Opinion: Cmon Republicans Its Time To Do The Right Thing On Health Care
When they went home for the July 4th recess, Republican members of Congress did one of two things: Either they met with constituents and were pummeled with angry questions about their disastrous health-care bill, or they hid out, trying to avoid their constituents so that they wouldnt be pummeled with angry questions about their disastrous health-care bill. Predictably, support for the bill among Republican senators is slipping away, which is not surprising given that this is the most unpopular piece of legislation in the history of polling.
So the time has come for Republicans to cut their losses and do the right thing. It wont be easy, but there are no easy options left for them.
Republicans need to admit to themselves that there is no great victory to be had. There will be political fallout no matter what the 2018 elections are going to be brutal but their choice now is between passing nothing, passing a bill that is so dreadful that it wins them the undying rage of the public, or a compromise that actually helps solve some of the problems they profess to care about.
What Republicans need to do now is drop the idea of repealing the Affordable Care Act and join together with Democrats to fix the problems in the individual market. Its not what they hoped for, but its a lot better than the alternative for everyone.
Trump Posts Video Condemning Capitol Violence But Does Not Mention His Role In Instigating It
Within hours of becoming the first president to be impeached twice, President Trump posted afive-minute video on a White House Twitter account on Wednesday evening condemning the storming of the Capitol complex by his supporters last week and urged his followers to avoid a repeat in the coming days both here in Washington and across the country.
Mr. Trump recorded the video under pressure from aides, who have warned him that he faces potential legal exposure for the riot, which occurred immediately after a speech in which he urged them to fight the results of the election, which he falsely claimed was stolen.
The president did not mention his own role in instigating the violence last week. On Tuesday, he defended the remarks he made at a rally before his supporters marched to the Capitol as totally appropriate and said the effort by Congress to impeach and convict him was causing tremendous anger.
He also did not acknowledge the loss of life or his own false claims of the election being stolen in the two months before the rally last week.
In the video, president did not mention the five people who died as a result of the violence at the Capitol. But he did go further in his language than he has at any point, as law enforcement is bracing for new insurgencies in Washington and around the country next week.
During the riot by his supporters, a Capitol Police officer sustained extensive head injuries and later died.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.
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The Pentagon Will Arm National Guard Troops Deploying To The Capitol For The Inauguration
National Guard troops who are flooding into Washington to secure the Capitol for Inauguration Day will be armed, the Army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, has decided, Defense Department officials said Tuesday.
The armed troops will be responsible for security around the Capitol building complex, the officials said.
As up to 20,000 troops continued to arrive in Washington from all over the country, Defense Department officials had been weighing whether to deploy them with arms. Mr. McCarthy has decided that at the very least those around the Capitol building will carry weapons, said the officials, who confirmed the decision on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. McCarthys decision came after a meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. Ms. Pelosi, according to congressional staff members, demanded that the Pentagon take a more muscular posture after a mob, egged on by President Trump last week, breached the Capitol.
Pentagon officials say they are deeply worried about protests that are planned for the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. next week. About 16 groups some of them saying they will be armed and most of them made up of hard-line supporters of Mr. Trump have registered to stage protests in Washington, officials said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington sent a letter to Mr. Trump on Sunday asking for an emergency declaration to obtain additional funding for inauguration security.
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A Plurality Believe History Will Judge Trump As A The Worst President Ever; Less Than A Quarter Of Young Americans Want Trump To Play A Key Role In The Future Of Republican Politics; Young Republicans Are Divided
Thirty percent of young Americans believe that history will judge Donald Trump as the worst president ever. Overall, 26% give the 45th president positive marks , while 54% give Trump negative marks ; 11% believe he will go down as an average president.
Twenty-two percent of young Americans surveyed agree with the statement, I want Donald Trump to play a key role in the future of Republican politics, 58% disagreed, and 19% neither agreed nor disagreed. Among young Republicans, 56% agreed while 22% disagreed, and 21% were neutral. Only 61% of those who voted for Trump in the 2020 general indicated their desire for him to remain active in the GOP.
If they had to choose, 42% of young Republicans consider themselves supporters of the Republican party, and not Donald Trump. A quarter indicated they are Trump supporters first, 24% said they support both.
Opinionmy Fellow Republicans Please Do The Right Thing And Back An Impeachment Inquiry
On Tuesday, Romney finally had some company. He was joined by the same four colleagues Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania who also joined him in November in acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory and standing steadfast in opposition to outlandish claims that the election was rigged or stolen.
Murkowski denounced Trump for having “perpetrated false rhetoric that the election was stolen and rigged, even after dozens of courts ruled against these claims.” Sasse said Trump didn’t have any evidence to back up his claims of election fraud, “and neither do the institutional arsonist members of Congress who will object to the Electoral College vote.”
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Forty Percent Of Young Americans Expect Their Lives To Be Better As A Result Of The Biden Administration; Many More Feel A Part Of Bidens America Than Trumps
- Whites: 30% better, 28% worse
- Blacks: 54% better, 4% worse
- Hispanics: 51% better, 10% worse
Forty-six percent of young Americans agreed that they feel included in Bidens America, 24% disagreed . With the exception of young people living in rural America, at least a plurality indicated they felt included. This stands in contrast to Trumps America. Forty-eight percent reported that they did not feel included in Trumps America, while 27% indicated that they felt included . The only major subgroup where a plurality or more felt included in Trumps America were rural Americans.;
- 39% of Whites feel included in Bidens America, 32% do not ; 35% of Whites feel included in Trumps America, 41% do not .
- 61% of Blacks feel included in Bidens America, 13% do not ; 16% of Blacks feel included in Trumps America, 60% do not .
- 51% of Hispanics feel included in Bidens America, 12% do not ; 17% of Hispanics feel included in Trumps America, 55% do not .
Or Will They Go Down With The Ship
It isnt just Texas watching, its all of America, its all of the World. Texans are angry. And it isnt just those Austin Democrats, its everyone. Tomorrow, Greg Abbott is likely to announce his plan to open up Texas. His relationship with Trump is about to hit a whole new level. Texas Republicans have the chance to do the right thing. If they dont, they will go down with the ship.
Tonight, there is a story on KVUE about House Democrats urging Greg Abbott to take action before opening businesses. The House Democratic caucus is calling on Gov. Abbott to do four things before easing social distancing rules:;
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Despite The State Of Our Politics Hope For America Is Rising And So Is Youths Faith In Their Fellow Americans
In the fall of 2017, only 31% of young Americans said they were hopeful about the future of America; 67% were fearful. Nearly four years later, we find that 56% have hope. While the hopefulness of young whites has increased 11 points, from 35% to 46% the changes in attitudes among young people of color are striking. Whereas only 18% of young Blacks had hope in 2017, today 72% are hopeful . In 2017, 29% of Hispanics called themselves hopeful, today that number is 69% .
Without Standing Up For Democracy
Only two Ohio House Republicans voted for the bipartisan independent commission to examine the Jan. 6th;insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.;Representatives Anthony Gonzalez and Dave Joyce joined 33 of their fellow Republicans in a yes vote.
Notably missing was Rep. Steve Stivers of central Ohio, who recently wrote a swan song column in The Dispatch upon his retirement from Congress.;This column, with its kumbaya theme, will not cement Stivers legacy in either the short- or long-term of history.;It ignored the reality of the destructive nature of the lies circulating about the 2020 election by his fellow Republicans to our democracy and society.;He chooses not to speak out.;One need not vilify or attack another to speak the truth of facts. One would think that with his retirement and entry into the private sector, he has nothing to lose in doing so. ;
Sen.;Rob Portman says he is undecided about his vote on the Senates deliberations for the commission.;The senator also is retiring next year from Congress.;Will he also fade away without taking a stand for democracy?
T.J. Feldman, Columbus
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Opinion: On The Debt Ceiling Democrats Must Do The Right Thing If The Gop Wont
In an ideal world, the United States might not have run up a debt of more than $28 trillion; in the real world, it has. Another less-than-ideal reality is the 104-year-old law that periodically bars the Treasury Department from borrowing more funds to cover previously approved outlays without a new act of Congress. The debt ceiling creates periodic political tension on Capitol Hill, because, although senators and representatives find it politically beneficial to vote for tax cuts and spending increases, voting yes or no on passing the bill to future generations creates nothing but political hassles.
Another such moment is in the offing, because there has been massive spending and borrowing much of it necessary to cope with the unforeseen covid-19 pandemic but no new debt limit since Aug. 1, 2019, when the limit was suspended for two years. Since the end of July, therefore, Treasury has lacked authority to borrow. It can shift cash among various accounts to meet obligations for a couple of months, avoiding default. With each passing day, however, that potential disaster gets slightly less unthinkable.
The right way to deal with the debt ceiling is to share the responsibility for increasing it on a bipartisan basis. That is, on the same basis that the Senate, in a welcome display of functionality, has just passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure. The 2019 suspension also came about on a bipartisan vote.
Gop County Chair Blasts Pat Toomey Vote: ‘we Did Not Send Him There To Do The Right Thing’
The chair of the Republican Party in Washington County, Pennsylvania has strongly criticized Senator Pat Toomey for voting to convict former President Donald Trump.
David Ball told local CBS affiliate KDKA on Monday that state Republicans had sent Toomey to Washington to represent them and argued that he should have toed the party line.
“We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him there to do the right thing or whatever he said he was doing,” Ball said. “We sent him there to represent us.”
Toomey was one of just seven Republicans to vote with Democrats to convict Trump last week.
The final vote was 57 in favor of conviction and 43 to acquit, falling short of the two-thirds majority required.
“This is a matter of magnitude beyond a simple up or down vote on some trade policy or something,” said Westmoreland County GOP chair Bill Bretz during Monday’s KDKA segment. He was appearing with Ball to discuss the matter.
Toomey, who will retire from the Senate in 2022, explained his decision in a statement. He said he had done what he believed was right. Ball’s comment on “the right thing” seems to suggest he had read Toomey’s statement.
“As a result of President Trump’s actions, for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful,” Toomey wrote, referring to the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6 that left five people dead.
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It Is Never Too Late To Do The Right Thing: Republican Steny Hoyer On Trump Impeachment
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Rep. Steny Hoyer is calling for President Donald Trump to be impeached a second time, a week after he encouraged a mob of loyalists to fight like hell against election results just before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly siege.
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More Than Half Of Young Americans Are Going Through An Extended Period Of Feeling Down Depressed Or Hopeless In Recent Weeks; 28% Have Had Thoughts That They Would Be Better Off Dead Or Of Hurting Themself In Some Way
Fifty-one percent of young Americans say that at least several days in the last two weeks they have felt down, depressed, or hopeless19% say they feel this way more than half of the time. In addition, 68% have little energy, 59% say they have trouble with sleep, 52% find little pleasure in doing things. 49% have a poor appetite or are over-eating, 48% cite trouble concentrating, 32% are moving so slowly, or are fidgety to the point that others notice and 28% have had thoughts of self-harm
Among those most likely to experience bouts of severe depression triggering thoughts that they would be better off dead or hurting themself are young people of color , whites without a college experience , rural Americans , and young Americans not registered to vote .
In the last two weeks, 53% of college students have said that their mental health has been negatively impacted by school or work-related issues; overall 34% have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus, 29% self-image, 29% personal relationships, 28% social isolation, 25% economic concerns, 22% health concernsand 21% politics .
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Government Is Not The Solution To Domestic Social Problems
This is pretty universal among Republicans. Government should not be providing solutions to problems that confront people . Those problems should be solved by the people themselves. A Republican would say that relying on the government to solve problems is a crutch that makes people lazy and feel entitled to receive things without working for them.
Challenge For Gop: Do Right Thing
When I was in school I spent a great deal of my time in history class learning about how foresighted our founding fathers were when they drafted the U.S. Constitution, and how all of the checks and balances could regulate each branch to prevent abuses. However, for all of their foresight the founding fathers did not anticipate the situation the United States finds itself in now.
The checks and balances that are supposed to prevent abuses still are in place ready to be employed, but many Republican leaders in Congress refuse to use them.
It will take historians a great deal of time to simply catalog all of the illegal and unethical violations of the Trump administration, but the Jan. 6 insurrection is about as clear and obvious an act of treason as you could imagine. The sitting president incited an insurrection to stop the procedures of a fairly won election and people died as a result.
There is absolutely no question that Donald Trump should be convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors in the impeachment trial, and yet the country is left to wonder whether enough Republican senators will do the right thing to help protect American democracy.
Americans are speculating whether Republicans have cut a deal with Trump to acquit him to make sure he doesnt create a separate political party and split conservative voters.
Jordan Neben, Kearney
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