► For the second time this year, Senate Republicans on Tuesday voted AGAINST legislation that would have created a right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments and mandated that insurance plans cover the practice. As The Hill newspaper reports:
Senators voted against advancing the bill, 51-44, marking the second time Democrats have sought to put Republicans on the record on the contentious issue. Sixty votes were needed to open debate on the measure…
…GOP senators derided the Democratic legislation, authored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), as nothing more than a show vote, accusing Democrats of misrepresenting Republicans’ views on IVF.
Ahead of the vote, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tried to pass via voice vote a competing bill he and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced earlier this year that would withhold Medicaid funding from states that ban IVF, but it was blocked by Democrats.
“Let’s be clear — there is not a single senator in this chamber on either side of the aisle who wants to ban IVF,” Cruz said on the floor ahead of the votes.
Senator Cruz then proceeded to vote NO on legislation to protect IVF treatments. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted with Democrats in support of the legislation. Following the vote, Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooperwas again critical of Republicans for pretending to support IVF but doing nothing to act on those claims.
►Philip Bump of The Washington Post notes an interesting development in the 2024 Presidential race:
Earlier this year, Americans’ perception of the presidential election was bleak. Both parties were seemingly about to nominate candidates who were broadly disliked — popular within their parties but broadly viewed negatively. The share of Americans indicating that they disliked both candidates was 25 percent, according to the Pew Research Center, the highest level on record. When voters were asked if they would like to see another candidate in the mix, most generally said they did.
And then, suddenly, the Democrats did exactly that. On July 21, after nearly a month of criticism over his performance in a debate against Donald Trump, President Joe Biden dropped out. Vice President Kamala Harris took over. And almost immediately Americans began expressing a lot more support for her as a candidat
In 538’s average of polls, the percentage of Americans who view Harris favorably has for the first time exceeded the percentage who view her unfavorably. Only barely, mind you; the difference is one-tenth of a percentage point. And those expressing a favorable opinion are still less than half of respondents, thanks to people who aren’t willing to weigh in. But nonetheless this was not a situation that many people would have predicted two months ago…
…Once Harris was the nominee, the picture shifted. Quickly. A week later, her net favorability rating was higher than Trump’s. It hasn’t been lower since.[Pols emphasis]
► Interest rates could be falling very soon, as The New York Times explains:
Federal Reserve officials are poised to turn an important corner in their yearslong fight against inflation on Wednesday by cutting interest rates for the first time since early 2020.
It is unclear how big the move will be — investors are betting that it could be either a quarter or a half percentage point. But it will mark the beginning of the end of an era, after more than two years in which central bankers lifted borrowing costs to a two-decade high and then held them there in a bid to slow the economy and bring rapid price increases under control.
Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, will hold a news conference after the central bank’s 2 p.m. announcement, which will offer another window into future policy. Officials will also release a fresh set of economic projections, their first since June. Investors will closely watch those estimates for any hint at how quickly interest rates are expected to fall later this year and into next.
As the Timesreports in a separate story, central bankers around the world are already easing up on interest rates as fears about inflation recede.
► Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo is making more hay about a former top staffer for her Republican opponent in CO-08. Caraveo took the offensive yesterday against Gabe-ish Evans over the firing last week of Evans’ political director Jessica Spindle, a longtime Evans ally who was exposed by the Colorado Times-Recorder to have a lengthy history of overtly racist, pro-violence, and generally far-out conspiracist social media musings dating back many years. John Aguilar of The Denver Post has more on the story.
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This is a meme, but not a thing.
► As Emily Ngo reports for POLITICO, endangered House Republicans across the country are growing concerned about the idiotic immigrant pet-eating rhetoric coming from the Republican Presidential ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance:
One New York House Republican has spread a viral but false claim about migrants eating pets. His neighbor, another vulnerable GOP freshman, has rejected it.
Now, both want to move on — but Donald Trump, JD Vance and mountains of memes stand in their way.
New York Rep. Marc Molinaro last week gave oxygen to the debunked rumor that Haitian newcomers to Springfield, Ohio, abduct and eat cats and dogs — posting it to X, Instagram and Facebook as one of a multitude of attacks meant to challenge his Democratic rival’s commitment to border security.
Two congressional districts to the south, Rep. Mike Lawler, whose constituency includes a sizable Haitian American population, released a statement urging his fellow Republicans to refrain from circulating unsubstantiated rumors. It was attributed to a spokesperson and blamed no one by name.
Both staked out their positions before the presidential debate, but neither can escape it now that Trump has thrust the racist trope into the national spotlight by musing about it onstage. His running mate, Vance, continues to defend it, telling CNN he’s been able to “create” a media focus on how immigration can overwhelm communities. And MAGA social media accounts are still circulating AI-generated art of Trump rescuing and embracing kittens and ducks.
As CNN reports, the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio is dealing with fresh waves of hate because of Trump and Vance.
► The editorial board of the Aurora Sentinel is still hitting back at Republicans for continuing to spread bullshit about immigrants:
Aurora — for generations a bastion of pride and hope for all races and all cultures from people from around the globe — has tragically become ground zero in a dog-whistle race war against immigrants.
For weeks, a growing clan of Republican extremists, led by Republican Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, have flooded the media with disinformation, exaggerations and fear-mongering, insisting that a notorious Venezuelan gang has overrun parts or all of Aurora.
Credible police, city, state and congressional representatives have repeatedly said, and shown, that it’s a lie. It’s a lie created and propelled by Republican extremists to advance an anti-immigrant and white-nationalist agenda in hopes of swaying scared or distracted voters with what amounts to domestic terrorism.
Do not be misled nor fooled by this dangerous and cruel partisan scheme by political leaders and complicit or inept media advancing this clear cause.
Amen!
Meanwhile, Seth Klamann of The Denver Post reports on how property managers at two Aurora apartment buildings — where the Venezuelan gang takeover stories originated — have a long record of shoddy management.
► More “pager bombs” have apparently exploded in Lebanon. As The New York Times reports:
Another wave of wireless devices exploded in Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon, local officials said, a day after at least 12 people were killed and thousands more injured in Lebanon in an apparently coordinated attack that targeted members of Hezbollah by blowing up their pagers.
At least nine people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the second wave of blasts, according to the Lebanese health ministry, even as the country reeled from a stunning day of explosions that wounded and maimed thousands as pagers detonated in hands and pockets. The attack embarrassed Hezbollah, incapacitated many of its members, and ratcheted up fears of a wider escalation between the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group and Israel.
► As Andrew Solenderreports for Axios, Republicans in Congress are baffled by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s dumb government funding plan:
House members in both parties are perplexed about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision to revive a short-term government funding bill that he pulled last week.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), asked if he has any sense of why Johnson is reviving the bill, told Axios, “I have no idea.”
Why it matters: Even some Republicans are questioning Johnson’s strategic decision-making, with some warning that his decision to hold a vote on the measure could actually hurt him in the long run.
“I don’t know how he thinks it’s going to pass … where are the votes coming from?” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).
Another House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called Johnson’s plan “puzzling” and predicted that it will frustrate some GOP lawmakers.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters: “There’s an old saying in Arkansas that you don’t learn nothing the second time you get kicked in the head by a mule.”
As Nelson would say if this were an episode of The Simpsons: “Ha, ha!”
►Colorado Public Radio talks with Congressman Jason Crow about an increase in threats against elected officials.
As Denver7 reports, those threats now include a round of suspicious packages sent to election officials:
Authorities on Tuesday intercepted a “suspicious” package that was addressed to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
State officials said the package contained white powder and was sent with a return address to the “U.S. Traitor Elimination Army.” The package was intercepted at a state mail facility.
A preliminary investigation determined that the powder is “harmless.” Authorities did not share what the powder was.
According to ABC News, at least 17 secretaries of state across the country have recently received similar suspicious packages.
► Several religious leaders in Colorado are coming out in support of Amendment J, a ballot measure that seeks to remove a same-sex marriage ban from the state Constitution.
► Meanwhile, Colorado Public Radio reports — again — on why oil and gas companies need to stop whining about regulations in Colorado:
Individual oil and gas operators deserted a record number of oil and gas wells in Colorado last year, according to a new report from state regulators. [Pols emphasis]
Omimex Petroleum, Inc., surrendered 339 wells in Phillips and Yuma counties, while WME Yates LLC, offloaded 212 wells in Phillips and Sedgwick counties, the report shows. Both companies are now defunct and the wells are considered “orphaned,” a classification that means they’re effectively controlled by Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission.
During the last fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024, the state added 576 new orphaned wells to its Orphaned Well Program, which tracks and cleans up oil and gas operations.
A well site can pose an environmental and public health danger due to contaminated equipment and buried pipelines and is deemed orphaned if its owner or operator is unable to plug a well or clean up a well site. Once regulators declare a well or site orphaned, it becomes state property and regulators use a mix of state and federal dollars to plug it and restore the site.
The number of wells considered orphaned doubled last year, state data show. Colorado now has 1,725 orphaned sites with 912 oil and gas wells that still need to be properly plugged on state and private land.
Here’s an idea: How about, you know, USING the drilling permits you already have before complaining about needing more drilling sites?
► Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has decided to go very low in criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris. From POLITICO:
Reigniting the “childless cat lady” discourse surrounding Donald Trump’s campaign, a key ally of his went after Kamala Harris on Tuesday for not having biological children.
During a town hall she moderated for Trump in Flint, Michigan, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders talked about her daughter innocently criticizing Sanders’ appearance, saying “my kids keep me humble.”
“Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble,” Sanders said.
The remark seemed to be a reference to Harris’ lack of biological children. Harris is a stepmother to two children from her husband Doug Emhoff. And his family, including his ex-wife, has spoken glowingly about Harris’ role in helping parent his now-adult children.
Even one of Trump’s senior campaign advisers, Bryan Lanza, took Sanders’ comment that way, joining other panelists on CNN after the town hall in condemning the remark.
“I found that comment to be actually offensive. I don’t know what more to say about that,” Lanza said. “I’m disappointed in Sarah saying that. I’m sure I’m going to get criticism from the campaign, but I have to sort of defend somebody who’s a stepmom. It’s a tough job. People step into that role.” [Pols emphasis]
Former First Lady Michelle Obama once famously said of Democrats and Republicans, “When they go low, we go high.” It would be pretty hard to not go “higher” than Republicans these days.
► On the subject of Republicans acting like assholes, here’s Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, as reported by The Hill newspaper:
Edwards told an Arab American witness that she should “hide [her] head in a bag” after repeatedly asking her if she supported Hamas and Hezbollah during a Tuesday congressional hearing.
“You should hide your head in a bag,” Kennedy told Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, who was adamant she did not support Hamas or violence by any group.Berry said she found the line of questioning “exceptionally disappointing.”
“I think it’s exceptionally disappointing that you’re looking at an Arab American witness before you and saying, ‘You support Hamas,’” she said.
Berry testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside witnesses from the National Jewish Advocacy Center and Bard Center for the Study of Hate. The conversation touched on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, specifically on college campuses.
“You support Hamas, do you not?” Kennedy asked Berry.
“Oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today,” she said, before he interrupted, asking for a yes or no answer.
“Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support,” Berry said. “But you asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country,” she said.
Seriously…WTF is wrong with these assholes?
► It feels like Fall. Here’s how and when to view the changing of the leaves:
Say What, Now?
The “Trump was wrong” tour by former Vice President Mike Pence was definitely not on our BINGO card in 2024:
Post by @aaron.rupar
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Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► A Republican State Senator in Kentucky remains in critical condition after somehow piloting a riding lawnmower into the deep end of a drained swimming pool.
► The League of Conservation Voters is including this ad in support of Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo as part of a $14 million campaign supporting 16 candidates for the House of Representatives:
► Tired of reading? Then listen instead to the latest episode of the Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an entertaining interview with Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver):
September 18, 2024 11:00 AM UTC
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