BREAKING, WATCH: Sinema One Of 3 Democrats Voting For Largely-Symbolic GOP Tax Bill; Schweikert Expresses “Joy” Over Bill

On the final day of the House session before the mid-term elections, Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) was one of 3 Democrats to vote with Republicans* on a largely-symbolic bill to make last year’s tax cuts permanent.

The measure passed 220-191, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already determined that any bill to make cuts permanent would need 60 votes to pass, and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) said the House measure would not be taken up this session.

Sinema – who is running a statewide race to replace Jeff Flake in the Senate – issued a brief statement implying that she worked with Republicans to craft

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Brett Kavanaugh cried, shouted and pouted at his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Men: We’ve Heard About Assaults. Speak Up About Them.

Distributed via OtherWords

Women who report assault deserve to hear that we believe them, and that we can back them up — because we’ve heard the other side.

The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation imbroglio shined a bright light on a terrible misconception: that the #MeToo movement is somehow about destroying the careers of powerful men.

Again and again, Kavanaugh and his defenders complained that the allegations were “ruining his life” or “his good name.” (Never mind whether he deserves it.)

This sort of entitlement completely erases survivors of assault. #MeToo is about those women, previously silent, speaking out so that America’s shameful tolerance of sexual assault ends.

Even worse, some Republicans appear willing to accept Kavanaugh even if the allegations brought by Christine Blasey Ford and others are true. To them, it’s unfair that something Kavanaugh did as a 17 year-old boy should impact his career 36 years later.

This is nothing less than open tolerance of sexual assault. To me, that’s unacceptable.

I suspect millions of men share my view. And we need to speak up — especially those of us who got a glimpse inside the world Brett Kavanaugh grew up in.

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CR signed to keep the government open – see you in December

President Trump has signed the short-term spending bill and continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress last week that will keep the government open through Dec. 7 and avert a government shutdown.

Trump backed off  his oft-repeated threat to shut down the government in order to extort funding from Congress for his “big beautiful wall” on the Mexico border,  putting off a fight over the funding until after the midterm elections. Trump Signs $854 Billion Spending Bill To Avert Government Shutdown:

President Donald Trump has signed an $854 billion spending bill to keep the federal government open through Dec. 7, averting a government shutdown in the weeks leading up to the November midterm elections.

That’s according to a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the action.

Trump signed the legislation to fund the military and several civilian agencies without journalists present at the White House. The president is acting after the House and Senate approved the spending plan earlier this week.

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Kavanaugh’s Rage and Belligerence Is the Hallmark of a Sadist

Brett Kavanaugh cried, shouted and pouted at his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Brett Kavanaugh cried, pouted and shouted at his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is not the demeanor of a US Supreme Court Justice.

I am appalled and outraged at the spectacle presented in yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators should vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Senators should also lodge a complaint to the Ethics Committee against Senators Grassley, Hatch, and Graham for the unethical, extremist, partisan tactics they used to subvert the already hampered efforts of the Judiciary Committee to determine the veracity of allegations against Judge Kavanaugh and whether or not he fit to serve on the Supreme Court.

Yesterday morning Dr. Ford testified in the Senate Judiciary Committee through her terror and spoke the truth. The laughter of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge is seared into the neuropathways and lodged in the neural nodes of her brain and is viscerally felt throughout her body.  For the last 36 years and for the rest of her life, she will feel that physical, disabling pain and fear.  She will hear and feel that laughter.

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A disastrous hearing, but the GOP will ‘plow ahead’ with Kavanaugh confirmation (Updated)

I have been a trial attorney for over 25 years. It is my job to evaluate witnesses and to test their credibility, and to evaluate how testimony is received by a jury.

Christine Blasey Ford testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. I found her testimony genuine, credible and compelling. Moreover, her testimony would be received by a jury as genuine and believable.

In fact, it is reported that thousands of Americans watching Dr. Blasey’s testimony who are themselves victims of sexual assault experienced a cathartic response to her testimony and contacted their elected representatives. She moved the jury. She moved the country.

Dr. Blasey’s testimony was devastating. Dr. Blasey offered to be helpful to the committee more, and volunteered to submit to an FBI background check to test the credibility of her testimony. Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley refused her request.

After a lunch break, it was Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s turn to testify. Brett Kavanaugh is a GOP political operative masquerading as a judge, and he let his mask slip in his opening statement. He delivered an angry jeremiad contemptuous of Democratic Senators whom he asserted were part of a vast left-wing conspiracy trying to destroy him, bent on revenge for the Clintons and their hatred of Donald Trump. It was clearly a political speech delivered for the television audience.

When questioned by senators, Kavanaugh was angry, aggressive and belligerent. He raised new questions about his demeanor and judicial temperament as a judge. Kavanaugh continued to be evasive in his answers, frequently returning to talking points about his innocence that was non-responsive to the question. When given numerous opportunities to request reopening an FBI background check to clear “his good name,” Kavanaugh demurred and would not do so. “I will do whatever the committee decides to do.” President Trump and GOP leadership have refused to reopen the FBI background check. His independence as a jurist is in serious doubt.

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