US House Of Representatives

A Need For An Age Limit In Congress!

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The news that Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley at age 88 has announced for an eighth term which would take him to age 95 is a sign of the craziness of members of Congress, having no concept of retirement!

Senator Diane Feinstein of California is also 88, and will serve until past age 91. It has been noted that her short term memory is faltering, and that rumors have it that she yells at staff because she is not fully aware of what she is doing, or what she has been told about regarding her ability to do her job.

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe just won a new term at age 86, and will serve what he calls his last term to 2026, when he will be 92!

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy plans to run again in 2022 when he will be 82, meaning he would be in office until age 88 in 2028.

The other Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders is now 80, and likely would run for reelection in 2024, meaning he would reach age 89 in 2030.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would be 80 by February 2022, and will be in office until at least 84 plus in 2026.

Idaho Senator Jim Risch, just reelected in 2020, will be past age 83 at the end of 2026.

Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, reelected in 2018, will be 81 by 2024.

Independent Senator Angus King of Maine will be 80 by the end of his present term in 2024.

Only Alabama Senator Richard Shelby is retiring in 2022, at age 88 plus, the only Senator deciding it is time to leave.

Additionally, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin will be 82 at the end of his present Senate term in 2026.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, expected to run for another term in 2022, would be nearing age 83 in 2028.

And there are six other Senators who would be 80 or past 80 by 2026, so a theoretical total of 17 Senators will be octogenarians (with two over 90) by that year!

Additionally, there are close to 50 House members who will be past 80 by 2026, and among the ten oldest are the three Democratic House leaders–Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Nancy Pelosi of California, and James Clyburn of South Carolina, all over 80 at this stage!

There needs to be some kind of age limit with a range of 80-85 at the most, but the problem is that Congress would have to enact such legislation or have a constitutional amendment, but it is highly unlikely that will ever occur!

Time To Make Clear That “Social Infrastructure” Bill Is Over TEN Years, NOT One Year, And Essential!

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It is very disconcerting to see West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and some moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives, make clear their opposition to the proposed $3.5 trillion “Social Infrastructure” legislation, while supporting the $1 trillion “Physical Infrastructure” bill that has bipartisan support in the Senate.

The “Physical Infrastructure” bill covers roads, bridges, airports, rails, water systems, clean drinking water, cleaning the environment, and high speed internet access, and is urgently needed, gaining a 69-30 bipartisan vote in the Senate.

But the “Social Infrastructure” bill, over TEN years, NOT one, would cover many urgent matters, including:

Expansion of Child Tax Credits and establishment of paid family and medical leave
Expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing, and vision benefits and possibly lower the Medicare age from 65 to 60
Funding for Elder Care and Disabled Care in their homes
Funding for Child Care so young children would have two years of publicly funded pre-Kindergarten Education
Funding for two years of Community College Education for students after high school
Funding for Climate Change legislation and promotion of electric vehicles
Provisions to lower the price of prescription drugs
Infrastructure investment for Native American communities
Increase in taxes on wealthy people and corporations, which in many cases pay ZERO taxes right now
Bolstering the Internal Revenue Service’s staff and enforcement resources to do its job of raising tax collection

If passed into law, it would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s!

The lie that is being spread is that the $3.5 trillion bill is all in one year, when it is actually over ten years, or $350 billion per year.

Meanwhile, the defense budget, bloated with lots of projects that are not needed but bolstering the profits of defense corporations which pay bribes to get their programs funded, is $700 billion per year, double the amount for the infrastructure bill.

This means that defense over the next ten years would be 7 TRILLION, double the social spending, but of course, defense is presented as one year at a time, while social reforms are portrayed as all at once, when it is totally false!

It is urgent that both pieces of legislation pass, and not be derailed by lies and deception. Government for all the people, not just the privileged, is long overdue!

Rational Republicans Are Deciding To Abandon Office, Or Leaving The Party!

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Rational Republicans, facing bitter attacks, and threats, are deciding to abandon office, or leaving the party.

There is a need for a strong, alternative party in a democracy, so the need is present for those who are Republicans to stay and fight.

But Congressman Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio has decided not to run for reelection after four years in the House of Representatives, after having voted to impeach Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

And New Hampshire state legislator William Marsh has become so disgusted that he has announced he is becoming a Democrat, after attacks on him for insisting on an appropriate COVID-19 Vaccine and Mask Mandate, bitterly opposed by the Republican Party locally and nationally.

Others, such as Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois have joined the January 6 House Committee investigation, with Cheney being Vice Chairman, working with Democrats to push the probe.

Both face a difficult path for reelection, as do the other House Republicans and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who also voted to impeach Donald Trump, and face the voters in 2022.

January 6 House Committee Investigating Phone Records Of Eleven Republican Congressmen And Women

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The January 6 House Committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol is pursuing subpoenas to investigate the phone records of eleven Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen regarding their involvement in the events of that day.

The list includes:

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Jody Hice of Georgia
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Lauren Boerbert of Colorado
Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina
Mo Brooks of Alabama
Jim Jordan of Ohio
Louie Gohmert of Texas

This group have engaged in sedition and treason, and all pursued the refusal to accept the Electoral College results for the Presidential Election of 2020, and they have all continued to incite domestic terrorism by example in the nearly eight months since the January 6 Insurrection.

And all eleven were involved in communication with Donald Trump on that horrific day!

The truth needs to come out, and the January 6 Committee will do what is required to learn the facts of the conspiracy!

These eleven members need to be prosecuted and expelled from the House of Representatives, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy must be pursued for prosecution for covering up the facts!

January 6 House Committee Demanding Phone Records Of Trump Staff, Family, Members Of Congress!

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The January 6 House Committee is demanding phone records of all government agencies, Donald Trump White House staff, Trump family members, Vice President Mike Pence, and members of Congress who may have had phone contact with Donald Trump or meetings with him or with seditionists and insurrectionists before and on January 6, 2021.

That means many Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Congressmen Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Jim Banks of Indiana, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, and others; and Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and others now face full accountability and responsibility for their transgressions, if they conspired to cause the Insurrection.

They need to face prosecution if there is adequate evidence of their wrongdoing, which seems highly likely at this point, but we shall see!

A Third Of Senate Republicans Are Ignoring Donald Trump Criticism On Physical Infrastructure Legislation!

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It is fascinating to witness that, at this point, a third of the 50 Senate Republicans are ignoring Donald Trump’s criticism of the Physical Infrastructure legislation in process in the upper chamber, as they realize the urgent need for such projects!

The final total of Republicans could be more than the present 17 Senators, and this, hopefully, is a sign of the waning influence of the former President over the party and its future. With Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in support, and being attacked by Donald Trump, it is a sign that the Senate is not ready to follow the House Republicans and their treasonous leadership, led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy into the abyss!

For the Republican Party to survive in shape for the future, which is highly doubtful, it MUST separate itself from the extremists that fueled the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection!

As it is, it was 8 Republican Senators who refused to accept the Electoral College vote count after the Insurrection, as compared to 139 House Republicans, nearly two thirds of all in the lower chamber.

That in itself is shocking, two thirds of the House Republicans, but only 16 percent of the Republicans in the Senate, so it is the Senate which has the opportunity to promote survival of the party future.

There needs to be a massive move to remove the cancer of House Republicans, in order to save the party for the long term!

Carl Levin Of Michigan, A Giant In The Senate, Dies At 87!

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Former Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, a true giant of the Senate, has passed away at age 87.

Levin had a distinguished 36 year career in the Senate from 1978 to 2014.

He was rated one of the top ten US Senators in a Time Magazine article in 2006.

He was the fourth longest serving incumbent at his retirement in 2015, and was the longest serving Senator in Michigan history.

He served alongside his Congressman brother Sander Levin, both of them outstanding Senators of the Jewish faith, and both had a great impact on Michigan and the nation.

Carl Levin was Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, and served alongside Republicans and worked well across the aisle with them, promoting civil dialogue.

He supported the revival of the auto industry, and supported efforts to address pollution and other environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes.

He promoted a crackdown on offshore tax havens, and was an advocate for stem cell research and gun control laws.

He gained respect for his attention to detail and deep knowledge of policy.

Levin came across as a “regular guy”, who was unassuming and unpretentious.

His kind will not be easily found in the future, as he was, in many ways, one of a kind.

Rest in Peace, Carl Levin, you will be well remembered in the annals of history!

Nancy Pelosi Rejects Jim Jordan And Jim Banks For January 6 House Committee Investigation, And Kevin McCarthy Pulls All Five Appointees!

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It looks as if the January 6 House Committee investigation of the US Capitol Insurrection will only have one patriotic, principled Republican on the committee, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who already has been stripped of her third ranking position as House Republican Chair by order of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy!

By McCarthy selecting Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana, both out to cover up the Insurrection scandal and Donald Trump, to the committee shows McCarthy is not serious, and already, the two earlier Republican leaders, Speaker John Boehner and Speaker Paul Ryan, have condemned his desire to defend Donald Trump and undermine any investigation.

So Speaker Nancy Pelosi is courageous and proper in refusing those two appointees to the House Committee, and McCarthy has withdrawn all five members and refuses to participate on the committee.

This will not work out well for McCarthy, who is a disgraceful leader, only interested in his own advancement to the Speakership in the next Congress.

McCarthy also has the gall to call Pelosi the “lame duck Speaker”, so cocksure of himself that the Republicans will win the House of Representatives in 2022.

No one is smart to bet money on Nancy Pelosi losing the Speakership, although she might decide to retire at the end of the 117th Congress, but that is unknowable at this point!

It is more likely that McCarthy will fail to become Speaker, and might even be rejected by his GOP colleagues even if the party were to win control, and he could also come under indictment for failing to explain his interactions with Donald Trump on January 6, and his fawning obedience to Trump ever since January 6, even though he condemned Trump on January 13, when Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives!

Liz Cheney just defended Nancy Pelosi, and condemned Kevin McCarthy, and kudos to her for that, as she is seriously interested in learning all of the facts and truth about January 6, so it does not happen again!

A 50-50 Democratic Controlled Senate Could Any Time Switch To Control By Republicans!

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With the reality in 2021 of a 50-50 US Senate, the ability of the Democratic majority to get the Joe Biden agenda adopted becomes a constant headache, and the inability to adjust the filibuster to allow votes on some issues without a 60 member majority support is infuriating.

And behind the scenes, there are concerns over the distinct possibility that were a Democratic Senator to die or become incapacitated and be unable to vote, such event would literally switch control of the Senate back to the Republicans, and Mitch McConnell.

The Senate has 5 members over 80, and 25 members in their 70s, an all time high such number, and the average age of all Senators is 63, also the highest in the history of the Senate.

18 of these 30 members over 70 and into their 80s are Democrats, so in many respects, the clock is ticking, and it is essential for quick action on a multitude of issues before a possible tragedy occurs.

Also, history tells us that the party NOT in the White House tends to gain seats in the midterm elections that follow, and that portends a disaster for the Democrats, with an evenly divided Senate and only a 6 vote margin in the House of Representatives.

Of course, the tumult around Donald Trump and the “Big Lie” might help the Democrats to gain seats, and history is not a guarantee for the party out of power in both houses of Congress.

But this is certainly a time of concern, including the possible future retirement, although clearly not imminent, of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer!

Six Months Since January 6 US Capitol Insurrection

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It has been six months since the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

Over 500 seditionists and traitors to the US Constitution have been arrested for the domestic violence, bloodshed, and destruction they perpetrated on the cradle of American democracy, and they need the full effect of law enforcement to be brought upon them.

The investigation of what happened that day is moving ahead whether or not Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell and the Republican Congressional members want it to procede.

Those members of Congress or their staffs who collaborated in the events of that day need to be prosecuted and expelled from Congress.

White supremacy must be eliminated from the halls of Congress, and Donald Trump needs to be indicted for insurrection, treason, and sedition, and be shown in handcuffs, and sentenced to federal prison, as in the same disgraced company of such traitors as Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis and others in the American past!

A salute to Republicans Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for being supportive of the January 6 House Committee creation, and Cheney’s accepting membership offered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi!

Enhanced defense and readiness for the US Capitol is essential, due to the right wing threats of more violence, due to the QAnon promotion of the crazy idea of Donald Trump returning to the Presidency in August.

And greater protection is required of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, their families, and the same for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have expressed loyalty to the Constitution and rule of law!