Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This really is a full service blog.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

We’re not going back!

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The willow is too close to the house.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Meanwhile, in Grown-Up Politics…

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Meanwhile, in Grown-Up Politics…

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… The appeal, part of a domestic emergency spending request to be unveiled Wednesday, will seek $1 billion for the Agriculture Department’s Food for Peace grants, which provide food US-grown crops to the world’s poorest countries. The White House is also asking for $5 million for a program that donates food as well as financial and technical assistance to schools in low-income countries.

The ask is on top of $10 billion in humanitarian aid the administration requested as part of a $106 billion proposal unveiled last week that White House officials said would be used partially to help Palestinian refugees affected by the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel has conducted an intensive bombing campaign in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 raid on Israel that killed an more than 1,400 people…

On Tuesday, Biden told reporters he was concerned aid wasn’t reaching Palestinians quickly enough. Israel so far has held off on a planned ground invasion targeting Hamas — which the US and the European Union have designated a terrorist organization — as allies have raised concern about the fate of hostages held by militants in Gaza and the flow of assistance to civilians.

Biden’s supplemental requests face an uncertain future on Capitol Hill, where divisions among Republican lawmakers have been on stark display during this month’s battle to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Some Republicans have signaled they do not support a package that would tie aid for Israel to other priorities, while others have said they want the administration to offset additional spending requests with cuts elsewhere.

Republican presidential candidates including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have said they oppose aid to Gaza over concerns the assistance could be diverted to Hamas. Biden has said the US has negotiated with Israel and Egypt to ensure the aid goes to civilians.

White House officials have described their requests as urgent and said it is ordinary for emergency spending to be handled outside the normal budgeting process.

Reader Interactions

90Comments

  1. 1.

    bbleh

    Johnson used the phrase “common ground” today, which has been used by Jeffries and also by Biden as code for “not being a lying liar like McQarthy or a flaming asshole like Jordan.”  We’ll see how sincerely he meant it, and for how long.

  2. 2.

    Punchy

    Saw this story and, wow, what an evil little shit.  The fact he/she researched ahead of time and understood they were beyond the reach of the law and then still did this…..7 times.  What’s next?  How do they stop this if the parents wont (or dont believe it’s their kid)?

    I’m sure the many, many freaked out parents in that Maryland school district would like to have a few minutes, or rounds, with the parents of this Damien.  Or perhaps some playground justice will prevail among his/her peers…

  3. 3.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @bbleh:

    We’ll see how sincerely he meant it

    He only needs to mean it enough to let an aid bill that includes Ukraine and a budget bill that is status quo be voted on.  Yes, we will have to see.

  4. 4.

    cain

    @bbleh: we are told he is a smooth operator – which means he will always give the air of being moderate but he’s a whack job.

    He needs watching. But I hope that his colleagues go after him when he says shit that looks like he is working with the Dems. That should be fun.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I give him 4 and 1/2 months. I’ll put a 7 yr old used condom on it. Whose up for that bet?

  6. 6.

    Dan B

    @cain: Johnson is a snake in the grass.  The things he did at ADF are crimes against human rights.  I believe he was chief counsel.

  7. 7.

    MattF

    I think the relationship between the current House leadership and reality depends mostly on what you-know-who says and does. And that’s a guessing game. We can’t make the good things happen right now, but we should be able to frame the debate— the RW positions are pretty much set in stone at this point. And there’s an election coming up pretty soon.

  10. 10.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Punchy: What’s next? How do they stop this if the parents wont (or dont believe it’s their kid)?

    Can the school district file a civil suit against the parents to recover the costs associated with responding to the bomb threats? Which I’m guessing would run into the low five figures at a minimum, and be a pretty strong argument for them to keep close watch on their preteen juvenile delinquent. (Threshold of proof required should be lower in a civil case as well.)

  12. 12.

    Punchy

    @Alison Rose: that’s the antisocial kid who’ll bring a gun to school in 4 years, right?  Until he’s expelled, I’d demand my kid be nowhere in the same school — let alone classroom– as that practicing hellraiser.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    One of the better stories recently about the war in Ukraine is the success so far of the new Black Sea grain export route. Ukraine’s navy designated a route along the coast to replace the direct one Russia allowed from August 2022 until July of this year. So far a number of ships have made it in and out. One, the Eneida, has made the trip to Malaga, Spain with a load of wheat and has passed back into the Black Sea to pick up another one.

  14. 14.

    Bupalos

    @bbleh: I don’t know what you’re talking about with this “code” bit. There is absolutely zero reason to think Johnson is a better vehicle to getting the govt funded or ukraine aid or that this is “code” for anything other than Israel aid.

  18. 18.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I’m worried that Johnson might be auditioning for the 2028 presidential nomination.

  21. 21.

    ChiJD_Doug

    Very proud that I’m in Rep. Casten’s district, voted for him twice and even knocked on a few doors for him.  He is very solid, smart and oolicy oriented and, as we Presbyterians say, a mensch.

  22. 22.

    Aris Merquoni

    I just saw that Lairme Taylor, artist and friend of the blog, posted an update that their partner Sylv has passed away. May her memory be a blessing.

    Is there anything we can do to help? Having to cope with the logistics and costs of death while grieving is one of the worst things the “free market” does to us, and Lairme’s disabilities mean an extra layer of difficulty.

  28. 28.

    Ohio Mom

    @Punchy: Okay, I read that article twice. Nowhere does it say that the parents had any idea of what their kid was up to — did your parents know everything you were up to when you were 12? I’d guess they are probably reeling at the moment. No need to bad mouth them based on the very little we know.

    Now I fully expect them to show up at Monday night’s meeting with an attorney, and they actually would be lousy parents if they didn’t.

  30. 30.

    Bill Arnold

    @Manyakitty:

    him and his Dominionist buddy

    Call them what they are: Christian Supremacists.
    Seriously. “Dominionist” is accurate, but way too deferential to these theocrats. Also, it’s a euphemism intended to disguise their true anti-American (and anti-USA-Constitution) nature, since most Americans are unfamiliar with the term.

  32. 32.

    sab

    I have always had normal dogs, shepherds, retrievers, labs.

    Don’t much like terriers. Even my german shepherd hated terriers. Even my American Staffie hates terriers, and she is one. I love Patron and you can keep him in Ukraine where he is useful.

  34. 34.

    Ohio Mom

    @Punchy: It’s usually pretty hard to expel a kid from public school, especially before any interventions have been tried. Education law generally has a lot of protections for students.

    I’m defering judgement on a twelve year old’s psychology just on general principal. Kids can be very dumb and most of the ones with behavioral issues can be helped.

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Punchy: In my experience, “playground justice” isn’t. It’s usually the most sociopathic kids meting it out on everyone else.

    (Schools keep trying to use collective punishment to turn the general kid population against the few bad kids who got them in trouble, and in the past 200 years it has never once worked.)

  40. 40.

    Dan B

    In other news a group of NY GOP, may be all freshman, are trying to expel George Santos.  It may require 2/3 majority.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    rightwingwatchdotorg

    Christian nationalist religious-right activist Rick Green says he is “literally in tears” that Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected Speaker of the House because “this is one of our guys.”

  46. 46.

    sab

    @eclare:  I love Ponyo, but she is a hell of a lot of dog.We have five cats and each of them love her. But Ponyo wants to eat,or at least taste, every person who goes through our house. Maybe not true, but  she is curious and very pushy.  If prevented she howls in an upstairs bedroom.

    Exageration, but I don’t trust her around people although she has never actually bit anyone. She just barks ferociously. I feel I am criricizing her unjustly. Her life has been traumatic and she has never even attempted to bite anyone. She is a friendly girl, although she likes to bark.

  47. 47.

    cain

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I give him 4 and 1/2 months. I’ll put a 7 yr old used condom on it. Whose up for that bet?

    Just to clarify – it will help me if I am willing to accept this bet.

    Do you mean a condom that has been used for 7 years, or a used condom in storage for 7 years?

    I’m not interested in seeing the johnson that used this condom regardless.

  49. 49.

    Spanish Moss

    @Aris Merquoni:

    Oh no! I got an email when he posted an update to our (now closed) GoFundMe on the 22nd. He said that Sylv was in the hospital for observation for a possible heart attack. I don’t know if it is appropriate for me to copy/paste it here, but I will summarize by saying he needed to pay their aide for additional services while Sylv was in the hospital.

    I couldn’t see how to contact him directly through GoFundMe, so I searched BJ and found some paypal info for him and sent him a little something.

    *Larime’s personal GoFundMe is still active for now.

  50. 50.

    eclare

    @sab:

    Luckily Lucy doesn’t bite, I trust her around people.  But wow is she destructive!  I give her a rawhide bone every day, but she always needs to chew.  She also likes to move stuff, which can be very frustrating.

  51. 51.

    sab

    u

    @eclare: I dearly love Ponyo my staffie. She loves me. I cannot sleep because she has damaged my arm, pulling too hard then not letting it rest. Snuggles too close. I want to brain her with a rock but I love her.

    She wants to snuggle close although she knows she is damaging my arm, but she needs to know we are in love. We are.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    Dolt 45 found in violation of the limited gag order in NY fraud case fined $5k last week, new rantings result in a $10k fine today. Fingers crossed each successive finding keeps on doubling it.

  54. 54.

    cain

    @Martin:

    Oh the press is having a fun time going through this guys history. He’s relatively unknown so of course a lot of digging is going to happen.

    He’s going to have a hard time hiding information about him.

    I look forward to Pro Publica’s future articles on him.

  55. 55.

    Matt McIrvin

    @sab: After Trump I have zero trust in the electorate or any subset thereof.

    That said, one of the things that put Trump over was this idea that he wasn’t a cultural extremist, that he didn’t care about any of that stuff. And it’s true, he doesn’t, but that still meant he would gladly play ball with the extremists on the sex and religion stuff, if it got him what he wanted.

  56. 56.

    sab

    @eclare: My Ponyo is a pitbull ( American staffie.)  Ain’t more terrier than her. She has mostly behaved this election season. Bit absolutely no one, not even the vet who gives her shots.

    Next door German Shedder is Republican. We will try to persuade them on School Board. He is good at persuasion, and doesn’t even need to threaten to eat them. Owners are Republican. I am not sure about the dog, but he can’t vote. I can persuade the dog but he can’t vote.

  57. 57.

    MagdaInBlack

    @eclare: What type of terrier is your Lucy? My Lucy ( Faye Lorraine) was a Wire Haired Fox. I do love them, but I don’t know that I have the energy for one anymore. I need a lazy dog.

  59. 59.

    Spanish Moss

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks! Found it and gave a bit more.

    UPDATE: Please feel free to remove my previous comment if you think it will cause confusion.

  60. 60.

    sab

    After all my labs and retrievers and shepherds my staffie looked odd.

    Now I see her and after the first shock ( that is my dog)  I think she looks like a very large but incompetent Jack Rissell. Incompetemce is not what you would expect in a Jack Russell. But if big enough it works.

  61. 61.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Matt McIrvin: ​After Trump I have zero trust in the electorate or any subset thereof.

     I’d venture a guess that it’s okay to trust Black women. They vote Democratic, and they show up to vote. If more of us followed their lead, this country would likely be in better shape.

    It’s one of the reasons I’ve been impressed with the organizations WaterGirl has vetted for the jackals to support. Looking forward to 2024’s selections.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @sab: The question I ask about potential Republican 2028 candidates is: can tbey beat Georgia Governor Brian Kemp? That guy’s going to be tough to beat if he runs, and I think he will.

  63. 63.

    eclare

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I have an American staffie.  When I adopted her the shelter said she would be a house hippo, and I thought that sounded about right, energy wise.  She is in her chair snoring right now.

    She is around 45 pounds, and I have to help her into my car, and that is pretty much the upper limit of what I can lift.  My next dog will be smaller, maybe a Boston.

  64. 64.

    eclare

    @sab:

    I take Lucy to the vet for only the second time this Friday (I adopted her one year ago).  Fingers crossed!  I think she’ll be fine.

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    @Spanish Moss: re: your update.  I took the liberty of editing your comment to include a mention of Larime’s personal GoFundMe, and linked it.  It seems like maybe that will be clearer for everyone?

    Seemed like you would be okay with that?

  66. 66.

    eclare

    @H.E.Wolf:

    For the 2020 primary, I decided whoever Black women in SC voted for was who I would vote for (I am a middle age White woman).  They chose Joe, and a few days later, so did I in TN.

  71. 71.

    MagdaInBlack

    @eclare: I could work with that. I had been thinking that’s the way I’ll go when I am in the position ( retired ) to have a dog again. Thanks !

  72. 72.

    Ohio Mom

    @Matt McIrvin: Up-to-date school systems these days are very clear that bullying will not be tolerated.

    A story my neighbor and fellow autism mom tells: Years ago, she went to the middle school for a meeting with her son’s teachers (moms of disabled kids are always having meetings with teachers).

    To get to the school’s front door, you walk across the paved lot where the school buses let the kids off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. It was lunchtime, and the buses were off in their parking lot; the area in front of the school was full of students enjoying their post-prandial recess.

    Neighbor spied her son, who appeared to be being hassled by three other boys. She broke that up and went in to her meeting.

    The teachers clucked appropriately when told of what happened on the playground and said they’d look into it.

    Neighbor did not take that seriously but the next day she was asked to come in to see the assistant principal. On the AP’s computer screen were photos of three boys. “Were these the boys bothering your son?” “Yes (in awe that this was happening). “Thank you for coming in, I’ll take it from here.”

    I have no doubt that the schools in the D.C. suburbs are equally diligent.

  73. 73.

    Eolirin

    @Geminid: I could see him losing the primary. I’d be much more worried about him being the actual candidate than most of the rest of the field though.

    Though a lot will depend on if Trump is dead by then.

  74. 74.

    Hoppie

    @Matt McIrvin: The electorate is fine, Trump lost by millions and then double millions.  It is the ancient Constitution’s Electoral College that causes trouble.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

     

     

    @eclare: I am thinking about the Republican nomination race here. Kemp must have been a strong general election candidate to have beaten Stacy Abrams by 5 points, because she was a strong candidate too. But David Perdue had Trump’s endorsement in last year’s primary and Kemp just flattened him.

  76. 76.

    sab

    @Ohio Mom: We have school board elections this year. My autistic  granddaughter is wildly popular, perhaps because she is (thanks Covid)  two years above her grade and also big. Nine year old in second grade. And tall. Her parents and grandparents are mostly really big people. Like professional athlete sized. Her dad is 6’5c” or more. Her Mom is five two. She, at ago nine, is 5 feet tall. She is going to shoot past her mom by the end of fifth grade,

  77. 77.

    sab

    @eclare: House hippo exactly describes my American staffie. Looks ferociuos and barks like a maniac. But mostly sleeps, especially if I want her up confronting something.  Confrontation is not her thing, unless it matters. And she thinks it rarely matters. Wake her up if she guesed wrong.

  78. 78.

    moonbat

    @sab: ​
      My terrier Larry is the third such dog I’ve had and he acts as a comfort animal to my students at university. He’s a sweetie, through and through. I LOVE terriers.

  79. 79.

    Eolirin

    @Geminid: The question isn’t whether Kemp can perform well in GA though, it’s whether he appeals to CA and NY primary voting Republicans, whether he can do well in Texas and Florida. I think those are more open questions, and his unwillingness to go along with the election denial might hurt him if the Trump faction is still a force in the party.

    But only in the primary.

  81. 81.

    Geminid

    @Eolirin: An obvious question. Yes, Kemp would need to do well in the Northeast and Texas and California and places in between. I considered that when I said he’ll be tough to beat if he runs.

  82. 82.

    Eolirin

    @Geminid: I’m a lot less sure than you about that when it comes to the primary, though I fully agree with regard to the general. NY and CA primary voting Rs are insane. Georgia ones seem a lot less so, though Hershel Walker is maybe a counter point.

  83. 83.

    Kay

    So great that there’s so much out there on this guy.

    housejuddems

    In 2003, House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the Supreme Court for overturning laws against sodomy. He argued that states should have the authority to make homosexuality illegal and went as far as to imply that the government should have the power to prohibit any sexual activity outside of wedlock.

    Like all of them, he never shuts up.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    During his tenure as chair of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) between 2019 and 2021, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) helped craft budget resolutions that called for roughly $2 trillion in Medicare cuts, $3 trillion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts, and $750 billion in Social Security Cuts, noted Bobby Kogan of the Center for American Progress.
    In 2018, Johnson said that entitlement reform is his “number one priority” and that “entitlement spending”, meaning cuts to “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the debt” have to “happen yesterday”, because they are an existential threat to the American experiment.

    2 TRILLION in Medicare cuts. He wants to end Medicare, basically.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    @Eolirin: I would disagree about New York’s Republican primary voters.

    But I’m not trying to persuade anybody here, just saying what I think.

  87. 87.

    Ohio Mom

    @Kay: And still the Fox-addled senior crowd will continue to vote for Republicans!

    The insurance industry makes a lot of money from Medicare and I can’t imagine they will go for that. For once, I might be grateful for the health insurance industry.

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