2022 elections. The steady march for sanity continues.

[Roger A. Shrubber]

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/21/trump-brooks-mcconnell-00018786

this is too good...last year i was wondering how the republicans could be split, how they could be largely nullified.
they're doing it to themselves, no need to do anything but maybe an occasional nudge in the right direction.
i can see it already, the republican party split about 60/40 two different ways...about 60% of the current party will stay with Mcconnel, while the radical right weirdos go with trump....but the base will be split the opposite way, with 40% for Mcconnel and the "normal" republicans, and 60% going with trump, because, well, they're the stupider of the stupid lot...
i'm hoping that every single republican primary loser will run as an independent, and lose them a record number of seat in both houses...2 solid years of democratic reforms, laws passed that nullify a lot of republican fuckery, REAL election reform, REAL campaign reform...all thanks to trump and turkey neck mitch not being able to get along

 

[hanimmal]

https://www.ajc.com/politics/stacey-abrams-leans-hard-into-medicaid-expansion-as-new-bid-for-governor-begins/EDFS2IYOFRA75JSNXNANCZMR5Q/

ATLANTA — When Stacey Abrams ran for governor in 2018, Brian Kemp's advisers worried that she'd carve a path to victory by pulling off a dual narrative of being both an icon of the left and a pragmatic consensus-builder to middle-of-the-road voters.

Though she struggled to navigate that balancing act four years ago, Abrams may be in a better position to pose such a threat as she prepares for a potential rematch against Kemp.

Already a household name to many liberal Democrats, she's so far put her pledge to expand Medicaid — an issue aimed at a broader slice of the electorate — above all other policies.

Pressed by questions on the campaign trail about economic equality, rural development or even infrastructure, Abrams regularly connects her answer to a promise to add hundreds of thousands of Georgians to the Medicaid rolls. She makes no excuses for the relentless message.

"I'm going to talk about Medicaid expansion every chance I get," she said at a recent fundraiser.

As a result, Abrams has devoted less attention to promoting policies that were mainstays of her previous campaign.

She has yet to emphasize proposals on her platform to decriminalize marijuana or institute new gun restrictions, nor has she waded into many of the debates that have dominated the legislative session.

And during her first campaign stops, she only briefly touched on her other signature policy initiative — a voting rights expansion — while framing last year's Republican-backed rewrite of Georgia's election laws as a vindictive response to Democratic electoral successes.

"She certainly has earned her bona fides for liberals and progressives. But in order to get to the number she needs to win, what do moderates also need to hear from her?" said Democratic state Sen. Sonya Halpern, an Abrams ally from Atlanta.

"It seems that part of the strategy is to focus on the issues like Medicaid that impact the largest numbers of people," Halpern said.

That approach holds risk. While Abrams' allies believe expanding the program makes both sense in terms of both policy and politics — and several public polls show a broad majority of Georgians support it — the idea remains deeply unpopular with many conservative GOP primary voters.

Faced with a Donald Trump-backed challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, the governor has staunchly opposed the expansion as too costly in the long run, since it requires the state to pick up 10% of the cost of expansion.

He's instead backed a narrow alternative that critics view as a half-measure. Kemp's "waiver" program would allow Georgia to impose a work and activity requirement for some lower-income Georgians to qualify for Medicaid insurance.

That plan, approved in the waning days of the Trump administration, is now in legal limbo after President Joe Biden's top Medicaid official rejected the work and activity requirement. Kemp has since sued the federal government to reverse the decision.

The governor's proposal would wind up covering about 50,000 of Georgia's poor adults. A full Medicaid expansion could cover at least 400,000 additional Georgians in need of health insurance, according to estimates.

"It's an easy thing to say, but it's going to cost a lot of money," Kemp said after a GOP gathering in east Georgia.

"How is she going to pay for it? How high are taxes going to go up? It's a one-size-fits-all government program, and there aren't enough doctors out there to take Medicaid patients to make it profitable."

Not just a 'tag line'

Abrams' focus on Medicaid expansion is not novel in Georgia Democratic politics. Jason Carter made expanding the program a cornerstone of his bid for governor in 2014, and it was a mainstay of Abrams' campaign in 2018.

But back then, Abrams also had to prove her liberal credentials to state Democrats and national figures as she fought off a primary challenger.

Now she has cemented herself as a hero in the minds of many liberals and has built a fundraising juggernaut to match her national profile. In the first two months of her campaign, she raised more campaign cash than Kemp did over a seven-month span.

Her newly updated website includes broad policy stances designed to excite the base. She endorsed universal prekindergarten, promised to repeal expansions of firearms laws, vouched for a new tax credit for working-class families and pledged to set a standard minimum salary for all law enforcement officers.

But on the campaign trail she's focused almost exclusively on health care, underscoring her belief that the issue is more important than ever to voters living through a coronavirus pandemic that's claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Georgians.

She began her first statewide tour in rural Randolph County, where she highlighted the plight of a tiny hospital in Cuthbert that shuttered in late 2020 amid crippling financial problems at a time when the community sorely needed it.

"Medicaid expansion isn't just a tagline," she said at one of her early stops. "It's the biggest economic development project in Georgia history."

She hopes that message will help her overcome the stiff headwinds Democrats face this election cycle, with inflation hitting 40-year highs in metro Atlanta, energy prices on the rise, global supply-chain problems and the war in Ukraine fueling more economic uncertainty.

And while Kemp also had to contend with an unpopular president — he won despite Trump's favorability ratings in the mid-40s — Abrams might have an even greater challenge.

She'll have to break the GOP's 20-year grip on the governorship while her fellow Democrat, Biden, faces problems similar to Trump's in terms of popularity while occupying the White House.

"She probably wishes Trump had gotten reelected," said Jay Morgan, a former Georgia GOP executive director. "Expanding Medicaid is a 'keep the base fired up' issue. It will not determine the outcome in November. Gas prices and Biden's performance will."

Of course, Trump looms large over this race, too. He predicted at a recent rally in Commerce that his supporters in Georgia wouldn't back Kemp in November if he's the nominee. And he questioned whether Abrams has lost some of her appeal since 2018.

Abrams greeted Trump's visit with silence. In fact, she has scarcely mentioned the former president at all, instead lacing her speeches with attacks against Kemp — and shared personal stories about her father, who was recently hospitalized with a severe illness while staying at Abrams' Atlanta home.

"It makes no sense in the state of Georgia if he'd been a few miles away, or a few counties away, my father would not be with us here today," she said. "That is a solvable problem, and by God's love for Georgia, I'm going to fix it."

 

[Bagginski]

Russia state media prematurely declared victory, hailed 'new world' in now-deleted report
Russian state-aligned media outlet RIA posted and deleted an article over the weekend that hailed Vladimir Putin for victory over Ukraine as Russia helps usher in a supposed "new world."

In what some have already labeled an "embarrassing and revealing" mistake, RIA pushed the article out and quickly deleted it. The article carries a date and timestamp of Feb. 26 at 8 a.m. and remains web-archived and available via the WayBack Machine to read in full.
The report starts off by underscoring the victory as "restoring" Russia’s unity, not just geographically returning the country to its historical borders and reversing "the tragedy of 1991," but also hailing the country’s ability to overcome "temporary division."

"Russia is restoring its historical fullness, gathering the Russian world, the Russian people together – in its entirety of Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians," the article said, according to a translation. "If we had abandoned this ... then we would not only betray the memory of our ancestors, but would also be cursed by our descendants for allowing the disintegration of the Russian land."

And the article could not miss a chance to praise Putin for his role in the war, highlighting the Russian president's "historic responsibility."
"Now this problem is gone – Ukraine has returned to Russia," the article proclaims. "This does not mean that its statehood will be liquidated, but it will be reorganized, re-established and returned to its natural state of part of the Russian world."

"In what borders, in what form will the alliance with Russia be fixed (through the CSTO and the Eurasian Union or the Union State of Russia and Belarus )?" the article muses. "This will be decided after the end is put in the history of Ukraine as anti-Russia. In any case, the period of the split of the Russian people is coming to an end."

The article makes the argument that Ukraine’s return was "inevitable," asking how the "old European capitals" could "seriously believe Moscow would give up Kyiv."

The argument aligns with and builds on Putin’s argument presented the day before Russia launched its invasion, speaking to Ukraine’s history and basis in Russian history.

The Ukrainian people have maintained a tenacious and staunch defense, thus far stymying the Russian army’s advance and preventing Moscow from achieving victory by Feb. 26, as the article would indicate.

Ukraine War: Russia state media prematurely declared victory, hailed 'new world' in now-deleted report

A post from Russian state-aligned media outlet praised Putin's role and derided the West for pushing division among the Russian people. RIA published and quickly deleted the post.

www.foxnews.com

Excellent breakdown of the article here: very worth reading

Моя борьба - The Putin Manifesto that Connects the Dots

Note: the opinions expressed here are those of my own. This is an extremely long diary. Be warned! I could be spouting bullshit, but my hunch says that my line of thinking here is reasonably sound. Putin has been planning these moves for several...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Bagginski]

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/21/trump-brooks-mcconnell-00018786

this is too good...last year i was wondering how the republicans could be split, how they could be largely nullified.
they're doing it to themselves, no need to do anything but maybe an occasional nudge in the right direction.
i can see it already, the republican party split about 60/40 two different ways...about 60% of the current party will stay with Mcconnel, while the radical right weirdos go with trump....but the base will be split the opposite way, with 40% for Mcconnel and the "normal" republicans, and 60% going with trump, because, well, they're the stupider of the stupid lot...
i'm hoping that every single republican primary loser will run as an independent, and lose them a record number of seat in both houses...2 solid years of democratic reforms, laws passed that nullify a lot of republican fuckery, REAL election reform, REAL campaign reform...all thanks to trump and turkey neck mitch not being able to get along

By and large I think the primaries will be mostly a bloodbath for the Putin Trump Party (ex-“gop“): this looks to be the worst year for overthrow candidates in a long, long time. Between them and the Fake Respectable Party (ex-“gop”), I think they’ll find it (nearly) impossible to field candidates that can win the general, especially if their deeply-conflicted base self-deports out of shame…and the rest of us stay focused on what we’re fighting for.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

Excellent breakdown of the article here: very worth reading

Моя борьба - The Putin Manifesto that Connects the Dots

Note: the opinions expressed here are those of my own. This is an extremely long diary. Be warned! I could be spouting bullshit, but my hunch says that my line of thinking here is reasonably sound. Putin has been planning these moves for several...

www.dailykos.com

that was weeks ago now,

 

[Bagginski]

Yes, late finding this thread, wanted to leave that link, as it has a translation of the full original document (thx, Google), and reading it is quite different from just hearing about it. And like I said, the guy breaks it down pretty thoroughly, context and detail. It really deserves as much exposure as possible.

Still late to the party, but hey, I brought breakfast….

Meanwhile, been listening to the Overthrow America senators try to nail Judge Jackson to the wheel: staying on-message is what they care about, that’s what they do to keep the rest of us OFF-message. The Overthrow base, of course, will never see or hear anything but what the Overthrow stage directors have already edited and developed into a follow-up attack plan going into November.

’Funny’ that the “do yore reeserch!” crowd can’t seem to research Fox, any of their guests, their hosts, their reason for existence…

 

[Bagginski]

And now, today, there’s THIS:

RIA NOVOSTI has clarified Russia’s plans vis-à-vis Ukraine and the rest of the free world in a program like article: What Russia should do with Ukraine? - Центр громадянських свобод

Back in April last year, we wrote about the inevitability of the denazification of Ukraine. We do not need Nazi (read Ukrainian), Bandera type of Ukraine (read Ukrainian), as the enemy of Russia and the West’s tool for the destruction of Russia. Today, the issue of denazification has moved into...

ccl.org.ua

 

[printer]

Arizona Supreme Court declines GOP request to end early voting
The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by the Arizona Republican Party to deem early voting unconstitutional.

The case, filed by the state Republican Party and Yvonne Cahill, who is the party’s secretary, looked to argue that the state constitution only allows for in-person voting on Election Day and argued the court should at a minimum eliminate the ability to get an absentee ballot without a specific reason for needing one — such as being away from one’s precinct on election day.

But Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, who issued the Tuesday order, said the argument lacked factual records about the matter. Brutinel was appointed to the court in 2010 by Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican.

Arizona’s top election official, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has opposed the case backed by the Arizona GOP. In a Tuesday tweet, she called the GOP lawsuit “dangerous.”

“Today, the Arizona Supreme Court dismissed a dangerous lawsuit that threatened early voting in the state and challenged provisions of the Elections Procedures Manual,” Hobbs tweeted.

“Arizona voters will still be able to vote early, access drop boxes, and make their voices heard,” she added.

Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has also voiced opposition to the idea, saying that “it would undo the work of many Republican governors and secretaries of state over the past several decades,” according to The Arizona Daily Star.

In the 2020 election, 90 percent of Arizona voters voted by mail in the election, which had no evidence of widespread fraud.

Arizona Supreme Court declines GOP request to end early voting

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by the Arizona Republican Party to deem early voting unconstitutional. The case, filed by the state Republican Party and Yvonne Cahill,…

thehill.com

 

[schuylaar]

He's back for 2022.

'Like the good old days': Obama returns to the White House for the first time as Democrats look ahead to midterm elections

When former President Barack Obama walked into the White House on Tuesday, it was his first time in the building since he welcomed then-President-elect Donald Trump for coffee on the morning of Trump's inauguration.

www.cnn.com

 

[printer]

Campaign finance watchdog issues massive fine for foreign national’s Trump super PAC donation
The Federal Election Commission fined the companies of a Canadian billionaire nearly a million dollars for a contribution to a super PAC supporting then-President Donald Trump, after the agency found “reason to believe” that the donations violated a federal law on foreign nationals contributing to American political committees or campaigns.

Companies controlled by Barry Zekelman — a Canadian billionaire and the CEO, chair and owner of Zekelman Industries — agreed to pay $975,000 to close an investigation by the FEC into $1.75 million worth of donations made to America First Action, the pro-Trump super PAC, throughout 2018.

The fine is the third-largest in FEC history, according to the Campaign Legal Center, the nonprofit group that filed the original complaint about the donations in 2019.

“We applaud the FEC for doing its job. Imposing this serious penalty helps protect the voices of voters from being drowned out by foreign corporations and other special interests,” Adav Noti, the vice president and legal director of Campaign Legal Center, said in a statement. “Super PACs should now be on notice that there are major consequences for breaking the ban on foreign contributions.”

According to agency documents, Zekelman discussed the donations with officers of a U.S.-based subsidiary his company controls, Wheatland Tube, which ultimately contributed to America First Action three separate times in 2018.

The conciliation agreement also requires that the two companies request that America First Action either refund the $1.75 million to the companies or give the money to the U.S. Treasury.

Several steel companies backed Trump with monetary contributions while he was in office, though Zekelman Industries was the biggest steel industry donor, according to the Times report. Zekelman’s lobbying efforts landed him a private dining room dinner with Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. in spring of 2018, according to the report, where the group discussed incoming U.S. quotas on steel imports from competitors in South Korea.

Campaign finance watchdog issues massive fine for foreign national’s Trump super PAC donation

The FEC fined Canadian billionaire Barry Zekelman's companies $975,000.

www.politico.com

 

[Bagginski]

Good news…but, for a billionaire, $975k is pocket change: insignificant for one who still has 999 more just like it

 

[hanimmal]

Good news…but, for a billionaire, $975k is pocket change: insignificant for one who still has 999 more just like it

Wonder which oligarch is going to fork it out for him though.

 

[hanimmal]

 

[hanimmal]

 

[Bagginski]

What an evil, slimy son of a shit

 

[cannabineer]

What an evil, slimy son of a shit

Betcha his favorite thing to say in grade school was
Heads I win tails you lose

 

[hanimmal]

 

[hanimmal]

Anyone voting for today's Republicans must be either completely checked out of current events, or so brainwashed that they are willing to actively hurt our (and every other nation's) democracy because of some crazy shit that they were told to believe, or some sad ass attempt to 'own the libs'.

 

[cannabineer]

Anyone voting for today's Republicans must be either completely checked out of current events, or so brainwashed that they are willing to actively hurt our (and every other nation's) democracy because of some crazy shit that they were told to believe, or some sad ass attempt to 'own the libs'.

but freedom!

 

[Bagginski]

The freedom to fuck yourself up IS NOT the freedom to fuck up others…or to fuck up a society shared with others beside yourself (…even if you *don’t* like those others)