AZ Congressional Delegation

Freedom is just another word for another wingnut group

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My apologies to Janice Joplin for riffing off of “Me and Bobby McGee” in the caption.

Those of you who are familiar with politics in Washington, D.C. are aware that the Republican Study Committee (RSC) is the hotbed of far-right radical extremism.

Matt SalmonApparently the RSC is not radical or extreme enough for the likes of Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ).

He is part of a new farther-far-right radical extremist group, laughingly calling itself the “Freedom Caucus” (conservatives have rendered the word “freedom” devoid of any meaning today with their constant abuse of the English language.)

The Hill reports, House conservatives form ‘Freedom Caucus’:

House GOP conservatives announced a new “Freedom Caucus” on Monday to split from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) after complaints that it had become too cozy with leadership.

The nine founding members of the group have been frequent thorns in the side of House GOP leadership over the past four years. Many of them voted against giving John Boehner (R-Ohio) another term as Speaker earlier this month.

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House GOP leaders forced to delay vote on Secure the Border First Act of 2015

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McSallyThe “Secure the Border First Act of 2015,” HR 399 in the House and S.208 in the Senate, cosponsored by Arizona Tea-Publicans Rep. Martha McSally in the House and Jeff Flake in the Senate, has run into trouble from conservative opponents who point out that the bill does nothing about President Obama’s executive orders for prosecutorial discretion in deferring deportations, and from the latest “storm of the century” to hit Washington, D.C.

The Hill reports, House delays border security bill vote:

The House won’t vote this week on a controversial GOP border security plan that conservatives complained would do little to stop President Obama’s order to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

Aides to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who controls the floor schedule, said the blizzard pummeling the Northeast forced the cancellation of votes Monday night. And due to the shortened schedule this week, the vote on the border bill — originally slated for Wednesday — has been postponed until a later date.

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Martha McSally and Jeff Flake propose a costly and ineffective ‘border security’ bill

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The Arizona Republic in an editorial opinion today takes Arizona Senator Jeff Flake to task for his sponsoring the “Secure the border First Act of 2015,” after he was a member of the Gang of Eight who crafted the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

McSally-KingThe Republic curiously gives freshman congresswoman Martha McSally (R-AZ)  a pass for attaching her name to the “Secure the border First Act of 2015” as a sponsor in the House. McSally, Homeland Security Chairman Introduce Bill to Improve Border Security: “U.S. Representative Martha McSally today joined chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul to introduce The Secure Our Borders First Act, legislation to gain and maintain control of our nation’s land and maritime borders.”

I suppose the difference in treatment is that Martha McSally is a ‘Deportation Republican’ aligned with the nativist base of the GOP led by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), while the editors express disappointment with Sen. Flake for not being as enlightened as they once imagined him to be.

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Keystone Kops in the Tea-Publican Senate

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The Tea-Publican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Carbon Monopoly (oil, gas, coal). Not even J.D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil a century ago owned this many members of Congress lock, stock and barrel.

The Keystone Pipeline Act bill is S.1 , given the designation of the Senate’s top priority. These Tea-Publican senators should probably have to register as agents of a foreign country, given their intensive lobbying efforts on behalf of the TransCanada Corporation, a Canadian company.

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This week the Senate is debating S.1 and considering amendments to the bill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the new chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is empowered to decide whether amendments are germane to the bill. She has determined that almost all amendments offered are not germane, and thus under Senate rules require a super-majority of 60 votes for passage.

So naturally, Tea-Publicans are doing what they do best: filibustering amendments.

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GOP caucus pulls 20 week abortion ban bill.

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Trent-Franks-AP-copy

Wednesday evening brought the surprise announcement that Republicans were withdrawing their bill for a federal 20 week abortion ban scheduled for a vote on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v Wade:

A vote had been scheduled for Thursday to coincide with the annual March for Life, a gathering that brings hundreds of thousands of anti-abortion activists to Washington to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

But Republican leaders dropped those plans after failing to win over a bloc of lawmakers, led by Reps. Rene Ellmers (R-N.C.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who had raised concerns.

The House will vote instead Thursday on a bill prohibiting federal funding for abortions — a more innocuous anti-abortion measure that the Republican-controlled chamber has passed before.

Gosh, that oughtta make things awkward at Thursday’s march!

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