The Progressive Wing

Tip Jar for Benny!

Thank you Benny – I hope you and all the birdies who visit the nest today have a great day!!

Kyrsten Sinema’s Team Suggests Criticism of Her Thumbs-down ‘No’ Vote Is Sexist

When asked for comment about the gesture, Sinema’s spokesperson Hannay Hurley said, according to the Huffington Post: “Commentary about a female senator’s body language, clothing, or physical demeanor does not belong in a serious media outlet.”
However, this spurred more criticism on social media, including by Mona Eltahawy, who writes the Feminist Giant newsletter. “Sinema’s office responded to a question about the (thumbs down) gesture by making the absurd claim that the inquiry is sexist,” she said.

Tbf, it doesn’t sound like Sinema’s spokesperson used the words sexist or sexism, but the implication is obvious.

I appreciate you are in a tough position having to defend such flagrant disdain for the people, but honestly then trying to turn her well deserved push back into some kind of sexism,just adds insult to injury
Not the best strategy
— Michael R. Weinstein, Bookseller #EndTheDuopoly (@fToRrEeEsSt) March 6, 2021

I’m pretty sure that if I’d been working “through the night” a slice of pizza or a breakfast burrito would have been more welcomed than cake. Sinema is either a total ditz or she knew very well how her performance would play out.

https://twitter.com/Leftimus_Prime/status/1368209836870144003

Identity politics sure are convenient for someone who voted to keep working women who are poor in poverty.

When 60% of people trying to survive on the federal minimum wage are women, denying a pay raise to them is absolutely sexist pic.twitter.com/BucpvVrDne
— Shawn Olson 🔥 (@OOOlson) March 6, 2021

Anybody think Mitch McConnell would let a parliamentarian tell him what to do if this were a Republican bill?
— Nick Barnes for Ohio-87 (@BarnesForOhio87) March 6, 2021

More reporting from WaPo:

Democrats also beat back an effort from members of their own party to overturn some of the president’s environmental actions. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) joined with Senate Republicans in pushing an amendment requiring Biden to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which was halted soon after Biden took office. Sanders spoke out against the measure, citing the need to combat climate change. The proposal required 60 votes to be approved but fell short of that threshold, 51 to 48.
Many of the amendment votes could have ended with 50-50 votes in the evenly divided Senate, requiring Vice President Harris to break multiple ties — including when time comes to vote on final passage of the legislation. However, one GOP senator, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, was absent because he had to return to his home state to attend a family funeral. As a result, multiple amendments went down on 50-49 votes with no ties to break.

Sen. McConnell Prepping for Possible Senate Exit, Plans to Strip Power of Dem. Gov. to Replace Him

The Intercept reports Mitch McConnell has prepared a short list of candidates to succeed him as Kentucky senator, in the event he does not serve out his full term. Normally, Kentucky’s governor — in this case, Democrat Andy Beshear — would appoint a replacement, but Republicans are pushing legislation in the Kentucky General Assembly that would strip him of that power. At the top of McConnell’s list is state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is facing calls for impeachment over his mishandling of Breonna Taylor’s case. Taylor was the young EMT who was killed by police in a no-knock raid of her home last March

from The Intercept:

The list is topped by his protégé, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and also includes former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, whose billionaire coal magnate husband is a major McConnell donor, as well as Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a former McConnell Scholar.

This seems slightly corrupt..

The new legislation, Senate Bill 228 — dubbed by some inside the state Legislature as the Daniel Cameron Election Bill — was filed on February 10, 2021, during the Kentucky General Assembly’s 30-day “short” session. The bill alters current state statute that allows the governor to appoint a replacement in the event of a vacancy to the U.S. Senate. If the bill becomes law, the appointment to fill a vacancy will be selected from a list of three names submitted by the state executive committee of the same political party as the senator who held the vacant seat.

The legislation is currently before the state Senate and then would need to pass the House. Beshear, the Democratic governor, is reportedly opposed to the bill, but Republicans have held veto-proof majorities in both chambers since 2017.

Inspector general: Ethics questions prompted criminal referral involving Elaine Chao

I heard this had to do with his health but I think not. I suspect it’s more related to this.

The Transportation Department’s deputy inspector general said a “formal investigation into potential misuses of [former Secretary Elaine Chao’s] position was warranted,” after finding evidence of possible ethics violations, according to a report made public on Wednesday.
The IG found multiple “potential ethics concerns arising from the actions of the Secretary and Office of the Secretary (OST) staff under her direction,” the investigators wrote, adding that Chao used the department’s staff time “for tasks for the Secretary that appear to be personal in nature.” Such requests include:
Asking staff to contact the Department of Homeland Security about the status of a work permit for a student who benefited from her family’s philanthropic foundation.
Making “extensive plans” to include family members in events during an official trip to China in November 2017 that was ultimately canceled, per a House committee press release on the IG report.
Directing staff to support her father, in marketing his biography and editing his Wikipedia page. She allegedly instructed two staffers to send a copy of his book to a “well-known CEO of a major U.S. corporation (which is not regulated by DOT).”

I suspect that you are right. The misuses being investigated don’t seem like that much of a big a deal to me, tbh, but I’d bet that there are more serious abuses of power in there if they keep digging.

She’s been at it since the reign of the Bushes. I guess she’s starting to slip in her old age.

wi62

To quote Yoda as far as the turtle’s concerned
“Always two there are, no more no less. A master and an apprentice.”
So whom does the turtle have set up to take his place?

dubbed by some inside the state Legislature as the Daniel Cameron Election Bill

At the top of McConnell’s list is state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is facing calls for impeachment over his mishandling of Breonna Taylor’s case.

Certainly doesn’t sound very bipartisan-y! Why do Dems always go on about bipartisanship all the time while Repugs so whatever the hell they want?

Cos a lot of so-called “Democrats” are closet GOPukes, and every bit as corrupt!💩

“Slightly corrupt”? Mitch MCConnell? That yahoo is the epitome of corrupt! 💩💩

polarbear4

we have to change the gerrymanders that Republicans put in.

Equal Rights Amendment Can’t Be Ratified, Judge Rules, but Case Could Head to Supreme Court

In August 2020, the attorneys general of Illinois, Nevada and Virginia filed a lawsuit asking the court to allow the ERA to be added to the Constitution, despite missing its original deadline. The states claimed that National Archivist David Ferriero should have allowed it to be added to the Constitution after Virginia ratified it.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled against their request.
A judge has ruled that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) can no longer be ratified by states because its original deadline for ratification has passed. However, the case could head to the Supreme Court. In this March 22, 2012 photo, a woman holds up a sign as members of Congress and representatives of women’s groups hold a rally to mark the 40th anniversary of congressional passage of the ERA outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington,
“Plaintiffs’ ratifications came after both the original and extended deadlines that Congress attached to the ERA, so the Archivist is not bound to record them as valid,” Contreras wrote in his 37-page ruling.
If the states appeal his ruling, the case could end up at the Supreme Court. It’s uncertain whether the nation’s highest court would accept the case or how the conservative-leaning court might rule on it.
Supporters of the ERA say that it is still necessary for the U.S. Constitution to have specific language affirming equal rights on the basis of sex.
Despite federal laws banning sex-based discrimination based, the pro-ERA website EqualRightsAmendment.org states that these laws can be differently interpreted in courts. As such, a lack of an explicit amendment leaves women to fight long, costly court battles to ensure they receive the same civil rights and legal protections given to men.

Birdies, is the current Equality Act in the House covering only LGBTQ rights?

jcitybone

Yes

The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It would also substantially expand the areas to which those discrimination protections apply.

So straight women would still be excluded from this bill?

@Sen_JoeManchin thinks raising the price of epipens 500% is perfectly fine but takes issue with feeding and protecting kids
— Jamie Cappelli (@jamescappelli) March 6, 2021

Texas Grid Operator ERCOT Overcharged by $16 Billion After February Winter Storm

Texas’s power grid operator ERCOT overcharged customers by $16 billion during last month’s historic winter storm that caused power outages across the state, according to a watchdog filing. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which sets the price of electricity, kept the emergency surge pricing in place for 33 hours longer than needed. In related news, the president and CEO of ERCOT, Bill Magness, was fired Wednesday amid the ongoing fallout.

Oil and gas interests left to “self-regulate” in aftermath of winter storm as Texas politicians pile on to ERCOT

Unfortunately, this won’t get fixed unless Greg Abbott and his RR commissioner, James Wright are voted out.

After being battered by withering criticism of its management of the power grid during last month’s winter storm, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas saw several of its board members resign and fired its CEO. The chair of the Public Utility Commission, which oversees the grid operator, was forced to resign.
The political fallout from the long-lasting Texas power outages have hit both entities hard after Gov. Greg Abbott blamed ERCOT’s leadership for the near-collapse of the electric grid and made its reform a legislative priority, and state lawmakers hammered the PUC for what they called a failure of oversight.
Yet politically powerful natural gas companies, along with their regulators, appear so far to have escaped the wrath of the governor and the Legislature.
From the natural gas wellheads in West Texas to the power plants that burn gas to generate electricity to the companies that deliver power to Texans, multiple systems failed during the storm and made what should have been a mild inconvenience into a statewide crisis, executives, regulators, lawmakers and experts said.
At the height of the crisis, nearly half the grid’s total power generation capacity was offline as weather conditions caused failures in every type of power source: natural gas, coal, wind and nuclear.
“The entire energy sector failed Texas,” Mauricio Gutierrez, CEO of NRG Energy Inc., a large Houston-based power generation company, said solemnly during his testimony last week to Texas lawmakers. “We must do better.”
More than 25,000 megawatts of natural gas generation, enough to power 5 million Texas homes, went down, along with around 17,000 megawatts of wind generation, according to ERCOT. Natural gas is the largest source of generation on Texas’ grid, especially during the winter. This season, the Texas grid was expected to rely on “thermal sources,” which are mostly natural gas, for at least 80% of its power when demand is high, according to ERCOT’s winter forecast.
Yet as lawmakers grilled agency heads and demanded accountability — and resignations — during two days of hearings last week, leaders of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural gas production and transportation in Texas, were not asked to resign. Lawmakers spent relatively little time questioning natural gas production and transportation executives.

Birdies, here’s the Hateful 8 (TYT is calling those 8 Dems who voted against the $15):

Here are the eight scumbag Democrats who just voted for tens of millions of people to keep making poverty wages https://t.co/ZbnE2ukQmj
— Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) March 5, 2021

And from now on, I will refer to them as the Hateful 8. Tyt uses that meme based on a Tarantino movie title from a few years ago.

Thanks @VanJones68 for noticing the power of @TheYoungTurks audience and the progressive base in the fight to save the $15 #minimumwage as part of the #CovidReliefBill #tytlive #fightfor15 #DontKillitBernie #SaveUsKamala #TheHatefulEight pic.twitter.com/cAzfVPBlcV
— The Young Turks (@TheYoungTurks) March 6, 2021

I imagine that some vitreol will go TYT’s way as from what I hear we’re not allowed to criticize Democrats.

https://twitter.com/RomeUnholy/status/1368187316758577152

Mike Lee is introducing an amendment to limit the Expansion of ACA. Actually I agree with this, as I want to see it thrown out of the bill. However, there aren’t the votes to pass it. One of the senators from AK had to leave to attend a funeral back in his state.

I might add, the absence of the AK senator has saved the presiding officer from having to break ties on votes. All of the GOP amendments are getting voted down, although all of them have stuck together on their votes, which tells me that Schumer was woefully inadequate in keeping his troops together.

Schumer is a corrupt wuss to start with! LBJ, he ain’t!

I don’t quite understand why he didn’t introduce it anyway, or why there wasn’t any horse trading, such as $14 per hour and over 4 years, rather than no increase at all.

Yah, I don’t understand, that’s for sure. The whole thing is bumming me out.

Cruz is offering an amendment to bar undocumented immigrants from getting stimulus checks. Durbin is not pleased and won't even look at Cruz as they debate. This was approved last time
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 6, 2021

Durbin slammed him good on this one, rightfully pointing out this was not true because undocumented workers often do not have SS numbers.

If nothing else comes out of this, at least people are talking about raising the minimum wage more than I’ve heard, maybe ever.

But we need to do more than talk about it obviously.

•
Raising the minimum wage increases consumer spending and boosts the economy. A $2.55 increase in the minimum wage would increase the earnings of low-wage workers by $40 billion and result in a significant increase in GDP and employment
•https://t.co/BdakE6vsVF
— RW (@Rob_AirOne) March 6, 2021

Yeah, but nothing will happen unless the Squad speaks up in conference for reconciling differences in the two versions.

To the Squad & others calling out the 8 Democrats, you‘ll withhold your vote for the covid relief bill until $15 min wage is back in right?#OurSurvivalAtStake #FightFor15
— Jen Perelman (@JENFL23) March 6, 2021

oldtown61

So . . . what’s AOC gonna do NOW? from WayOfTheBern

3) The Senate is expected to approve the bill on a party line vote, 50-49. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is out because his father-in-law passed away. This means Vice President Harris won’t be needed to break the tie.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 6, 2021

7) Next week’s House debate between liberals and moderates should be fascinating. Do they stick together?
And remember: It’s about the math. It’s about the math. It’s about the math.
Democrats can only lose four votes on their side and still pass the bill in the House.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 6, 2021

I wish the Squad would stand up and say no when the bill returns to them and demand the minimum wage be raised.

Forget $15 an Hour — the Minimum Wage Should Be $24

That would truly be epic.

We must keep demanding the whole loaf if we’re to even get any crumbs!

Democrats can now try to pass a stand-alone increase in regular order over a GOP filibuster, but that would require all of the Democratic senators and 10 Republicans, which is difficult to imagine. They could also change Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster, something that seems equally unlikely.
So for the moment, it appears that America’s worst-paid workers have been abandoned yet again by the federal government. But let’s not pretend this isn’t a choice we’re making. Any time we want, we can choose to get back on the path to a different, fairer, better country.

With all due respect, given the inane GOP amendments keeping everyone up all night, @SenSanders should introduce an amendment for a minimum wage of $14.99, then work on an agreement.
— Benny🌹 (@Benny06) March 6, 2021

Removed.

You beat me to it 😉

I’m going to keep mine in too for that awesome snippet at the end, if you don’t mind?

let’s not pretend this isn’t a choice we’re making. Any time we want, we can choose to get back on the path to a different, fairer, better country.

https://twitter.com/RomeUnholy/status/1368187316758577152

Why did you remove that article?

Former president Fox expects Mexico to pass landmark cannabis bill next week

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Friday he expected Congress to pass its new law to legalize cannabis next week, a move that would effectively create one of the world’s largest weed markets.
The bill, backed by the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, would mark a major shift in a country bedeviled for years by violence between feuding drug cartels.
Fox, a director at Colombian-Canadian Khiron Life Sciences which focuses on cannabis for medical use, has been a long-standing advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana in Mexico.

As much as I welcome this news, it seems like the control will just shift from illegal drug cartels to legal capitalist drug cartels. Hopefully physical violence will decrease on the streets at least. But the illegal drug cartels make their money off of harder drugs.

Lopez Obrador has argued that decriminalizing cannabis and other narcotics could help combat Mexico’s powerful drug cartels.
Fox said he wants to create a marijuana greenhouse and a laboratory where the plant will be studied at his Fox Center in Mexico.
“I’m convinced legalization of marijuana is the first step towards the legalization of all prohibited products,” he said.

Ha ha ha. Joe Manchin is supporting an amendment to reallocate funds for homeless kids are having trouble staying in school. He admitted there are 10,000 homeless in WV. The bill passed, but it goes back to the fact that he would rather use government money as one time subsidies rather than raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour to earn their way out of poverty,

#Hateful8