118th Congress (2023-2025)

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Tenure In Danger!

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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is in great danger of losing his Speakership, and so far, the 118th Congress, with a small Republican edge in the House of Representatives, and a 51-49 Democratic Senate control, has accomplished almost nothing!

If McCarthy angers just one member of his caucus, a vote could come up to remove him from the Speakership, and if just five members of his caucus joined with the Democrats, he will be gone as the leader of his party!

The upcoming debt ceiling impasse will be a major test of whether McCarthy can survive the two year term of the 118th Congress!

The lunatic “Freedom Caucus”, with at least 46 sitting members, sadly, is controlling much of the Republican agenda in the House of Representatives!

This includes Matt Gaetz of Florida, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, as the most controversial of a group in which all the members are extremists!

Seditionists In Republican Caucus In Charge In The House Of Representatives In The 118th Congress!

Ronald 5 Comments

A sad, tragic, and threatening circumstance now is reality!

The Republican controlled House of Representatives in the 118th Congress has become the property of seditionists and traitors, those who promoted “Election Denial” and the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021!

Extremists, led by Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Paul Gosar of Arizona; Scott Perry of Pennsylvania; Jim Jordan of Ohio; James Comer of Kentucky; and others has been given power and membership on committees that will now be out to wipe out the truth and the investigation completed by the January 6 House Committee!

And any one of them could call for a vote at any time to dislodge Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who has sold his soul, ethics, morals, and principles in order to accomplish his lifelong goal to be Speaker!

Chaos and anarchy are ahead of us, and sham investigations and supposed scandals will be the center of attention, without any real conclusions that are truthful, only designed to divide America further, without regard as to the effect on average Americans!

And the likelihood of a financial crisis over the debt limit will cause great turmoil and suffering, totally reckless and unnecessary!

Truman Vs The 80th Congress; Biden Vs The 118th House Of Representatives!

Ronald 2 Comments

75 years ago, President Harry Truman, looking like a “loser” to many observers, chose to use an attack strategy against the Republican 80th Congress (1947-1949), calling them the “Do Nothing” Congress, and gaining a nickname, “Give Them Hell Harry!”

Everyone underestimated him tremendously, and he staged a magnificent upset victory, winning a full term in the Presidency despite low public opinion polls at the time, defeating the clearcut favorite candidate, Republican Presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey, and winning back control of both houses of Congress for the 81st Congress (1949-1951).

Now, President Joe Biden, who most observers never expected to be the Democratic Presidential nominee in 2020, and to have the Democrats win the Senate along with the House of Representatives in both 2020 and keep the Senate in 2022, is being given a golden opportunity to run a campaign against the small margin Republican House of Representatives in the 118th Congress, and they are making it very easy by their disastrous tactics and public image!

So Joe Biden will run a Truman like campaign and give the Republican House “hell”, with all of his accomplishments in his first two years.

He has a great chance to win reelection, with a low unemployment rate, lowered inflation, and courageous leadership against Russia in Ukraine. Just as Truman took a strong stand against Russia in the Berlin Blockade Crisis of 1948, Biden is coming across strongly in the Ukraine Crisis!

And the odds of the House of Representatives going back to the Democrats is outstanding, and the Senate, while difficult, with Joe Biden on the same ticket, the odds increase of the continuation of a Democratic Senate for the 119th Congress (2025-2027)!

The US Senate Hits The 2,000 Mark After 234 Years, With 8 New Senators!

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With the Senate retirements and elections of 2022 now part of history, the US Senate has finally hit the 2,000 mark of membership after 234 years of history since 1789.

There are 2,002 people who have served in the Senate, most by election, but some by appointment, with 202 appointed to fill a vacancy since 1913, with the ratification of the 17th Amendment, providing for direct popular election of the US Senate.

Eleven of the present membership of the Senate was originally appointed to fill a vacancy, but have won election to the office since then.

The 8 new Senators are:

Katie Britt (R) Alabama
Ted Budd (R) North Carolina
John Fetterman (D) Pennsylvania
Markwayne Mullin (R) Oklahoma
Eric Schmitt (R) Missouri
J D Vance (R) Ohio
Peter Welch (D) Vermont

All of the above were sworn in opening day of the 118th Congress, January 3, 2023.

Additionally, former Governor Pete Ricketts (R) Nebraska, appointed to replace Senator Ben Sasse, who resigned to become President of the University of Florida, will be sworn in on January 23, 2023 as number 2,002!

Ricketts is part of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team since 2009!

The Republican Party War On Social Security And Medicare Continues!

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The Republican Party historically has been consistently against Social Security, promoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 88 years ago.

The Republican Party historically has been consistently against Medicare and Medicaid, promoted by Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society 58 and 57 years ago.

The Republican Party historically has been consistently against the Affordable Care Act (Obama), promoted by Barack Obama 13 years ago.

Of course, SOME Republicans over the decades have supported these programs, which are very popular, and part of the “Social Justice” agenda of Democrats since the 1930s.

Actually, however, these ideas in outline were promoted by Republican progressive Theodore Roosevelt and his “New Nationalism” platform that he ran on with his Bull Moose Progressive Party campaign in 1912, more than a century ago.

The Republicans never learn that the American people at large WANT these programs, which are NOT “entitlements”, that are “given” to Americans, as taxpayers pay for these programs, and the idea that they can just be cut, while corporations and the wealthy get their tax breaks, is infuriating!

So the attempt of the 118th Congress to cut these programs will fail miserably, but will also take Republicans down, with their evil intention, to defeat, in 2024 and beyond!

The idea being proposed to “privatize” Social Security fails to recognize that George W. Bush proposed this in 2004-2005, with it failing to occur, and fortunately so!

As in 2008-2009, with the Great Recession, if one had Social Security in the stock market, they would have lost the anchor that Social Security represents, a guaranteed support!

Most people are not knowledgeable enough to know how to invest, and be assured that such investments do not turn out to be disasters!

Two Years Since The January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, But Congress Still In Crisis!

Ronald 2 Comments

Precisely two years ago, the US Capitol in Washington, DC, was subjected to a massive Insurrection, a mass terrorist attack by MAGA loyalists to Donald Trump who were following through on his attempt to change the results of the Presidential Election of 2020.

But, these seditionists and traitors were also threatening the lives of Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and all members of Congress, as well as their staffs and law enforcement personnel.

A full investigation was conducted by the House January 6 Committee, which included two courageous, principled Republicans, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both of whom no longer will serve in the new 118th Congress.

But Congress is still in crisis, with the battle over whether Kevin McCarthy will be Speaker of the House continuing, and protection of the US Capitol being cut back by orders of the Republican House majority.

And it seems certain that McCarthy, if approved as Speaker, will be beholden to extremists on the right wing of his caucus, and that chaos and disarray will become a norm, and undermine the business of government for the next two years.

However,it is likely that the Democrats will gain for the 2024 national elections, with the growing extremism and incompetence of the Republican Party over the next two years!

The Republican Party Is In Free Fall! Time For “Coalition” House Of Representatives!

Ronald 6 Comments

As we wake up on Wednesday January 4, the Republican Party in the House of Representatives is in free fall, a real danger to the stability of American government!

Only once since the Civil War has the House of Representatives faced the crisis it has now, a century ago, when it took 9 ballots to choose Frederick Gillett to be Speaker in 1923 in the 68th Congress.

It seems highly unlikely that Kevin McCarthy will become Speaker, as there is real animosity between him and most of the extremist right wing Freedom Caucus.

McCarthy making too many concessions to these “seditionists” will undermine his party and create a situation whereby nothing can be done, and it is an embarrasssment to the world at large to see this disaster continue to unfold!

It is time for a “coalition” House of Representatives, with a former Republican gaining the few “moderate” Republicans joining with Democrats to create a majority with some concessions to Democrats, and backing away from extremist demands of the Freedom Caucus, as the nation needs a House of Representatives who can truly “govern” in the national interest!

So some suggestions as to who could become Speaker for the next two years:

Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Former Congressman and former Governor John Kasich of Ohio
Former Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan
Former Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan

The 118th Congress Opens: Prediction Of Worst Congress In Modern Times!

Ronald 1 Comment

The 118th Congress has just been gaveled into session, and it seems clear that, at least in the House of Representatives, the nation is facing the worst two years of Congressional action in modern history!

After the very successful 117th Congress under President Joe Biden, while the Senate has one extra Democrat now (John Fetterman of Pennsylvania), the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives is on the way to disaster, as it now seems inevitable that the battle over whether Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California is to become Speaker of the House is going to take multiple ballots for the first time in a century!

Frederick Gillett had to suffer through nine ballots before he was chosen to be Speaker in the 68th Congress, precisely a century ago!

There have been 14 Congresses that had a battle over who would be Speaker, all but 1923 being before the Civil War, with four being Congresses between 1847 and 1861; five being between 1819 and 1841; and four being between 1793 and 1811.

So this will be the 15th Congress out of 118 that has had this struggle over who would be Speaker.

The longest battles have been in the 34th Congress (1855-1857)—133 ballots; the 31st Congress (1849-1851)—63 ballots; the 36th Congress (1859-1861)—44 ballots; and the 16th Congress (1819-1821)—22 ballots.

As I write this mid afternoon, Kevin McCarthy has lost on the first and second ballots, and it seems as if this struggle for the Speakership will go on endlessly, and the feeling is that someone else, possibly Jim Jordan of Ohio, may end up as Speaker, even though he has supported McCarthy!

If such happens, the nation is is dangerous times, as Jordan was too close and supportive of Donald Trump, and has vehemently condemned the January 6 House investigation of the US Capitol Insurrection!

The Future Of The Republican House Majority In The 118th Congress

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It is now two days until the first session of the 118th Congress, and there is, seemingly, total chaos in the small Republican majority in the House of Representatives, as to whether California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, who has wished to be be Speaker of the House since 2015, will actually be able to gain 218 votes from his caucus.

The gut feeling is that he will NOT be able to accomplish his goal,and this author and blogger senses that second ranking Republican Steve Scalise of Louisiana will become the alternative choice.

So we shall see what transpires on Tuesday or later! It will be a very tumultuous time!

Foreign Born In The Upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025)

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About 30 members of the upcoming 118th Congress in the House of Representatives are foreign born, and 5 US Senators are in that category!

The Senators are:

Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz
Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth
Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono
Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen

22 foreign born House members are Democrats and 8 Republican are in that category.

Among them and somewhat better known are:

Democrat Robert Garcia of California
Democrat Ted Lieu of California
Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut
Democrat Sean Casten of Illinois
Democrat Sharice Davids of Kansas
Democrat Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Democrat Tom Malinowski of New Jersey
Democrat Susan Wild of Pennsylvania
Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Washington
Republican Carlos Jimenez of Florida
Republican Dan Crenshaw of Texas