Shouldn’t have taken so long

Unless there is some enforcement mechanism then it will be useless.

Any real enforcement mechanism would require a Constitutional Amendment.

It's pretty amazing (and shows how out of touch these folks are) when nearly every job in the country requires some COI reporting and enforcement...except for the Supreme Court.

Also, how can they enforce it when they don't even enforce the redrawing of districts that they have ordered?

T-4

Will another clean CR get the Dems votes?

I’m surprised I don’t see Yellen in the news more often (Google says last time was 5 days ago)

Some (tentatively) good news on T-3.

Democrats look ready to ride to Johnson's rescue - POLITICO
The Dems rationale ...

House Republican accuses "bully" McCarthy of elbowing him in back

Burchett just broke the first rule about Republican Congressional Fight Club.

And now Matt Gaetz is calling for an ethics commission investigation about the incident.

Shut down averted at least through the New Year. 92 Republicans abd 2 Dens vote against the CR.

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Didn't McCarthy threaten someone else awhile back and then backed down when that person said "sure, let's fight"? Huge pussy move to jab someone and then scurry away behind your security.

Did anyone mention the new Speaker and his son monitor each other's porn viewing habits?

Mike Johnson Said He and His Son Monitor Each Other’s Porn Usage, and Yeah, It’s Exactly as Weird as It Sounds | Vanity Fair

Don't worry - I'm sure that story has a happy ending.

Bravo, Ksyrup.

Eric Swalwell:

Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenges Teamsters head to a fight: Video | AP News

How about we just set a ring or octagon in the Capitol rotunda and just let these folks go at it?

I'd put all my money on the Teamsters head beating the hell out of a Senator.

Apparently that Senator used to be an MMA fighter?

I felt better about his chances when I was thinking Sen. Mullin was the stereotypical bar fightin' country boy than finding out he was a MMA fighter after I looked up his MMA career.

According to a couple of MMA reference sites, he is 3-0. His congressional bio says he was 5-0. Two of the wins were against a guy who had a career W/L record of 1-11. His bio also stated that he was in the National Hall of Fame which is true. He did get a scholarship to go to Missouri Valley College but he's no Kurt Angle as a Hall of Famer.

GRIT award

Even if Mullin could win an MMA fight I still take the Teamster in a no-rules fisticuff.

Markwayne will make mincemeat out to Sean in a fight. But he'll end up in cement soon after.


Teamster Sean



vs

Senator Markwayne

Interesting situation with the anti-Israel squad. I'm sure Jeffries is getting pressure from the Jewish PACs also. Jeffries has a fine balancing act here.

Progressives facing primary challenges over Israel demand more help from Jeffries - POLITICO
Not convinced easier path to 218 though.

I can easily see Santos backtracking on his pledge to not seek re-election, so I really hope he gets expelled.

George Santos announces he won’t seek reelection following damning Ethics Committee report | CNN Politics

I don't see any of their districts going red. The worse that happens is a more moderate Dem wins the nomination. The only way those seat flip is if they run third party.


Edit: They as much as admit that. Their argument is money spent defending the incumbents could better be spent on other competitive races.

None of those people will lose their seat. 80% of the party supports a ceasefire, so Jeffries is in the extreme minority. The idea you're going to target an incumbent on an issue where they support the popular stance is silly.

I think it's more a threat that they have to toe the line with Israel if they want to continue to get donations from AIPAC and the defense industry.

lol

#Blinken's reaction to the old man calling #XiJinping a dictator.#Biden pic.twitter.com/tj3ICNY4Vs

— Syricide (@Syricide) November 16, 2023

No idea how this will play out and by when, but really interesting battle re: Ukraine for border/asylum concessions.

Basically, still talking but still aways apart. Joe's going to have to concede some but how much?

Tough border negotiations endanger Ukraine aid - POLITICO

The GOP Senate has their 1-pager memo on what they want. Hint: stronger asylum restrictions + border wall

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo..._one_pager.pdf

I have a better idea: expel all GOP politicians to Somalia and replace them with asylum seekers.

No idea what the big deal is with Pandas. They just sleep.


What appropriate symbolic gift can US give back in return?

Maybe cattle?

Guns

Diabetes?

Well, we are doing that for the "real" China.


We are already doing that also, albeit generationally slowly, with KFC, McDonalds and other fast food

Moms For Liberty. They have so many who don't have a prior engagement now....

I think COVID is always in style...

But regifting is so gauche...

And who said bi-partisanship is dead?

Nearly 60 new House members say they will vote to expel Santos - Live Updates - POLITICO


Only 5 have been expelled. The most recent was in 2002.

List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded - Wikipedia

He has a press conference scheduled for Nov. 30. I have a feeling he sees the blood in the water.

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We actually sent them Musk Oxen decades ago as a return gift for the Pandas. There's a whole thing with "panda diplomacy" between China and most of the world.

Thanks, did not know. Read up more on it.


Basically, musk oxen don't do well in China.

There was an explosion reported in the building of the Atlanta offices Sen. Jon Ossoff. Reports of injuries but there has been no further information. There are other law offices there, so it might not be related.

Interesting article from Politico but it doesn't do any analysis of how it might impact 2024 ... possible seats gained/lost for Dems/Rep.

House and Senate retirements affect 2024 election for control of Congress - POLITICO

Biden confuses Taylor Swift with Britney Spears in remarks on his 81st birthday

Biden's done.

He just lost the Swifties.

Everybody hates Biden, but 48 out of 50 governors have positive net approval ratings.

At least Biden finally called it "price gouging" out loud instead of letting the media continue to ding him for "inflation." Unfortunately there's notl real bipartisan way to fix it since Republicans only care about gaining power instead of actually helping people by going after these companies.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/27/whit...mics-wins.html

Biden has multiple times called for higher corporate tax rates, while Trump gave them a huge tax cut. I just don't understand why corporations, who used the excuse of inflation to raise prices that made them record profits, wouldn't want to help Biden get re-elected.

Again, Kroger and Publix are posting record profits, which is their job. So what can be done since we know it's not the cost of goods but rather the greed of corporations? I heard somebody once say that corporations were people too. Maybe we can ask them nicely to lower their prices, or hope they'll do it for the good of the country.

I mean, they managed not to price gouge over the previous 100 years. What has changed in the last 20 years? It's almost like.its the rise of a particular type of politics that emphasizes wealth over all.

I was just reading an article on why Diet Coke has gotten so high, and the answer was because it can. Inflation didn't affect sales numbers, so it proved they could raise prices without consequences. Coke just now is saying they have probably hit the upper wall and won't likely raise the price more anytime soon, but they have no intention of lowering it. They have moved their profit margin up to double digits and aren't going to let it go back down.
That is true across all grocery prices. Sales stayed steady as the prices soared. Now that cost has come down, they see no reason not to continue with the same prices or even to continue to raise some. It is how a free market works, yet somehow the government gets the blame for it.

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I don't believe there was a magical time when companies priced products cheaper even though people would happily pay more for just as much of the same thing.

Consumer spending has kept everything afloat, but, that won't last forever.

There wasn't. But no one was going to run up the price while the competition didn't for fear of losing market share. The inflation run allowed companies cover to run prices up and see how much the market actually will bear. Now, no one wants to be the first to give up that sweet, sweet profit margin. I mean Coke openly admitted that is what they are doing in their latest shareholder meeting, and Pepsi said in theirs that they feel they still have room to increase prices/profit margins in the coming year. Unless people stop buying in bulk, they aren't dropping prices. The people are getting hurt by it the most are consumers, and they seem to be only placing the blame on Washington. Corporations continue to cash in.

On consumer spending, I expect that the crash is likely come from the higher-end items. Already the car market is declining. I imagine high end electronics will continue to slide as well. As a larger percentage of income is having to be spent on food and housing (which among lower incomes was already a much larger part of their budget), it is the discretionary and entertainment segments that will probably be hit first.