AZ Congressional Delegation

Donkey Feed, Sept. 15, 2018

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By Michael Bryan

Slip off your shoes and strap on the feedbag! It’s time for some Feed…

First, a cool tool: try BallotReady.org. You plug in your address and it will run down every candidate and their positions on the issues. You can even save a completed ballot to take with you to the polls with all your choices.Next, some graphical goodness: contrast the GOP’s tax bill, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the recently introduced Democratic alternative, the GAIN Act, in their impact on lower- and middle-income Americans, and ask yourself, which party has your back?

Now, some video fun: Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s largest hedge fund takes some time out from counting his lucre to explain how the economy’s cycles work. Trust me, it’s worth a half-hour of your time:

Maybe you’d like a new book to read? May I suggest two? The updated Impeachment: A Handbook, New Edition for what must be done to rid ourselves of a troublesome Trump? This book will be re-released on Sept. 18th. And Ray Dalio’s Principles: Life and Work. It’s not often you get the accumulated life experience of a billionaire to give you guidance and insight to live your best life. Dalio has also created a video series covering the principles in the book:

Now, just click Continue Reading for the rest of your Feed…

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Judge Kavanaugh caught misleading Congress in his previous confirmation hearing

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Let’s be clear: lying to Congress is a crime, and before the age of Trump, would have been a disqualifying event for any nominee, in particular a judicial nominee with a lifetime tenure.

I have previously explained that Judge Kavanaugh provided misleading testimony in his previous confirmation hearing, and that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is preventing documents that prove the lie from becoming public. A travesty of justice: GOP stonewalls on Judge Brett Kavanaugh documents while rushing his confirmation hearing.

Senator Durbin finally got his chance to confront Judge Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing. Sen. Durbin: Kavanaugh Lied to Me About His Role in Bush’s ‘Enemy Combatant’ Policy:

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) blasted Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and claimed the federal judge had lied to him about his role in shaping former President George W. Bush’s enemy-combatant policy in the war on terror. “I wanted to trust you—last time you testified before this committee in 2006,” Durbin said. “But after you were confirmed at the D.C. Circuit, reports surfaced that contradicted your sworn testimony.” At that time, Durbin said Kavanaugh told him “unambiguously, under oath” that he was never involved in the development of Bush’s rules regarding the detention of enemy combatants.

But less than a week ago, Durbin said Tuesday, Kavanaugh told him that he had, in fact, been involved. “For 12 years, you could’ve apologized and corrected this record,” he said, “but you never did. Instead, you and your supporters have argued that we should ignore that simple declarative sentence which you spoke and somehow conclude that your words mean something far different.”

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Ducey Fingers Kyl

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By Michael Bryan Governor Ducey has decided upon a caretaker, not a competitor, for the McCain seat, naming former Senator Jon Kyl to finish McCain’s term until the 2020 election. It may be a wise move, not giving a leg up to any potential contender wishing to permanently hold the seat, he avoids giving any faction … Read more

A caretaker, not a replacement for Sen. John McCain’s seat

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Our egomaniacal narcissist Twitter-troll-in-chief offered condolences on Twitter to Sen. John McCain’s family, but this small and petty man rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain: President Trump nixed issuing a statement that praised the heroism and life of Sen. John McCain, telling senior aides he preferred to issue a tweet before posting one Saturday night that did not include any kind words for the late Arizona Republican.

U.S. flags at the White House returned to full staff on Monday morning as the nation continued to mourn the death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Flags at White House return to full staff after brief tribute to McCain.

The malignant cancer of “Trumpism” is self-evident in the GOP primary here in Arizona. In most of the country, McCain is being lauded as a hero. On Arizona’s GOP campaign trail, he’s a pariah.

The Arizona Republican Party that nurtured McCain and his retiring Senate colleague Jeff Flake, whose seat those candidates are seeking, has been overrun by the party of Donald Trump. For Republican candidates now, the imperative is to embrace the president lest they lose his voters — and many of those voters share Trump’s antipathy to McCain.

Some analysts expect McCain’s death will only hasten the state’s political transformation.

[T]here will be another opportunity to demonstrate the GOP shift.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will appoint a replacement to fill McCain’s seat until 2020, when a special election will determine the occupant until 2022, when McCain’s term would have ended.

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Jose Torres Emphasizes Education, Healthcare and Immigration in the CD5 Congressional Race

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Congressional District Five Democratic House Candidate Jose Torres

This election year, two Democrats are vying for an opportunity to defeat incumbent Andy Biggs. One is Joan Greene and the other is the subject of this interview, Jose Torres.

Below are Torres’ responses to a series of questions regarding the issues facing the people in the district and how he would act as the district’s next Representative.

Arizona Congressional District Five contains all or parts of Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, and Chandler. The district has been solidly Republican since 2012. Incumbent Andy Biggs is a former State Senator and current Freedom Caucus Member. This “public servant” has distinguished himself by supporting and fighting for policies that do not benefit the public. On issues ranging from Children’s Health Care to a woman’s right to choose to Medicaid Expansion to tax cuts for the rich, Biggs has continually embraced the causes championed by Dark Money special interests and reactionary conservatives who want to destroy the government they were elected to serve in.

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