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IN THE NEWS - “Despite widespread pushback, Missouri Republicans just passed a new rule banning women lawmakers from wearing attire that exposes their arms. This after they already passed a rule requiring women to cover their dress with a “second layer.” Brian Tyler Cohen
"On some of the these key committees, it appears that House Republicans have handed over the keys to the most extreme members of the Republican caucus … these are members who have promoted violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories." WH Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre
"Biden assails GOP proposal to increase sales tax for middle class
The proposed FairTax Act of 2023, introduced by Republican Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia on Jan. 9, has so far attracted 23 Republican co-sponsors, including Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz and Kat Cammack of Florida...The legislation calls for the elimination of "current income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate and gift taxes," which would be replaced by a national sales tax. It also calls for the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service. Even if the bill passes the House, it is unlikely to pass in the Senate, which is controlled by a Democratic majority. An analysis of the Republican proposal by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the FairTax Act "would impose a 30 percent federal sales tax on everything we buy – groceries, cars, homes, health care, school tuition... A 2004 study conducted by the institute of a similar national sales tax proposal found that "replacing most federal taxes with a national sales tax would mean very large tax increases on most Americans and very large tax cuts for the wealthy..." The American Independent
“Today the bill for the elevation of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to House speaker began to come due. McCarthy promised the far-right members of his conference committee seats and far more power in Congress to persuade them to vote for him. Now they are collecting. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who was removed from committee assignments in the last Congress for her racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as her encouragement of violence against Democrats, has a spot on the Homeland Security Committee. Such spots are usually filled by those with experience in either the military or intelligence, neither of which she has. And security is an odd fit for her: voters in her district tried to get her disqualified from running in 2022 because of her participation in the attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election...
...Greene has not just that plum assignment, but another on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. That committee manages investigations... Greene has called today for the impeachment of President Biden, advising him on Twitter to “resign now... Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who was removed from committees two years ago after threatening Democratic lawmakers on social media, is now back on the Natural Resources committee. He also is now on the Oversight Committee...” HCR
“OUTRAGEOUS: George Santos is going to be appointed to the Small Business Committee, which oversees one of the largest government programs in history: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Can a fraud like George Santos be trusted to root out rampant fraud in the PPP program?” Ritchie Torres, former Vice Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has secured two committee assignments, despite receiving growing blowback for fabricating key details of his background that were central to his Republicans and Democrats have called on Santos to resign, and the freshman lawmaker faces numerous investigations into his financial disclosures, campaign finances, and outstanding legal issues.” Axios
“BREAKING: Top Republican Rick Allen (R-GA) was just recorded saying his party is going after Social Security because people “want to work longer.” – Brian Cohen
“Let's do this one more time: Joe Biden found docs he didn't know he had and returned them. Trump took docs that didn't belong to him, refused to return them and ignored a subpoena and that's why the FBI searched his golf motel. if you can't see the difference, I can't help you” Jeff Tiedrich
“Fact check: Biden did have the authority to declassify documents as vice president” USA today
“McCarthy agreed that he would not agree to raise the debt ceiling unless Congress cuts $130 billion in spending for next year, a demand that amounts to taking the nation and the world economy hostage to overturn measures that Congress has already agreed to. Once again, the debt ceiling is not about future spending, it is about paying the debts Congress has already incurred. Refusing to raise the debt ceiling means the United States will default, wreaking havoc on international markets and our own global standing. But the right wing appears willing to burn down the global economy and to destroy our place in it to impose their will on the country. Emboldened, the far right is already insisting it will not raise the debt ceiling. Today, Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who was involved in the planning for January 6, tweeted, “We cannot raise the debt ceiling. Democrats have carelessly spent our taxpayer money and devalued our currency. They've made their bed, so they must lie in it...”
“...In fact, the national debt skyrocketed under Republican president Donald Trump even before the pandemic, thanks to the big tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated would increase deficits by almost $2 trillion over eleven years. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the debt had grown to $22 trillion. Trump called it a crisis, but his budget that year increased the debt to $23.2 trillion. The CBO warned that the U.S. had never seen deficits so large in a time of high employment. And then the coronavirus hit, and the debt jumped to $27.75 trillion...” Heather Cox Richardson
Chuck Todd nails Ron Johnson: "Were you at all concerned [about] Jared Kushner's loan from the Qatari government when he was working in the government negotiating many things in the Middle East. Are you not concerned about that? We're trying to deal with issues and facts. You can go back on your partisan cable cocoon and talk about media bias all you want. I understand it's part of your identity."
Critics demand investigation of Trump's 'disturbing' Saudi golf payments – Raw Story "The revelation that a fund controlled by Crown Prince MBS actually owns almost all of LIV Golf means that MBS has been paying Donald Trump unknown millions for the past two years, via their mutual corporate covers.'" George Conway
A losing Republican candidate in N.M. is charged over shootings at homes of Democrats -Solomon Peña, who unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat in New Mexico as a Republican last November, was arrested Monday in Albuquerque for allegedly paying four men to shoot at the homes of four elected officials, police said. They say Peña paid $500 — and that he took part in one shooting himself. The criminal complaint against Peña includes chilling details. In one case, bullets tore through the walls of a 10-year-old girl's bedroom as she slept. The evidence against Peña includes confidential witness testimony, cellphone records, bullet casings and surveillance footage, according to Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina. NPR
“If you rightfully wonder about GOP’s dedication to catching criminals … well they just introduced a bill to defund BATF… the fed agency in charge of catching and prosecuting many gun crimes. GOP=defund the police.” Ryan Busse, formerly worked in the gun industry, author
From 2017-early 2020, Trump signed into law $4.7 trillion of new debt, above and beyond what US had been expected to borrow absent new laws About half of that $4.7T in new debt was through spending increases. This was all *before* covid hit.” Catherine Rampell, columnist WaPo, CNN
"I for one will not sign a clear bill raising the debt limit" -- Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks she's president, apparently.” Aaron Rupar
