House Speaker Update
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Mike
DAILY BIBLE VERSE
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
House Speaker Update
After six votes Wednesday, holdouts were still refusing to back Rep. Kevin McCarthy, and the House voted to adjourn and reconvene later today. Reports are that negotiations continued last night with some possible progress. The New York Times, citing confidential sources, claims that McCarthy “privately agreed to more demands from the right-wing rebels that he had previously refused to countenance, including allowing a single lawmaker to force a snap vote at any time to oust him from the speakership.”
McCarthy has offered an astounding number of concessions, listed here by Victoria Taft at PJ Media.
The Club For Growth has also reportedly cut a deal with a super PAC associated with McCarthy that could result in them endorsing him as Speaker.
Fox News has comments from Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, the latest alternative proposed for McCarthy.
As noted in the article, until there’s a Speaker, the new House can’t even be sworn in, so this is preventing necessary action from being taken on many fronts.
McCarthy’s detractors still have no alternative candidate who is more conservative and can attract enough votes to win. They keep pointing to the last time conservatives forced McCarthy to withdraw in 2015, but back then, a dark horse “unity” candidate stepped forward and won. Considering that was Paul Ryan, whom they now vilify as a squishy, Trump-hating RINO, it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for this strategy.
This is a continuing (and continuing!) story, so keep checking the regularly updated Fox News feed for the latest developments.
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/house-speaker-vote
One thing to note: While the 10% wants to rule over the 90% (who has ever allowed that or thought it was the way elections work?), it’s revealing that some of the holdouts have said in interviews that what they are “demanding” of Kevin McCarthy is that they get choice committee assignments and a promise they won’t be punished for their attempted coup. That’s not only delusional, but very telling. If a person is objecting by sheer principle, one is willing to suffer whatever the consequences for the rebellion. When a person says, “Hey, this is about ME…protecting MY position, MY role in leadership, and MY being able to take any shot I want at 90% of my colleagues and have no consequence other than being rewarded.” THAT my friend is NOT acting on “principle.” It’s a selfish act of a power grab and publicity stunt. Reward THAT behavior and you’ll keep getting more of it in the future.
Biden to go to the border
Two years after deliberately causing the worst illegal immigration crisis in history, President Biden announced that he finally intends to visit the border this month.
How bad is the Biden border crisis? According to the government’s own reported figures, in 2022, 2,38 million illegal entrants were arrested trying to cross the border. A little over a million were turned back due to Title 42, which Biden is fighting like crazy to do away with. Another 1.3 million were processed and most of them released into the US to go wherever they want. The number removed, mostly for having criminal records: about 28,000. The number removed for violating our immigration laws: only about 1,300. Those would be the immigration laws that Biden took a sworn oath to enforce. Sounds like more of an impeachable offense than anything they ever came up with on Trump.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/bidens-open-borders-1-3-million-in-28-000-out
Colorado is so overwhelmed with illegal immigrants that even the state’s liberal Democrat Governor is defending busing some of them to New York.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/democrat-colorado-gov-defends-busing-migrants
The latest on Kari Lake’s appeal
Katie Hobbs may have giggled her way through a swearing-in ceremony as Arizona Governor from which reporters were banned, but this story is not yet over. Here’s the latest update on Kari Lake’s appeal of her challenge to Maricopa County’s election that stank like week-old halibut.
https://www.westernjournal.com/not-yet-kari-lake-election-challenge-moves-forward-judges/
A three judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals will hear oral briefings on January 24th. It’s two Democrats to one Republican, which is a bad sign. But either way, as Lake points out, this will end up being appealed to the state Supreme Court, so I don’t know why they don’t just comply with Lake’s request to hear it now. Maybe they hope that if it’s dragged out long enough, voters will actually start thinking of Hobbs as Governor material.
Michigan Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow will not seek reelection
Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced this morning that she will not seek reelection in 2024. It’s not a very likely pickup state for Republicans, but if they can find a really good candidate, having an open seat could improve their odds.
Why are we doing this?!?
We’re coming up on three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Scientists quickly developed reliable COVID tests that are now cheap, plentiful and available at any drug store. So how come Medicare spent $1.5 billion on COVID tests in 2020 during the full crush of the pandemic, $2 billion on tests in all of 2021, and another $2 billion just through October of 2022? Why are we spending more and more money on tests that are cheaper and less needed?
If you suspect that it might have something to do with fraud, political connections and the government throwing around big piles of money without proper oversight, then you pass the IQ test.
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-fraud-increases-medicare-spending-covid-19-testing