The Thread of Democrats

[Svartalf]

Democrats in Washington suck. They’re old and ineffective.

old and useless, they may be, but they don't suck, they pay young boys to suck them.

[Sean Hayden]

—meh, that’s more of a Republican thing.

All of Washington sucks really. But Democrats remind me of a joke about otherwise lame parents, who —hoping for praise— point to the fact that the kids eat…

It’s an infrastructure bill, what were you all going to do? Never address it?

[Joe]

Given that I first heard of our mounting infrastructure problems and the need to address them in the early years of the Clinton administration, I was beginning to wonder if I'd see it happen in my lifetime.

It ain't sexy, but it ain't nothing either.

[Sean Hayden]

[In Texas,] "923,023 individuals aged 18 to 29 voted, yet there were 3,656,849 registered voters in that age range. That means 75% of 18- to 29-year-olds stayed home this year.

[Sean Hayden]

Probably Covid brain.

[Tero]

They are just firm believers that the entire government is a conspiracy.

When corporations buy two opponents in a race (it's not waste, it brings ad income! they own TV too) it kind of looks that way.

[Sean Hayden]

Yeah, but it takes a special kind of stupid to miss what a Republican Supreme Court will mean to a Republican Texas. The abortion issue alone should have been enough. More than half happen in that age group in Texas.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Still nominally in the Democratic Party. Manchin identifies as a corporate toady--first, last, and always.

'"I Identify as an American": Joe Manchin Refuses to Call Himself a Democrat on Fox News'

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) declined to call himself a member of the Democratic Party while leaving the door open for future political campaigns.

During a Sunday appearance on Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo pointed to a recent radio interview in which Manchin said he would not run for president.

But the senator insisted that he had been joking.

“That was in jest,” Manchin explained. “To all of you and all of your viewers, my main concern is how do we bring this country together? How do we make it work? How do we make Democrats [and] Republicans become Americans again and not just party affiliates?”

“I’ll be involved any way I can,” he added.

“Do you still identify as a Democrat?” Bartiromo asked.

“I identify as an American,” Manchin stated.

[Svartalf]

Nobody who goes on fox without getting roasted onscreen is not a hard boiled coporate shill and minion

[L'Emmerdeur]

Manchin's co-'independent' Kyrsten Sinema makes noises about banks, after repeatedly voting to release them from oversight and regulation. She knows at least some people will not be aware of her ridiculous hypocrisy.

'Sinema Wants Accountability for Bank Mess. Hand Her a Mirror.'

Call her a wolf for Wall Street.

After the feds declared that the depositors at the defunct Silicon Valley Bank are protected from loss, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona shamelessly issued what she titled a “Statement on Steps to Protect the U.S. Banking System.”

“The federal government must now ensure those responsible are held accountable, while maintaining stability for all Americans who rely on our banking system,” she tweeted.

Sinema need only step in front of a mirror to find a prime suspect. Whether she’s calling herself a Democrat or an independent, her voting record is the same. And it marks her a shill for the banking industry.

Before she went from the U.S. House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate, Sinema was party to an early effort by the banks to undo the provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was passed in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, she was a supporter of H.R.992—The Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act of 2013—which sought to exempt certain financial instruments from some Dodd-Frank restrictions. Bank lobbyists drafted key amendments, which appeared word for word in the bill she supported in the committee and when it reached the House floor. The measure passed, but this was during the Obama administration and it had no chance of becoming law.

Sinema also co-sponsored other anti-regulation bills, including the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2015, which includes provisions that Silicon Valley Bank President Greg Becker called for in testimony before Congress that year. That measure also failed to pass.

After Trump became president, Sinema and a majority of the House Financial Services Committee supported the far more extensive Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018. Sinema sponsored unrelated accompanying measures protecting children from identity theft and seniors from scammers. The immediate effect was to divert attention from the bill’s ultimate intention, which was to let the banks do whatever they want.

The bill came before the full house on May 22, 2018. It passed 258 to 159, with Sinema one of only 33 Democrats who voted yes.

“These important reforms will help protect the financial security of Arizonans young and old as they plan for homeownership, a college education, or a stable retirement,” she said in a press release.

Trump signed it into law as part of his effort to turn the financial system back into a red-light district for banks. Sinema successfully ran for Senate in 2018, with the help of more than $100,000 in contributions from financial interests, including three longtime lobbyists for Silicon Valley Bank.

[rasetsu]

Sinema is a twat. I guess we can count Arizona as a part of the deep south.

[macdoc]

Oddly I'm listening to the FDR bio and he's at the point of passing legislation to stabilize the banks....
The day after he took office
Beginning of the 100 Days.

[Brian Peacock]

Sinema is a twat. I guess we can count Arizona as a part of the deep south.

At least it's not Texas.

[L'Emmerdeur]

California Representative Swalwell was a regular target of that Cnut fellow, parroting the 'he slept with a Chinese spy!!' line promoted in right wing media. While it appears Christine Fang did get into bed with a couple of different mayors of midwestern cities, it has not been confirmed that Swalwell actually went for it. However, when Swalwell was asked about this he refused to confirm or deny. That can be taken as a confirmation if you are so inclined. It's been a talking point for Tucker Carlson, Boebert, and others, and was the reason given by Republicans for booting Swalwell off the Intelligence Committee. The House Ethics Committee (currently controlled by Republicans) has closed their investigation of this issue, and apparently was unable to pin anything on Swalwell. The Deep State must have strong-armed them.

'House Ethics concludes Swalwell probe into link to Chinese spy, taking no action'

The House Ethics Committee concluded a two-year investigation into Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) interactions with a suspected Chinese spy and determined that it will take no further action.

The committee informed Swalwell of the decision in a private letter dated Monday and said it did not plan on releasing the letter publicly.

“As you are aware, on April 9, 2021, the Committee on Ethics (Committee) informed you that it had determined to investigate allegations raised in the complaint that you may have violated House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct in connection with your interactions with Ms. Christine Fang. The Committee will take no further action in this matter,” committee chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Susan Wild (D-Pa.) wrote in the letter.

The investigation began after news broke that an alleged Chinese spy, Christine Fang, had worked on Swalwell’s campaign and had targeted up-and-coming politicians in California, including Swalwell.

Swalwell confirmed that the FBI informed him that he was targeted by a Chinese intelligence operative but he was clear that he cooperated with law enforcement immediately and stressed that he was never accused of wrongdoing.

The story, however, along with unsubstantiated rumors of an alleged romantic relationship with Fang, became a fixation for many of Swalwell’s political opponents, who frequently attacked him on this issue. Earlier this year, those unproven allegations became the reason Swalwell was denied his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Oh yeah. Run, Cornel, run!

'Jill Stein, 2016 Green Candidate, Now Running Cornel West’s Bid'

Cornel West, the Ivy League academic and progressive activist mounting a third-party campaign for president, has chosen former Green Party candidate Jill Stein to help him challenge to President Joe Biden from the left.

Stein said Wednesday that she’s serving as the “interim coordinator” for the West campaign, a catch-all role that encompasses fundraising, communications and campaign management until West can build a more traditional campaign.

Stein’s role will likely rekindle the debate in liberal circles over whether third-party campaigns like West’s could divide the Democratic vote and make more likely the election of former President Donald Trump in 2024, assuming that he becomes the Republican nominee.

Many Democrats blame Stein for Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election, pointing out that her vote total exceeded Trump’s margin of victory in the crucial battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Her involvement also signals that West will make a credible bid for the Green Party nomination, after initially filing in the People’s Party, a move that would ease his access to many state ballots and provide him with a party organization with a history of fighting access battles.