Senate

Sen. John McCain continues to improperly interfere in Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl case

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I told you about this case last October. John McCain’s comments on Bergdahl case constitute unlawful Congressional interference in the UCMJ process.

Morris Davis, a retired Air Force colonel and the chief prosecutor of the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay from 2005 to 2007, writes at the New York Times today, McCain Should Stop Meddling in the Bergdahl Case:

thumbscaleSgt. Bowe Bergdahl is to appear this month at the next hearing in his court-martial at Fort Bragg, N.C. After Sergeant Bergdahl walked off his Army outpost in Afghanistan in 2009, he was abducted and tortured by the Taliban, who subjected him to nearly five years of harsh captivity.

Sergeant Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, yet two senior military officers conducting separate, impartial investigations into his case have recommended no imprisonment. That outcome would be consistent with hundreds of other post-Sept. 11 desertion cases.

But that does not sit well with certain politicians who have treated Sergeant Bergdahl’s case as if it were a political piñata. Foremost among them is Senator John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Enough is enough. Democratic senators mount talking filibuster until Senate takes action on gun violence (Updated)

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Senate Democrats led by Chris Murphy of Connecticut ground the Senate floor to a halt Wednesday, vowing to speak as long as necessary to force the Senate to take action to address gun violence. Democratic senators stage ‘filibuster’ to demand action on gun bills:

Screenshot from 2016-06-15 16:27:37“I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can. I’ve had #Enough,” he tweeted. For hours, Murphy and other Democratic senators took turns demanding the Senate take up a variety of gun control measures, though it is not clear any of them would have the votes to pass.

Murphy listed off mass shootings and talked about expanding background checks for gun buyers and banning gun sales to people on terror watch lists. He said the failure of Congress to pass such measures has been particularly disappointing to him and other residents of Connecticut, where a shooter gunned down 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.

“I can’t tell you how hard it is to look into the eyes of the families of those little boys and girls who were killed in Sandy Hook and tell them that almost four years later, we’ve done nothing, nothing at all to reduce the likelihood that that will happen again to another family,” Murphy said.

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John McCain’s bogus ad attacking Ann Kirkpatrick for voting for ‘ObamaCare’

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McCain buttonArizona’s angry old man John McCain is sounding like a broken record again, in a television ad (http://bit.ly/1svTrIg) criticizing Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, the presumptive Democratic nominee, for her 2010 vote in favor of Obamacare. McCain hits Kirkpatrick over Obamacare in TV ad.

McCain’s ad comes at the same time the Huffington Post reported  on the latest coverage figures, by way of the CDC, with which the “McMedia” in Arizona should familiarize itself.

More than 7 million previously uninsured Americans gained health coverage in 2015, the second full year of the Obamacare coverage expansion, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During the fourth quarter of last year, just 9.1 percent of U.S. residents, or 28.6 million people, had no health coverage, the National Health Interview Survey found. That’s a decline of 2.4 percentage points and 7.4 million people from a year before.

The additional 7.4 million insured builds on the 8.8 million previously uninsured people who got covered in 2014, the first year of the Affordable Care Act’s full benefits.

The full report from the CDC is online here (pdf).

When was the last time more than 90% of Americans had health insurance? As Sarah Kliff at Vox.com explains, 2015 was the first year 90 percent of Americans had health insurance. Thanks, Obama. And Thank you, Ann Kirkpatrick.

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SWAG list of candidates for 2016

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ArizonaIt’s that time of year when everyone in the media is doing lists, so it is time for the “Silly Wild Ass Guess” (SWAG) list of candidates who are running for office in the Arizona Legislature, the Arizona Corporation Commission, and Congress in 2016. The list of candidates who have already filed, according to the Arizona Secretary of State web site, are listed below. (Federal candidates are filed with the FEC). I will periodically update the list as time permits to add candidates who file between now and the filing deadline.

UPDATE:  You can Sign a Candidate Petition or Give $5 Qualifying Contribution at the E-Qual page of the Arizona Secretary of State‘s web site.

ARIZONA LEGISLATURE

District 1

Karen Fann (R) Senate
Noel Campbell (R) House
Arlo “Chip” Davis (R) House
David Stringer (R) House

District 2

Andrea Dalessandro (D) Senate
Shelly Kais (R) Senate
Aaron Baumann (D) House
Rosanna Gabaldon (D) House
John Ackerley (R) House

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Senate Dems seal the Iran nuclear deal

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Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576It looks like the Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is not quite the master of the Senate that he imagines himself to be in his own disturbed mind.

The Turtle Man’s last-ditch effort to derail the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran was thwarted today by the Honey Badger, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the true master of the Senate. Senate Dems stonewall Iran resolution, handing victory to Obama:

Senate Democrats blocked a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal for a third time Thursday, sealing a major foreign policy victory for President Obama.

Senators voted 56-42 against ending debate on the resolution of disapproval, falling short of the 60 votes needed on the procedural motion.

Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin (Md.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Bob Menendez (N.J.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) for a third time bucked Obama and voted “no” on the deal.

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