the military

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's business dealings

White House staff's personal email use

Cabinet secretary travel, office expenses, and other misused perks

Discussion of classified information at Mar-a-Lago

Jared Kushner's ethics law compliance

Dismissal of members of the EPA board of scientific counselors

The travel ban

Family separation policy

Hurricane response in Puerto Rico

Election security and hacking attempts

White House security clearances

The spreadsheet — which I'm told originated in a senior House Republican office — catalogs more than 100 formal requests from House Democrats this Congress, spanning nearly every committee.

The spreadsheet includes requests for administration officials to be grilled by committee staff, requests for hearings to obtain sworn testimony, efforts to seize communications about controversial policies and personnel decisions, and subpoena threats.

These demands would turn the Trump White House into a 24/7 legal defense operation.

The bottom line: Thanks to their control of Congress, Republicans have blocked most of the Democrats’ investigative requests. But if the House flips, the GOP loses its power to stymie. Lawyers close to the White House tell me the Trump administration is nowhere near prepared for the investigatory onslaught that awaits them, and they consider it among the greatest threats to his presidency.

https://www.axios.com/2018-midterm-elec ... 3c584.html

I saw Adam Schiff (the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who would replace the despicable Devin Nunes as committee chairman if the Dems retake the House) interviewed about this list last night...

His reaction was that there were a lot of things missing, and then he ticked off about half a dozen more things he would add to it...

[Scooter]

Someone seems to be smelling blood in the water.

Two years ago:


This week:

Trump tweeted Friday that he will headline "a major rally" for Cruz in October and is "picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find." He added, "Ted has my complete and total Endorsement (sic)"

[Guinevere]

That tweet will be on a billboard. Karma is such a biatch:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.slate. ... tweet.html

[Scooter]

Yeah, will be interesting to see the tap dancing required to try walking that one back.

[Lord Jim]

This would provide some good clips for ads for an outside group to run in Texas...

Ted expressing his opinion of Trump; should go over big with the Trumpanzees, and get them really fired up to turn out for him:



And some good video of The Donald opining about Lyin' Ted here:



I see lots of advertising potential...

[RayThom]

[Joe Guy]

Seeing Ted Cruz again after all this time reminds me of how much I can't stand the guy because he seems like such an insincere typical phony practiced politician with one of the most punchable faces ever grown on anyone's head.

It's too bad he didn't win the presidential election in 2016...

[RayThom]

[datsunaholic]

No! Don't insult Blobby the Blobfish!

[Scooter]

[BoSoxGal]

Let’s go all in and throw our reusable stainless steel straws at them - they might even get scratched a bit.

[Lord Jim]

Trump's approval rating drop looks real, and it could be a disaster for the GOP in 2018

(CNN)A new ABC News/Washington Post poll puts President Donald Trump's approval rating at just 36%. An IBD/TIPP poll also puts the President's approval rating at 36%. Finally, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll gives Trump an approval rating of 37%. All three are declines from the last poll by each pollster, which had Trump's approval rating in the low 40s.

We don't know if this is the beginning of a trend or not. Three polls are just three polls, though Trump's approval rating has declined to its lowest level since April, according to the FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics trackers.

Still, the President's approval rating did not shift in Gallup's weekly tracker.

But if there is a trend emerging of Trump's approval rating dropping into the 30s, it's very bad news for House Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Voters' feelings toward the President are arguably the most important factor in the elections. Polling shows that if voters like what he's doing, they're probably casting their ballots for Republican House candidates. If voters don't like what he's doing, they're probably casting their ballots for Democratic House candidates. CNN's last poll, for example, had only a 2-point difference between Trump's net approval rating among registered voters and the Democratic margin on the generic congressional ballot.

So far, the President's approval rating has stayed high enough that Republicans still have a chance at maintaining control of the House. Most polls over the last few months have had Trump's approval rating in the low 40s and a Democratic lead on the generic congressional ballot of around 7 to 8 points. This has translated into a potential Democratic pickup of 30 to 35 seats. Although that's more than the 23 net gain Democrats need to pick up the House, it's close enough to 23 that it's well within the margin of error for Republicans to hold on to the House, given the current polling.

If Trump's approval rating drops into the 30s, the bottom may fall out for House Republicans. Since 1946, a point decline in a president's approval rating is worth about 0.25 to 0.33 point in the national House vote. That is, a drop in Trump's approval rating from 42% (CNN's latest poll) to 36% (the ABC News/Washington Post poll) could increase the Democratic advantage by 2 percentage points.

That may not seem like a lot, but a look at the House map suggests it could be a very big deal. If you were to shift that national environment 2 points toward the Democrats, it might result in Democrats picking up, on average, around 45 seats or more in the House.

To put that 45-seat gain in perspective, it would be the largest for the Democrats since Watergate.

This estimate, though, may not be friendly enough to Democrats. Historically, the relationship between how voters feel about the president and how they vote for Congress isn't as strong as it is today. Given what the last CNN poll showed (just a 2-point difference between voters' net approval rating of the President and the Democratic advantage on the generic ballot), a 36% approval rating could translate into a Democratic popular-vote win of well above 10 points.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll showed a Democratic advantage of 14 points on the generic congressional ballot, for example. This would be good enough for a Democratic gain of 50 seats or more. Democrats last gained this many seats in an election in 1948.

Indeed, we already saw how such a low Trump approval rating could affect an election earlier this cycle. His approval rating was around 36% to 37% nationally, when Democrat Doug Jones won the special Senate election in ruby red Alabama. Yes, Republican Roy Moore was a bad candidate, but the President managed just a 48% approval rating in the exit poll of that race. In other words, he was of little help to Moore in a very Republican state.

For Republicans to have a realistic (i.e. within the margin of error) shot of maintaining control of the House in 2018, Trump's approval rating must remain at least in the low 40s nationally.
For them to have a 50% chance of holding on to power in the House, Trump's approval rating will likely need to rise into the mid-40s.

Right now, Trump and his fellow Republicans are, if anything, going the other (i.e. wrong) way.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/05/politics ... index.html

[Bicycle Bill]

The last line of the op-ed piece LJ copied —

Right now, Trump and his fellow Republicans are, if anything, going the other (i.e. wrong) way.

They've been going the wrong way long before Trump wiped his ass on the Oath of Office in January 2017.  But their antics can probably be best compared to wildfires in the west.  A bunch of little blazes pop up in as many different locations.  You don't have the resources to aggressively go after each and every one of them; you have to pick which ones are likely to be the most damaging, let the rest go, and hope you get a helping hand from Mother Nature in the form of rain or a wind shift.  But once two or three of these fires combine and start becoming one huge conflagration destroying anything in its path, well, then you hit it with everything you've got.

Trump the political arsonist has been setting these dumpster fires for more than eighteen months.  They're starting to come together, and it's getting to the point where all our f⃥i⃥r⃥e⃥-⃥f⃥i⃥g⃥h⃥t⃥i⃥n⃥g⃥ removal from power efforts will be brought to bear, starting with the mid-terms in November.

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

We can only hope BB.