Monday, October 3, 2022

Why Republicans Support Electoral Count Reform Act

Ever wonder why the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform act is, well, bipartisan?

Why is it backed by the cunning Mitch McConnell? Republicans in general?

If you think it is because Republicans care about electoral reform then you are wrong. If you think it is Republicans being Republicans and are playing Democrats for the fools they are then you may be correct. 

While Republicans have torpedoed policies they have traditionally supported all in the name of politics, like most recently with Joe Manchin’s permitting reform bill, republicans inexplicably support a law that supposedly clears up some of the ambiguities of the original nineteenth century law. But if you look closely you may see why they are supporting this law - it really changes nothing. 

While it does clarify the role of the Vice President, which was a central piece of one of the insurrection plot to keep a President Trump in power, it also makes some other notable changes that on the surface seem to fix some of the problems with the law. 

For one it requires electors to follow state laws. Considering how Republicans are manipulating state elections, either through gerrymandering during the redistricting process or making it more difficult for Democratic voters to cast their ballot, pretty much ensuring their retention of power and thus the power to change those electoral laws electors must follow. 

The big change to the law is not with the Vice President or state legislatures but with the ability for congress to make an objection. While previously a single congressman or senator could have raised objections to a states’ election results, now it would require 20 percent of the chamber to do the same. 

Great, right?

Well considering that over 100 house Republicans objected to the election results, which would total to roughly half the republican caucus and more than the required amount under the new law, and this was all before Donald Trump solidified his power over the party, then it is pretty obvious that Republicans signed off on this law knowing they already meet the threshold for challenge. 

So considering that they can probably get the twenty percent needed to challenge results, republicans also gained the benefit of clarification. Part of the original issue with the law was that there was ambiguity. Now republicans could theoretically challenge an election and claim that they are in the right because they fixed the law, and with help from the Democrats to boot! 

Now you see why Republicans supported something Democrats wanted?

Monday, August 15, 2022

Trump Uses Same Failed Excuse In Attempt To Get Documents Back

If you had not been living under a rock these last two weeks then you would know that twice-impeached former President Donald Trump had his Florida golf resort and home raided by the FBI in an attempt to retrieve over a dozen boxes of classified documents Trump took with him when he left office. 

This unprecedented move by the FBI shouldn’t have come as a surprise. In February the National Archives picked up fifteen boxes of documents from Trump’s home. The Department of Justice was also seeking more documents and communicating with Trump’s lawyers to ensure there were none left. While Donald Trump insists that this raid was totally unfair because he was “cooperating,” keep in mind that his own legal team signed off saying there were no more classified documents, reportedly an informant tipped off the FBI that there were more documents that Trump and his team did not give back to the government. Trump may claim that he was cooperating because the department requested he get a lock and Trump complied, but that seemed more like the government having a suspicion there were classified and top secret documents in an unsecured facility and they wanted to make sure they were protected while they continued the legal process of getting them back, which they had been doing with a subpoena that Trump ignored. 

This led to the raid. Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to not make the raid a spectacle. They waited for Trump to be out of town, operated quickly and professionally, and did not create a media presence, like when former FBI director James Comey made a press release prior to an election that he was reopening an investigation into former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. That leads to another complaint from Republicans- that a raid against a former president (who is not running for any political office at the moment) was too close to an election. The FBI followed current guidelines and waited before their self-imposed restrictions. 

Trump and his allies have had a rotating barrage of attacks and excuses, ranging from he didn’t know what he took, he gave a blanket declassification to anything he touched, to now the tried and failed attorney-client privileged documents and executive privileged documents. 

Considering he had been shot down on the executive privilege front numerous times, as a previous judge stated he was no longer president nor king, one could assume he and his legal team is prepping some kind of delay tactic by throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the courts. Compared to how the justice department spent months of negotiations, a subpoena, and a raid, one would suspect Trump would make an equally formal and official attempt, right?

Wrong.

Trump made a post on his knock off Facebook software where he was requesting his privileged documents back. Meanwhile Republicans still seek a narrative that sticks and while they do they continue to fan the flames of violence with their rhetoric. The party of “back the blue” is now calling to defund the FBI or repeal the Espionage Act because their leader got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and doesn’t want to let go of the cookie.


Friday, April 22, 2022

DeSantis Screws Central Floridian Taxpayers

There was a recent headline in Florida (and the nation) when the Republican party of Florida and the governor retaliated against the state's largest employer for commenting against a recent bill dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. The Republican attack on the company, Disney, resulted in rewriting complex law in just 72 hours with no debate in which they essentially eliminated special districts such as the one that Disney kind of operates, Reedy Creek.

By eliminating the district with no plan DeSantis and Republicans have essentially saddled taxpayer's in Orange and Osceola county with billions in debt and millions more in more tax liabilities and obligations with zero increased revenue. All this in the name of conservative cancel culture and their insistence that all of their political opponents are sexual predators and deviants grooming children.

But there is probably another reason why Republicans don't care and a simple look at the electoral map would probably paint a better picture.


If you notice those blue sections in the middle (near Orlando), those are the affected counties from this deal. Politically speaking, if Republicans screw these voters and taxpayers they will suffer no political blowback. 

And speaking of temper tantrums, Governor DeSantis has also inserted the state of Florida into the hostile takeover of Twitter by worlds richest man Elon Musk, looking to sue Twitter for breaching their fiduciary duties simply because Florida state pensions held Twitter shares. This only begs the question - does the state pensions hold Disney shares?

Friday, February 25, 2022

Expected Response To Biden SCOTUS Pick

 It is no surprise that certain articles on Fox News allow various levels of interactivity. Some permit commenting while others do not. A recent article detailing the latest Supreme Court Justice selection of President Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, resulted in the usual attacks from the right but what was most surprising was the openness in which commenters peddled their racist insults.

Commenters felt comfortable commenting on ethnic-sounding names or that she only represents a small minority of the population but will rule on the entire nation. 


Oh the outrage!


They were not outraged over Reagan promising to nominate a female so...