National Politics Discussion January

[Bad Dingo]

Apparently Ben Sasse resigned so he can go spread some hate in FL - www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/politics/ben-sasse-steps-down/index.html

[bsp36]

Jan 9, 2023 8:33:19 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Apparently Ben Sasse resigned so he can go spread some hate in FL - www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/politics/ben-sasse-steps-down/index.html

And now Pete Ricketts is seeking the senate seat. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I am sure the family sees it as a great return on $ spent. Paid for Governor get Senate seat for free.

[pixy0stix]

OH gov DeWine labels natural gas as "green energy" - www.cleveland.com/open/2023/01/with-stroke-of-his-pen-gov-mike-dewine-defines-natural-gas-as-green-energy.html

It's not, although at one point O&G had most people pretty brainwashed that it was.

[mrsd2006]

www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-special-grand-jury-finishes-152626817.html

Georgia special grand jury finishes probe of 2020 election


ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The two-page order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

[Bad Dingo]

Jan 9, 2023 12:15:20 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-special-grand-jury-finishes-152626817.html

Georgia special grand jury finishes probe of 2020 election


ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The two-page order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

I'm very interested in reading this report.

Tangent, I'm assuming that regular people with regular jobs sit on grand juries. How exactly does that work, especially with an investigation that has been going on as long as this has?

[mrsd2006]

Jan 9, 2023 12:46:18 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Jan 9, 2023 12:15:20 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-special-grand-jury-finishes-152626817.html

Georgia special grand jury finishes probe of 2020 election


ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The two-page order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

I'm very interested in reading this report.

Tangent, I'm assuming that regular people with regular jobs sit on grand juries. How exactly does that work, especially with an investigation that has been going on as long as this has?

It probably varies by state, but I found this for GA:

In Georgia, a grand jury consists of 16-23 jurors selected from a group of citizens within the county. Grand juries different from trial juries in that grand juries serve for a specified amount of time and meet at regular intervals to consider multiple cases. Trial juries are impaneled for the length of just one trial.

So they have likely only been meeting a couple days a week or something. While the investigation started back in 2021, the grand jury was only seated in May 2022. 

[glw]

Jan 9, 2023 12:46:18 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Jan 9, 2023 12:15:20 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-special-grand-jury-finishes-152626817.html

Georgia special grand jury finishes probe of 2020 election


ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The two-page order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

I'm very interested in reading this report.

Tangent, I'm assuming that regular people with regular jobs sit on grand juries. How exactly does that work, especially with an investigation that has been going on as long as this has?

It varies by state, but my husband is currently serving on a federal grand jury, and he has to go for one full day (9am-4pm) every Wednesday for 18 months. It is extremely disruptive to his work but short of moving to another state, he can't get out of it.
He works 50-60 hours a week, and he has to absorb that missing day into the rest of the week. It's... a lot.

[mrsd2006]

glw, 18 months?!?! Holy cow. That sucks. Does he get any compensation, like you do for jury duty??

[glw]

Jan 9, 2023 14:17:29 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

glw , 18 months?!?! Holy cow. That sucks. Does he get any compensation, like you do for jury duty??

He gets $50/day, and they reimburse his parking.
So, less than minimum wage. 

ETA: We're actually lucky because the federal courthouse is only 30 mins from our house. There are some jurors who live hours away (anywhere in the whole state), so they have to come in the night before and stay in a hotel overnight. Each week, for 18 months.

[seeyalater52]

Katie Porter just announced she’s running for Senate

[rupertpenny]

Jan 10, 2023 10:48:27 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Katie Porter just announced she’s running for Senate

Is she going to primary Feinstein or did Feinstein finally decide to not run for re-election?

[mrsslocombe]

Jan 10, 2023 11:22:24 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Jan 10, 2023 10:48:27 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Katie Porter just announced she’s running for Senate

Is she going to primary Feinstein or did Feinstein finally decide to not run for re-election?

Feinstein hasn't announced yet. I know there's been reports about how she's in denial about her health, hopefully someone can convince her to retire. 

[seeyalater52]

Jan 10, 2023 11:35:05 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Jan 10, 2023 11:22:24 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Is she going to primary Feinstein or did Feinstein finally decide to not run for re-election?

Feinstein hasn't announced yet. I know there's been reports about how she's in denial about her health, hopefully someone can convince her to retire. 

Yup. CA also has jungle primaries so the dynamic is a little different than running against an incumbent in another state would be.

[basilosaurus]

18 months?! How many alternates because within that time I can imagine so many legitimate reasons a person could no longer continue

[msmerymac]

Jan 9, 2023 14:03:28 GMT -5 glw said:

Jan 9, 2023 12:46:18 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

I'm very interested in reading this report.

Tangent, I'm assuming that regular people with regular jobs sit on grand juries. How exactly does that work, especially with an investigation that has been going on as long as this has?

It varies by state, but my husband is currently serving on a federal grand jury, and he has to go for one full day (9am-4pm) every Wednesday for 18 months. It is extremely disruptive to his work but short of moving to another state, he can't get out of it.
He works 50-60 hours a week, and he has to absorb that missing day into the rest of the week. It's... a lot.

My coworker did a grand jury in NJ, but only had to do one day a week for 13 weeks! He was able to miss 1-2 weeks, though.

[msmerymac]

Jan 10, 2023 11:39:56 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jan 10, 2023 11:35:05 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Feinstein hasn't announced yet. I know there's been reports about how she's in denial about her health, hopefully someone can convince her to retire. 

Yup. CA also has jungle primaries so the dynamic is a little different than running against an incumbent in another state would be.

I’ve heard my former rep, Adam Schiff, might run. But as cool as he is, we don’t need 2 men warming seats that were held by women for almost 30 years (Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, followed by Harris).

[seeyalater52]

Jan 10, 2023 15:58:23 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jan 10, 2023 11:39:56 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Yup. CA also has jungle primaries so the dynamic is a little different than running against an incumbent in another state would be.

I’ve heard my former rep, Adam Schiff, might run. But as cool as he is, we don’t need 2 men warming seats that were held by women for almost 30 years (Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, followed by Harris).

Agreed.

[anodyne]

TFG floated the idea of nuking North Korea and blaming it on someone else.

“What scared Kelly even more...He cavalierly discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea, saying that if he took such an action, the administration could blame someone else for it to absolve itself of responsibility,” Schmidt writes.

thehill.com/policy/international/3810406-trump-discussed-striking-north-korea-with-nuclear-weapon-blaming-another-country-book/

[mrsd2006]

Has anyone seen anything else about this? McCarthy willing to look at expunging Trump impeachment


www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/12/trump-impeachment-mccarthy-house-republicans/

[1yeartogo]

The Farm bill will need to pass in 2023. This has a lot to do with how much SNAP funds are approved at a federal level. Please ensure your congressional reps know about the importance of this especially anyone who sits on the agricultural committees.

ETA for those that don’t know SNAP is the low income food assistance program that is vital for so many to ensure adequate nutrition and food resources.

[basilosaurus]

Surprise Kavanaugh film at Sundance.

A secretly made documentary expanding on allegations of sexual assault against supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh has premiered at this year’s Sundance film festival.

Justice, a last-minute addition to the schedule, aims to shine a light not only on the women who have accused Kavanaugh, a Donald Trump nominee, but also the failed FBI investigation into the allegations.

“I do hope this triggers outrage,” said producer Amy Herdy in a Q&A after the premiere in Park City, Utah. “I do hope that this triggers action, I do hope that this triggers additional investigation with real subpoena powers.”

www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/21/brett-kavanaugh-documentary-sundance-film-festival

[al dente]

Jan 12, 2023 17:58:55 GMT -5 1yeartogo said:

The Farm bill will need to pass in 2023. This has a lot to do with how much SNAP funds are approved at a federal level. Please ensure your congressional reps know about the importance of this especially anyone who sits on the agricultural committees.

ETA for those that don’t know SNAP is the low income food assistance program that is vital for so many to ensure adequate nutrition and food resources.

yes! Also if you write in ask for less dairy and for that money to be used for produce. I have a letter I wrote if anyone is interested lol.
A lot of the military utilizes WIC and SNAP, depending on amount of kids up to E8 can qualify so it's not even just "lower enlisted". With rising inflation (and COLA being lowered in some areas) it's being recommended to sign up to help military families get by.

www.thecentersquare.com/national/u-s-army-recommends-food-stamps-for-soldiers-struggling-with-inflation/article_34e15302-3048-11ed-9730-97264b6694d5.amp.html

[mrsd2006]

One half of the ultra MAGA right wing conspiracy theory anti vaxxer duo Diamond and Silk passed away (Diamond)

Trump spoke at the funeral and after making it mostly about him and his grievances (shocker) said he didn't even know Silk. Just found out about her.

There are literally dozens of pictures of the two of them with Trump. They were always toghether.

I cannot wrap my head around how he could know one of them well enough to speak at her funeral and then say he didn't know the other one.

He is literally insane.

[pixy0stix]

Jan 24, 2023 9:53:58 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

One half of the ultra MAGA right wing conspiracy theory anti vaxxer duo Diamond and Silk passed away (Diamond)

Trump spoke at the funeral and after making it mostly about him and his grievances (shocker) said he didn't even know Silk. Just found out about her.

There are literally dozens of pictures of the two of them with Trump. They were always toghether.

I cannot wrap my head around how he could know one of them well enough to speak at her funeral and then say he didn't know the other one.

He is literally insane.

This goes along with how in a deposition he thought a picture of his accuser was his ex-wife. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/19/trump-e-jean-carroll-wife-deposition

[mrsd2006]

Schiff running for Feinstein's seat, per CNN

[fortnightlily]

Jan 26, 2023 11:43:55 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Schiff running for Feinstein's seat, per CNN

Kinda glad I don't live in CA anymore so I don't have to decide between Porter, Schiff, and the other Reps who may run (Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna are rumored). 

[mrsd2006]

The police body cam from Pelosi's attack has been released.

[StrawberryBlondie]

The Minnesota state House & Senate have both passed legislation to protect abortion rights and the Governor is expected to sign it soon.

Abortion has been a constitutional right here since the 90s when a state Supreme Court decision held that fell under the guarantee of privacy, but this legislation will further enshrine it.

We're apparently the first state to have passed such legislation post-Dobbs.

[estrellita]

Jan 28, 2023 12:06:21 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

The Minnesota state House & Senate have both passed legislation to protect abortion rights and the Governor is expected to sign it soon.

Abortion has been a constitutional right here since the 90s when a state Supreme Court decision held that fell under the guarantee of privacy, but this legislation will further enshrine it.

We're apparently the first state to have passed such legislation post-Dobbs.

I love being a Minnesotan 😍 Most of the time anyway, haha.

[Saudade]

Jan 28, 2023 12:06:21 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

The Minnesota state House & Senate have both passed legislation to protect abortion rights and the Governor is expected to sign it soon.

Abortion has been a constitutional right here since the 90s when a state Supreme Court decision held that fell under the guarantee of privacy, but this legislation will further enshrine it.

We're apparently the first state to have passed such legislation post-Dobbs.

Just another reason I’m glad to be back in MN 🥰🥰