We Have a Speaker, Again

For John, BLUF:  I was impressed that our US Representative, Ms Lori Trahan, had an announcement on the election of a new Speaker out so quickly.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I have good news and bad news

A letter from Representative Lori Trahan.

Here is the lede plus one:

First the good news: The House finally has a new speaker. Like you and so many folks across our district, I’m fed up with the failure of Republican leadership we’ve had to watch over the past three weeks. With a new speaker now in place, Congress can finally get back to work passing laws, holding hearings, and delivering for the hardworking families we represent.

Now, the bad news: The new speaker is Mike Johnson. It’s important for folks to know how Republicans got to this point – electing Speaker Mike Johnson on a party line vote. Rather than House Democrats to find a bipartisan path forward – one we offered countless times over the past 22 days – the GOP cycled through multiple losing candidates before picking Mike Johnson, a Congressman from Louisiana.

The problem with this missive is that our Representative, Ms Lori Trahan, and her friends, could have prevented the loss of Speaker McCarthy, by voting present or by abstaining from voting, giving Rep McCarthy a majority of those present and voting.  But, no, she helped in Speaker McCarthy's downfall.  She could have done the same thing when Speaker Steve Scalise♠  was nominated for Speaker.  She didn,'t, perhaps for partisan reasons.

So, the House Republicans had to fix their own problem, which they did.  They took a numberf votes to do it, but, in the mean time, the sky didn't fall in.  They are now ready to deal with the President's request for funds for Israejl and Ukraine.  And they have just over three weeks to pass a Federal Budget.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Remember Rep Steve Scalise?  He was the member of the House Republican Baseball Team, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting by Bernie Bro James Hodgkinson, of Belleville, IL

Alternative to Impeachment

For John, BLUF:  We don't need another Impeachment Hearing and Vote, followed by a Senate Trial.  I would like those folks in DC to cut a deal.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Letter to Lori, 28 August 2023

Here is a letter I wrote to my Congresswoman, Lori Trahan:

I was disappointed to hear on the news on Sunday that there is talk of opening an impeachment investigation of President Joseph R Biden.  I think that would be bad for governance and bad for our nation.  This is not to say I believe President Biden was not involved in his Son’s business, but that the best solution would be for him to resign for health reasons.  Then the House, and the Senate, can get down to working important issues for the people, such as dealing with illegal immigration (my rough guesstimate being two million such immigrants a year, and about forty thousand being our Commonwealth’s fair share).

I would like to see the DOJ take Mr Hunter Biden into a safe harbor, with a solid plea deal.  That would give President Biden an opportunity to then step down, knowing his Son is safe.

Then we can all knuckle down to the important work we face.  All of us, Republican and Democrat and others.

I have yet to hear back.

Regards  —  Cliff

Congress, Do Your Job

For John, BLUF:  The US Congress needs to get back into the legislsting mode.  Not just feel good Bills, but substantive ones as well.  If Climate Change is an important issue, the US Congress needs to take a stand.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Congresswoman Trahan's 4th of July Greeting

From Congresswoman Lori Trahan, 4 July 2022 .

Here is the lede plus one:

I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying a happy and safe Fourth of July!

What has always made our nation great is our unending stride toward progress and a more perfect union – a better, fairer nation for our children.  That’s what our parents fought for on our behalf, and it’s what we’ve been working toward for our children.

I expect that Congresswoman Trahan is alluding to the Dobbs decision on Abortion.  However, the decision on West Virginia v EPA is even more important in the long run, in that it says that Congress needs to get back to its job of Legislating.

The Dobbs decision doesn't end abortion in the United States, but does provide freedom to individual State Legislatures to make more local decisions on the issue of abortion.  These United States are diverse and one size does not alays fit everyone.

The key decision, however, demands of Congress that it do its job and legislate?  It is time for the Congresscritters to knuckle down and find solutions that meet our needs and can be passed with some participation from the other party.

Regards  —  Cliff

Contested Races

For John, BLUF:  Dean Tran is someone who might give Republicans a shot at winning the Massachusetts Third Congressional District Seat.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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TRAN VS TRAHAN:  A CHANCE TO END THE MADNESS

Here is the sub-headline:

Former State Senator and Fitchburg City Councilor Seeks Third District Congressional Seat

From IZON GOP, by First Middlesex Mass GOP Committeeman Dennis Galvin, 10 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

In a meeting today with Republican State Committeewoman Kathleen Lynch and Republican State Committeeman Dennis Galvin, former State Senator and Fitchburg City Councilor Dean Tran announced his intention to challenge Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan for the Third Congressional District Seat.  Tran brings energy, experience, organization and fundraising ability to the effort making this race potentially the most competitive in the Commonwealth in 2022.  Tran is a great "nuts and bolts" campaigner, who knows the game and plays hard to win.  He has assembled a great team to fill out his staff, and is poised to offer a formidable challenge to the incumbent.

Pointing to the economic, border and national security disasters of the Biden administration, Tran indicates, that he will try to return some sanity to Washington.  Energy Independence, better security and screening protocols at the border, particularly for Covid19, and improving military readiness, in the face of a rising Communist threat from China are among his top priorities.  Looking at the map, he thinks he has more than an even chance.  The newly reorganized third congressional district now extends from Haverhill to Gardner, and south to Concord Action and Clinton.  Tran is confident that he will be very competitive particularly in the district’s cities of Gardner, Fitchburg, Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill.

Recent polling suggests that Democrats in Congress are in trouble.  Their plans seem to be rooted in a wrong understanding of the economy and what it takes to get it turned around.  There is a good chance that Republicans running for the House and the Senate will offer up ideas that will capture the voters.

This means that local Republicans need to "Get ready to get to work!".

Regards  —  Cliff

Our Rep Voted to Impeach

For John, BLUF:  Our Congresswoman, Lori Trahan, is taking her duties very seriously, and before she voted to Impeach President Trump a Second Time she explained why.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Why I’m voting to impeach

Here is her justification, EMailed yesterday:

Later today, I will vote to impeach Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection.  I believe it’s my obligation to tell you why this step is necessary.

For more than two months, the President has used his platform as the leader of our nation to spread dangerous lies regarding the results of the 2020 presidential election.  He repeatedly used rhetoric designed to divide the American people and rile up his base.  And he even went so far as to pressure Georgia’s Secretary of State into finding votes to overturn their election results.

That alone was a despicable abuse of power.

But he didn’t stop there. President Trump spent weeks telling his supporters to flock to Washington to help overturn the will of the American people on January 6th, and when he addressed the crowd last Wednesday, he told them to go to the United States Capitol and “fight like hell” on his behalf.

Thousands of his supporters descended on the Capitol where they assaulted police officers, vandalized the building, hunted down elected officials they felt were disloyal to the President, and attacked our democracy.  In short, it was a failed insurrection, a failed attempt to overturn your votes and overthrow our government.

As I told you last week, the President bears direct responsibility for the attack and should have resigned that same evening.  Knowing that he would never willingly give up power, Vice President Pence should have invoked the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Since neither the President nor his Vice President are capable of putting the future of our Democracy ahead of their own political ambitions, I will vote today to impeach Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection.

My thoughts are here:

1. I appreciate her openness regarding her Impeachment vote and her sense of duty to tell us.
2. The President has maintained that he won and the election is stolen.  While the Media and Democrats tell us that such allegations are baseless, they don't seem baseless to me.  I am willing to believe that Joe Biden won fair and square, buit my sense is that there was voter fraud and that the use of the term "baseless" is baseless, given some of the things we have seen on video.  We need more nuance.
3. Yes, the President has been telling those who voted for him that there was fraud and yes, he invited them to the Nation's Capitol to demostrate, as is their First Amendment Right.  The President's speech on 6 January didn't call for occupatoin of the Capitol Building.
4. I am not sure about the numbers involved in the occupation of the Capitol Building, but thousands seems a little over the top.  While bad things happened, there were only two deaths, one on each side.  While people feared for their lives, there were no kidnappings or hangings.
5. My understanding of the timeline is that the "assault" on the Capitol began before the President finished speaking on the Ellipse.  It is, per my computer map, 1.4 miles or a 31 minute walk.  What was going down was on track before the President's talk to the crowd on the Ellipse ended.  I don't see the President even casually provoking the actions on Capitol Hill.
6. I support Vice President Pence in his decision to not invoke the 25th Amendment.  The President isn't derranged.

I commend Representative Trahan for her forthrightness and openness, but I think she drew some wrong conclusions from the events surrounding the 6th of January.  Further, I think she acted in haste in voting to Impeach the President.

If, subsequently, the facts show the President did not cause the Occupation of Capitol Hill, how will this Impeachment be walked back?

Regards  —  Cliff

IG Report on FBI and FISA

For John, BLUF:  The DOJ Inspector General finds that the FBI was not able to submit a clean request to the FIsA Court to surveil the Campaign of President Trump in 2016.  What does that tell us about the integrity of presidential campaigns?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New FISA scandal as inspector general reveals EVERY spy warrant he investigated was flawed and some had NO supporting evidence

Here is the sub-headline:

• Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz reveals result of audit of 29 FBI FISA applications to eavesdrop on Americans
• The warrants are issued to allow the FBI to intercept communications of Americans they believe may be working for or unwitting tools of a foreign power
• In four of the 29 FISA applications his office selected for review, the FBI could not produce any supporting documents or records
• 25 applications had supporting documentation but he found 'apparent errors or inadequately supported facts in all' of them
• In some instances, facts stated in the applications were not supported by any documentation
• Other[ ther]s were either not corroborated by the documentation or even inconsistent with it. The watchdog office found an average of about 20 issues per application it reviewed.

From Daily Mail, by the Associated Press, 31 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

The FBI has failed to follow its own policies for ensuring the accuracy of applications it submits to conduct wiretaps in national security investigations, including in some cases by not having documentation to support arguments made to judges, according to a letter released Tuesday.

The findings are on top of problems identified last year by the inspector general's office, which concluded that FBI agents had made significant errors and omissions in applications to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign adviser during the early months of the Russia investigation.

Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureau's surveillance tools should be reined in.

After the Russia report was submitted last December, Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced a broader review of the FBI's spy powers and its applications before the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The question we all have to ask ourselves, and ask our elected representatives down in DC, is to what degree can we trust the FBI, and the larger DOJ, to enforce our laws while still respecting our rights as citizens.

Are you comforted by your Representative, down in DC, in my case, Representative Lori Trahan?  Does the Mueller Report and the Impeachment of President Donald John Trump give you confidence?

We need to speak up on this, in a quiet, but persistent way.  If our our Representatives understand we are talking about this it is likely they will pay attention.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Joe Backs AR5

For John, BLUF:  AR is a California Assembly bill that kills the Gig Economy, the work where people do individual items of work for a variety of organizations, like writing and selling articles to newspapers or being an independent photographer, working for a number of print outlets.  Or Uber.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Steps In It Big Time as He Weighs In on California’s Job-Killing #AB5 Law, Gets Blasted by Voters

from Red State, by Mr Nick Arama, 7 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Joe Biden just weighed in on California’s AB5, the job-killing law that went into effect in January and basically killed countless gig-worker jobs all over the state including such jobs as Uber drivers, entertainers, freelance writers and the like.

Biden has come out in favor of the law which millions have been fighting.  This is a concern not just to California but across the country because the House passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the PRO Act which has language taken from AB5, so if Biden becomes president and a president like Trump isn’t there to block it, it may become law and put millions more out of work.

It’s an incredibly stupid law that will kill freelance work.  They thought that it would force companies to hire workers rather than pay them as independent contractors.  But that would require another level of expense for most companies, especially those just getting by, because then they would be required to do things like provide health insurance and other benefits that they wouldn’t have to now.  So they wouldn’t do that, they simply wouldn’t hire the workers because they wouldn’t be able to afford to.  Or they wouldn’t be able to hire as many and so all those people will lose their jobs.

People on both sides of the aisle have come out against it because it’s something they understand and it can impact and harm so many people.

True, AR5 and its US House equivalent, are job killers.

On the other hand, our local US Representative, Lori Trahan, is all in favor of it.  She brags about it.

Representative Trahan has been invited to the City Life Show, but after a polite promise by staffers to look Ito it, nothing.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not All Immigrants Are Equal

For John, BLUF:  The issue of illegal immigrants has been with us for ever, and isn't getting fixed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Three Al-Qaeda Syrians Arrested in Dallas With Fake Colombian Passports

From The Lid, by Reporters Faye Higbee and Jeff Dunetz, 24 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

Tell me again how we don’t need to do a better job regulating who and how people come into this country.

The latest example that should scare the heck out of you happened in the great state of Texas. While our legislators were concentrating on a fake impeachment trial, three Syrians nationals were arrested in Dallas had counterfeit Colombian passports.  That was the good part.  They are allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda and supposedly entered the US at Dallas, Texas.  The report appears a bit sketchy at this time, due to some differences in who reported what.  None of the reports state precisely where the men were arrested,al-Qaeda Syrians.

The three Stooges, I mean three Syrian nationals, first raised the suspicions of the American authorities when they applied for travel visas from Colombia, as their suspicious documents gave them away.  These potential terrorists were not too smart.  The American authorities detected a fraud when the fake passports’ birth dates failed to match up with the identification numbers used by the Colombian government.

Per Colombian reporter, Luis Carlos Vélez published images of the counterfeit passports on Twitter (below), noting that the men got into Colombia through the La Guajira border crossing with Venezuela.

The inability of the US Congress to come up with effective legislation, to help us screen out the terrorists from the vast crowd of legal immigrant and asylum seekers is breathtaking and appalling.  One hopes that our local Congresswoman, Lori Trahan, soon gets a handle on it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Campaign Financing in Massachusetts

For John, BLUF:  This seems very early to be throwing mud at possible 2020 candidates.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Questions raised about source of late funds that helped carry Rep. Lori Trahan to victory

From The Boston Globe, by Staff Writer Andrea Estes, 13 March 2019.

Here is the lede plus three:

It was just two weeks before the September primary in the state’s third Congressional district, and the latest poll had Lori Trahan in fourth place.

That’s when Trahan poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of new money into her campaign, dramatically increasing her TV advertising from previous weeks. In the closing days of the race, she overtook her rivals, beating second-place finisher Dan Koh by just 122 votes, then going on to easily defeat the Republican candidate in November.

But where did the money for the 11th-hour advertising spree come from?

Trahan has offered vague and conflicting explanations, claiming she tapped personal funds to loan the campaign $371,000 in 2018. However, the financial disclosures Trahan filed during the summer show she didn’t have anywhere near enough money to cover such big loans — mainly, she listed a joint bank account with her husband containing less than $15,001.

My question is, who did our US Rep, Ms Trahan, upset at The Globe, and over what.

Actually, the "what" is the more interesting question.

Regards  —  Cliff