And My Repug Congressman is a Putin-fellating Traitor

Speaking of I Got Mine Fuck You billionaires, Thomas Massie is far worse than just a selfish, piece of shit libertarian.

He's playing treason with the trumpies.

From Think Progress:

For most of the last decade, former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) held the title of the most Kremlin-friendly member of the House of Representatives. But with Rohrabacher’s loss in his reelection bid last year, a new contender has laid claim to the crown.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), first elected to represent Kentucky’s 4th District in 2012, may not be as bombastic as Rohrabacher or have as many colorful anecdotes about drunkenly arm-wrestling Russian President Vladimir Putin as the former California congressman. But he’s distinguished himself in the House for pushing and voting for Russia-friendly measures, time and again.

Massie did not respond to ThinkProgress’ request for an interview.

Widely considered one of the most prominent libertarian members of Congress, the Kentucky congressman made news last month as one of the few Republicans to vote against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration, describing Trump’s national emergency plans as “overreach.” 

But despite his recent vote against the president’s pet project, Massie has taken plenty of opportunities to lavish praise on Trump, from backing the president’s abrupt foreign policy decisions — including when Trump unexpectedly announced American troops would be leaving Syria — to claiming that Trump “probably saved the GOP from itself” when the president signed the 2017 tax bill.

Most notably, Massie has taken steps to slow criticism of Russia, as well as deflect questions about the Trump campaign’s relationship with Russia, along the way.

Massie has regurgitated many of the conspiracy theories Trump has pushed to discredit the ongoing Mueller investigation. He has repeated the baseless claim that the FBI secretly spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign, playing up the evidence-free notion that the campaign’s attempts at Russian collusion were, in reality, traps laid by the Obama administration.

There’s no evidence the Obama administration attempted to trick the Trump campaign into colluding with Russian agents, but it’s a line Trump routinely pushes to distract from questions about his own ties with Russia. In an editorial following Massie’s statement, the Lexington Herald Leader wrote that Massie’s “feverish parroting of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims” was “disturbing.”

It’s unclear whether Massie believes Russia interfered in the 2016 election, even though America’s own intelligence community, along with any number of journalists and academics, has thoroughly established those interference efforts.

In a 2017 survey of Cincinnati-area politicians, The Cincinnati Enquirer asked whether they accepted the intelligence community’s assessment that Russian hackers stole Democratic emails in order to aid Trump’s election. According to the Enquirer, Massie “did not directly answer,” but later in the interview claimed the investigation into Russia’s hacking was “a political effort to de-legitimize the incoming administration,” a line often peddled by the president himself.

Read the whole disgusting thing.

Fuckhead student blames Native Elder; repug rep Massie "proud" of racist assholes

What else did you expect?

Entitled little shit spews lies:

A statement has been issued by a student who said he was the youth “confronted by a Native American protestor” in a widely circulated video that provoked intense criticism of Covington Catholic High School over students’ treatment of the elder American Indian.

The backlash against the school was severe and continued Sunday. The Covington Diocese and the school have condemned the students’ behavior, apologized to the Native American and said they were investigating. The incident occurred in Washington D.C. where the students had traveled for a rally.

Nathan Phillips, the Native American standing opposite Sandmann in the video, gave his own account of the events in an interview with the Associated Press. 

The following is the complete statement issued by Nick Sandmann, a junior at Covington Catholic:

I am providing this factual account of what happened on Friday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial to correct misinformation and outright lies being spread about my family and me. 

I am the student in the video who was confronted by the Native American protestor.

And it gets worse.  Definitely auditioning for the Pumpkin Traitor's next Supreme Court appointment.

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article224846990.html#storylink=cpy

Billionaire shit shows own racist ass:

Rep. Thomas Massie came to the defense Sunday evening of the students from Covington Catholic High School who were involved in a confrontation with a Native American man this weekend in Washington, D.C.

The Kentucky's 4th District representative, which includes Northern Kentucky where Covington Catholic is located, tweeted that after watching "over an hour" of video on the incident, he believed the students were there participate in the March for Life and got a "brutal lesson in the unjust court of public opinion and social media mobs."

"I urge everyone to watch the other videos before passing judgement. Would you have remained that composed at that age under those circumstances?" he said on Twitter.

Massie added that it was his honor "to represent them."

Of course the MAGA bully was "composed"; he was the one committing the intimidation.

KY Repug Rep. to Federal Employees: Fuck Off and Die in the Gutter

Massie's a billionaire and a libertarian.  If a few thousand federal employees get thrown into the street in the middle of winter because of a missed check, he probably thinks they deserve it for failing to save a couple of million dollars out of their minimum wage income.

From the Courier:

But U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was among the handful of House members who voted against guaranteeing those furloughed workers get paid.

The five other members of Kentucky's congressional delegation — Republicans James Comer, Brett Guthrie, Hal Rogers and Andy Barr and Democrat John Yarmuth — voted in favor of the legislation.

"I don’t believe anyone should be required to work without pay and I would have voted to pay all of those affected by this current shutdown," Massie said in an emailed statement to the Courier Journal.

Yeah, that's a lie.  Billionaire, libertarian, repug = motherfucking liar.  And of course he's cashing his own congressional paycheck.

In previous shutdowns, Congress has quickly approved legislation to provide back pay after the government reopened. 

But Massie said his objections to this bill were because it guarantees payment for employees affected by any future closures. He said that would "only make it easier for politicians to cause future shutdowns. This is irresponsible and I want to prevent future shutdowns from happening."

Column: Kentucky lawmakers should give up their pay during government shutdown

Those representing federal workers in the region took offense with Massie's vote, however.

"It is completely despicable that he would vote against that measure to grant back pay to the federal employees affected by the shutdown," said Victoria Martin, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1438, which represents most of the roughly 1,700 U.S. Census Bureau workers in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

This Dem Candidate Should Be Challenging Massie Instead of Barr

C'mon, Lt. Colonel: Candy is a pushover.  Don't you want a challenge?  You grew up in the 4th District, the District that Thomas Massie is making into a national laughingstock for electing and re-electing him. Take him down.

From the Herald:

A combat fighter pilot who grew up in Northern Kentucky might run for U.S. Rep. Andy Barr’s seat, according to CNHI News. 

Marine Lt. Col. Amy McGrath, a fighter pilot, former congressional aide and instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy has expressed interest in the race to Kentucky Democratic Party Chairwoman Sannie Overly.

“I can confirm that Col. McGrath is considering the race,” Overly told CNHI news. “I’m impressed with the caliber of the potential candidates, including Col. McGrath.”

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article147356464.html#storylink=cpy

SNIP

After flying 85 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, McGrath served as foreign policy adviser to U.S. Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, according to CNHI news. 

“She has been a trailblazer,” Davis told CNHI news. “She is not intimidated, so being a woman in the Congress would not intimidate her. She’s had far more difficult assignments.”

Candy's a punk, but Massie's a motherfucker. Go get him, Colonel.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article147356464.html#storylink=cpy

Thomas Massie Is Still Not Your Friend

He's voting against the Obamacare repeal today, but not because he wants you to have good health coverage.  He's voting against the Obamacare repeal because he wants only rich people to have health coverage. 

He wants you to die suffering and starving in a ditch. 

Down with Tyranny:

One firm NO vote is Thomas Massey, a Libertarian-leaning independent thinker from Kentucky. He says he knows over 35 Republicans against it and he feels they can force Ryan to raise the white flag and repeal ObamaCare without replacing it. "This is worse than Obamacare," he told the media, "and we’re going to own it. We’re going to own it lock, stock and barrel." He tweeted jokingly that he had changed his vote late yesterday, sending out this as a tweet:

KY Repug Reps Too Scared to Face Constituents

All over the country, people are turning out by the thousand to demand their representatives do their fucking jobs, but we can't do that in Kentucky because all of our piece of shit repug congress critters are hiding under their beds, sniveling and shitting themselves in terror because a bunch of elderly, obese, disabled voters might ask them questions.

Brand-new First District Rep James Comer: ZERO Town Halls

Old Second District Rep. Brett Guthrie:  ZERO Town Halls

Hypocritical Fourth District Rep. Thomas Massie:  ZERO Town Halls

REALLY Old Fifth District Rep. Hal Rogers:  ZERO Town Halls

Smarmy Sixth District Rep. Candy Barr:  ZERO Town Halls

Only Democratic Third District Rep. John "Congressman Awesome" John Yarmuth is showing his face in public.

Now we happen to be personally acquainted with some of Yarmuth's more politically involved constituents, and we can testify that they know how to get loud and rowdy at elected officials.  And we have also seen Yarmuth in action facing those loud and rowdy crowds, and the man does not back down.  He knows that his job is to represent his constituents and show them respect because he works for them.  Unlike Comer, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers and Barr, Yarmuth is not afraid of the people who elected him.

No, KY Rep Thomas Massie Does Not Want to Save Your Health Insurance

He's just a libertarian asshole who hates all government spending that is not tax breaks for rich people. He's no different from the four other KY repugs who voted to kill 32 million Americans, including about 400,000 Kentuckians.

When the bill itself came up a few minutes later, it passed 227-198, all the Democrats voting against it and 9 Republicans voting with them, mostly because they said it was promoting a budget that would never be balanced. So far-- it's still early in the process-- the Republicans who won't have ads running against them in 2018 talking about how they kicked millions of people off healthcare are Justin Amash (MI), Charlie Dent (PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), John Katko (NY), Walter Jones (NC), Raul Labrador (ID), Tom MacArthur (NJ), Thomas Massie (KY) and Tom McClintock (CA).

Sold Down the River

Yeah, all you Kentucky coal county folks who voted 90 percent for a corrupt game-show host, his repug buddies in Congress are now killing your union health care and retirement.  Stop acting surprised.  Hillary Clinton and all us commie muslin terrist feminazi faggots have been telling you so for months.

Charlie Pierce:

... the (repug) elves in the Congress are busy, busy, busy selling out the Rust Belt suckers to whom, if the guilt-ridden elite political media is to be believed, we all owe a cookie for the next decade. First up, the coal miners! From the MetroNews in West Virginia:

The Miners Protection Act to address health and pension benefits for coal miners and their families will not be included in a continuing resolution bill, according to a Tuesday announcement. Congress said the bill, which would continue to fund the federal government, only has four months of funding for those retired miners and their widows. Cecil Roberts, international president of the United Mine Workers of America, called the announcement "a slap in the face to all 22,000 of them who desperately need their health care next month, next year and for the rest of their lives."

But, wait, isn't West Virginia represented in the Senate by that highly influential Democrat, Joe Manchin, who's been running around telling every camera crew inside the Beltway that that his party has to get right with the workin' man? Yeah, he's got the juice, no question.

Approximately 12,500 retired union miners and the widows of retirees stand to lose their pension and health care benefits across the nation

And those stalwart Kentucky defenders of Big Coal - which will benefit enormously from the ass-fuck, as opposed to the actual coal miners, AKA the ass-fuckees -  Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Representatives Hal Rogers, Thomas Massie, Brett Guthrie, Andy Barr and Ed Whitfield, repugs all, voted for the ass-fucking then refused to face the voters they just ass-fucked.

Folks, you're being sold down the river. I feel for you because selling you down the river is not good for the country. It never was. It is not immigrants who are selling you down the river. It is not minorities who are selling you down the river. It is not LGBTQ folks who are selling you down the river. Please remember all of that when you wake up pissed that you're, you know, down the river. If you look around the table and can't figure out who the mark is…

KY Reps Already Voted to Kill Medicare

The House took a vote last year to "privatize" (translation: destroy) Medicare.  Kentucky's only congressional Democrat, Congressional Awesome John Yarmuth, of course voted no.  Hal Rogers, Ed "I live in Florida" Whitfield, Candy Barr and Brett Guthrie all voted to let their elderly constituents die in the street. Thomas Massie voted no, probably because it was part of a budget bill and he claims to hate all spending.

From TPM:

Here's our write up from 2015 when the Ryan budget blueprint passed for the fifth time.

Like previous proposals by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the new plan by House Budget Chair Tom Price (R-GA) transforms Medicare after 10 years into a market exchange (which bears many similarities to Obamacare) where seniors receive a federal subsidy to buy insurance from a menu of options. 

The menu includes private insurance plans and the option of staying in traditional Medicare. Like Ryan's proposal last year, it does not impose a cap on how much Medicare is allowed to spend per beneficiary, a GOP budget aide said. It is a response to criticism that the "premium support" structure could lead to high out-of-pocket costs that make coverage unaffordable for seniors.

The budget passed by a vote of 219 to 208. All 219 were Republicans, all but 26 members of the GOP caucus. Did your Rep vote for it? Easy enough to find out. Here's the roll call. For all 219 of them, they've already voted for the plan. They know about it because they voted for it. So no one can wriggle out of saying they don't know about it or there's no plan or they haven't announced a position yet. They already voted for it - at least if they're among the 219 who voted for it.

The only question is whether they plan to vote on it again now that Obama's veto pen is out of the way.

So TPM asked its readers to call their congress critters and ask.

Andy Barr is a loud and proud Fuck You, Sixth District old people.

Thomas Massie leads the Cowardly Caucus, refusing to respond to constituent questions.

Apparently no one has called Yarmuth, Guthrie or Rogers (Whitfield finally closed his 10-year one-man show "I live in Florida but get paid to represent Western Kentucky people about whom I don't give a shit.  Hahaha, what morons they keep voting for me.")

Massie Brags About Vote To Make Sure You Die Gruesomely

Because that's what the REINS Act does:  mandates the removal of all federal regulations preventing e coli in hamburgers, and exploding car gas tanks, and collapsing construction equipment, and falling elevators, and typhoid-infused drinking water, and flesh-eating bacteria in hospitals, and electrical fires in office buildings and failing brakes in 18-wheelers barrelling down on school buses and ever other kind of horrific "accident" that repugs don't give a flying fuck that kills or maims you.

“Excessive regulation stifles economic growth, hurts small businesses, and raises consumer prices,” said Congressman Massie. “It is vital that Congress act to reduce our regulatory burden, which raises consumer prices, reduces wages, and costs jobs," Massie was quoted in a press release.

The motherfucking liar is lying about fucking his mother. Again.

Down with Tyranny:

Only two "Democrats"-- both right-wing Blue Dogs, Henry Cuellar and Collin Peterson-- voted for the Republicans' REIN Act (HR 427) Tuesday afternoon. Todd Young (R-IN) was the chief sponsor, but the enthusiasm among Republicans was huge-- 171 cosponsors. It passed 243-165.

Ted Lieu, an active duty Air Force Reserve officer was in California on official business and couldn't vote. But he explained to his constituents why he opposes the bill, which he termed:

a radical, potentially unconstitutional House Republican-authored bill that guts the ability of federal agencies to establish rules protecting food safety, clear air, clean water and other crucial common-sense safeguards. The Reins Act is strongly opposed by a broad range of consumer, health, environmental, labor, scientific, and public interest groups.

 They don't call 'em "e. coli republicans" for nothing.

KY's Congress Repugs Voted to Hide Altered Food From You

The real issue here is not food safety, but food supply.  GMO crops are corporate possessions; farmers cannot save seeds for next year's crop, but must buy new seeds every year from Monsanto.  GMO put one of the planet's most toxic and despicable corporations in control of the entire world's food supply.

Regardless of whether genetically-modified organisms in food are dangerous to human health, they are absolutely lethal to the food supply and the ability of farmers to maintain sustainable crops.

But four of Kentucky's six representatives don't give a flying fuck about that.

Only Democrat John Yarmuth of Louisville and repug/teabagger Thomas Massie of Northern Kentucky voted to prevent Monsanto from sneaking unlabeled GMOs into our food.

Repugs Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie, Hal Rogers and Andy Barr all voted to take control of the nation's food supply away from farmers and consumers and give it to giant corporations.

Down with Tyranny:

This is a relatively simple issue. Food activists want to see potentially dangerous GMO food labeled so that consumers can make up their own minds about whether or not to feed it to their families. Monsanto and the GMO-Republicans, led by the Koch brother's Mike Pompeo (R-KS), want to make sure that there is no labeling and that the states that have already passed labeling laws to protect their citizens-- Connecticut, Maine and Vermont-- are over-ruled. I guess the concepts of states' rights and small government are trumped in GOP minds when their Big Business allies squawk loud enough! The bill passed (last week) 275-150. 

Fake Libertarian Massie's Got His Hand Up Your Vagina Just Like All the Other Freakazoids

Northern Kentucky repug congress critter Thomas Massie loves to flash his teabagger, faux-libertarian creds: He has a solar-powered-house!  That runs his electric car!  He's hip and with-it!

Unless you're poor, black, gay, muslim ... or female.

Digby:

Yeah, sure those culture wars are definitely over:

The House on Wednesday voted to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, approving a revised version of a bill that Republican leaders abruptly pulled in January amid objections from some of their own members.

The measure passed in a 242-to-184 vote, with one member voting present. The bill dropped a provision in the original version that would have required women who became pregnant through rape to report their assault to law enforcement authorities to be eligible for an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Under the new bill, such women would have to receive counseling or medical treatment at least 48 hours before having an abortion. In cases involving minors, abortion providers would have to alert the authorities for the girls’ protection. The bill, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would also make it easier to sue a noncompliant abortion provider.

“No matter how it is shouted down, or what distortions, deceptive what-ifs, distractions, diversions, gotchas, twisting of words, changing the subject or blatant falsehoods the abortion industry hurls at this bill and its supporters,” said Representative Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who introduced the measure, “this bill is a deeply sincere effort, beginning at their sixth month of pregnancy, to protect both mothers and their pain-capable unborn babies from the atrocity of late-term abortion on demand.”

Thank you daddy for protecting women from themselves.

Meanwhile, with their hands firmly implanted in women's vaginas, they went on to denounce big government and federal interference in their wallets.

Kentucky's Gravity-Deniers in Congress: Paul, McConnell, Massie, Whitfield

They are gravity-deniers because denying the global warming that is on the verge of literally destroying human civilization is the intellectual equivalent of denying gravity.  And far worse morally.

Kentucky's four corrupt pieces of shit have received more than $3.7 million from the dirty-energy industry.  But the incentives they get are irrelevant to the deaths they have cause and are causing by their denialism.

Here are the Commonwealth's morons/liars:

KENTUCKY

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04): Rep. Thomas Massie challenged President Obama to roll out the proof that humans have played a hand in climate change. Massie said he was “disappointed” that the president in his second inaugural address blamed droughts on “human activity” and accused some of “denying the evidence of scientists,” the Washington Times reported. “As somebody with a science-type background, I took offense at that,” Mr. Massie said during a panel meeting billed as “Conversations With Conservatives.” “I would challenge him to show us the linkage — the undeniable linkage — between droughts and the change of weather, and some kind of human activity.” [Washington Times Inside Politics Blog, 1/22/13]

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY-01): “Misrepresenting scientific research to support one’s own personal beliefs, particularly on an international stage, is dangerous, disingenuous and simply unacceptable. I call on Mr. [Al] Gore to come clean about the real science surrounding climate change and let the American people come to their own conclusions on global warming.” [Whitfield Website, 12/15/09]

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “For everybody who thinks it’s warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn’t.” More recently, when asked whether he agreed that human activity was driving climate change, McConnell responded, “I’m not a scientist.” [Cincinnati Inquirer, 3/7/14; ThinkProgress, 10/3/14]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “I think that scientific debate should not be dumbed down to politics. I think this debate has become so dumbed down beyond belief. The Earth is 4.54 [billion] or 4.6 billion years old. Anybody who’s ever studied any geology knows that over periods of time, long periods of time, that the climate changes, mmkay? I’m not sure anybody exactly knows why. But we have twenty-, thirty-, hundred-thousand sort of year cycles that go on with the climate. It has been much warmer than it is today. We have real data [for] about 100 years. So somebody tell me what 100 years data is in an Earth that is 4.6 billion years old? My guess is that the conclusions you make from that are not conclusive.” [Huffington Post, 4/23/14]

Massie Determined to Embarrass KY Even More Than AynRandy Does

All you need to know here is that there are good reasons why Juanita Jean illustrates her many posts on Louie Gohmert with a photoshop of Louie with a fly wandering out of his empty brainpan.

Louie Gohmert has a website for his speaker of the house race, y’all.

You simply can’t miss it.

And, y’all, so far he has one endorsement.  One.  Why, that’s practically … well, one.

Gohmert is the congress critter who once live on teevee accused the U.S. Attorney General of "casting aspersions on my asparagus."

No one has dared asked what Louie meant by that.

All Five KY House Repugs Voted Against Fixing the VA

Mitchei-poo and the Tribble-Toupeed One both voted for the bill in the Senate, but Ed Whitfield (R-KY1), Brett Guthrie (R-KY2), Thomas Massie (R-KY4), Hal Rogers (R-KY6) and Andy Barr (R-KY6)* voted against it.

John Yarmuth (D-KY3) of course voted in favor of fixing the VA so Kentucky's 339,000 veterans can get timely healthcare.

When campaign season ramps back up after Labor Day, don't let Whitfield, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers or Barr get away with claiming they give a flying fuck about helping veterans, because that vote proves they don't.

Down with Tyranny:

Almost every Senate Republican-- even extremist obstructionists like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Richard Burr-- followed Bernie Sanders' lead last month to pass a bill to address the sordid situation at the V.A. It passed 93-3 with the only dissections (sic) from mentally unstable right-wingers Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (R-KKK) and Bob Corker (R-TN).

The House Republicans can't quite get their shit together on the whole V.A. mess they've been desperately trying to turn into a talking point. Talking points are a lot easier for them than actually doing anything. So, Thursday evening they failed to pass a motion to instruct their conferees to agree to the original, bipartisan Senate-passed V.A. overhaul. It failed by 2 votes, 207-205, only 13 Republicans with the guts to stand up to the Tea party sociopaths and obstructionists. Every Democrat voted "yes" and the 13 Republicans were a gaggle of relatively mainstream conservatives (or Members in fear of losing in November) 

* On the second vote on Friday, Barr switched his vote to yes.

What Part of This Repug Platform Do Your Repug Candidates Agree With?

Mitch McConnell, Andy Barr, Thomas Massie, Ed Whitfield, Hal Rogers, Brett Guthrie - do they support this perfect expression of the repug id or not? Make them answer.

What about your state house and senate candidates? Make them answer, too.

Charlie Pierce:

John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell, and especially obvious anagram Reince Priebus, who nominally presides over Bedlam, need to be asked every day which parts of the Texas Republican platform they support and which parts they don't. They don't get to use the crazies to get elected and then hide behind fake Washington politesse when the howls from the hinterlands get too loud. We allow ourselves only two major political parties. One of them is completely out of its fcking mind. This is a national problem.

SNIP

If you want to see the clearest symptoms of the prion disease that has devoured the brain of the Republican party, the state Republican party is your Patient Zero. And, before a whole bunch of people in the Beltway media playpen  begin minimizing this craziness because it pretty much shatters the whole idea of Both Sides Doing It without which most of those people can't get out of bed in the morning. This isn't four guys in camo in Idaho. This isn't a guy broadcasting on a short-wave from upper Michigan, or receiving the truth about chemtrails and the Illuminati through his teeth. This is the Republican party representing the state from which he got our last Republican president, and one of the biggest states in the Union. This is what it believes, as summed up with realit-based parentheticals by Hendrik Hertzberg at The New Yorker:

Let's proceed to policy. In the next of its forty pages, the platform demands, among other things: That the Texas Legislature should nullify-indeed, "ignore, oppose, refuse, and nullify"-federal laws it doesn't like. (Unmentioned is the fact that, beginning in 1809, the Supreme Court has steadfastedly rejected state nullification of federal laws.); That when it comes to "unelected bureaucrats"-i.e., pretty much the entire federal work force above the janitorial level-Congress should "defund and abolish these positions."; That the Seventeenth Amendment, which was adopted in 1913, be repealed, so that "the appointment of United States Senators" can again be made by state legislators, not by voters. (Admittedly, the Texas Legislature could hardly do worse.), That all federal "enforcement activities" within the borders of Texas-including, presumably, the activities of F.B.I. agents, Justice Department prosecutors, air marshals, immigration officers, agricultural inspectors, and tax auditors-"must be conducted under the auspices of the county sheriff with jurisdiction in that county."

Keep an eye on that last sentence. The Republican party of the state of Texas, a state which has 38 electoral votes and which will send 153 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention, has endorsed the exact theory of government that was promulgated by the gun-toting yahoos at the Bundy Ranch. And there's more.

...there are plenty of things that Texas Republicans plan to do away with entirely-or, to use their preferred word, things they would subject to "abolishment." (For Calhoun conservatives, I suppose, "abolition" has regrettable overtones.) A partial list: Personal-income taxes; Property taxes; Estate taxes;  Capital-gains taxes; Franchise and business-income taxes; The gift tax; Minimum-wage laws; Social Security ("We support an immediate and orderly transition to a system of private pensions"); The Environmental Protection Agency;The Department of Education and all its functions; "Unelected bureaucrats"; "Any and all federal agencies not based on an enumerated power granted by the United States Federal Constitution"; Congressional pensions; Supreme Court jurisdiction in cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and the Bill of Rights; The Federal Reserve; "Foreign aid, except in cases of national defense or catastrophic disasters, with Congressional approval," Obamacare (but you knew that already).

The Republican party of the state of  Texas, a state that went for Mitt Romney by over two million votes, would like to do away with the Federal Reserve, and any Supreme Court jurisdiction in any case involving the Bill Of Rights. And, yes, there's more.

Things that the Texas Republicans support: Withdrawal from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the World Bank; "Traditional methods of discipline, including corporal punishment;" "Reducing taxpayer funding to all levels of education institutions," Returning to "the time-tested precious metal standard for the United States dollar."

Barr, Rogers, Whitfield vote to let the NSA keep illegally spying on you.

Teabagging Tommy Massie sponsored the legislation to stop the NSA, and Brett Guthrie joined John Yarmuth in the bipartisan vote, so voters in Kentucky's Sixth, Fifth and First Districts might want to look a little harder at the ballot come November.

Down with Tyranny:

The success of Massie's amendment limiting NSA domestic spying-- and it was a big success, having passed 293-123-- came as a surprise. It's not exactly the bill Glenn Greenwald would have written but if it ever becomes law-- I can't imagine Dianne Feinstein allowing it to get through the Senate-- it will block intelligence agencies from conducting warrantless and “backdoor” searches of U.S. communications. The amendment prohibits the search of government databases for information on U.S. citizens without a warrant and cuts off funding for the CIA and NSA to build security vulnerabilities, or "backdoors," into domestic tech products or services for surveillance purposes. Massie: "The American people are sick of being spied on."

\

Never Forget, and Vote Accordingly

Via Digby:





Senator Mitch McConnell
Senator Rand Paul
Ed Whitfield, KY-1
Brett Guthrie, KY-2
Thomas Massie, KY-4
Hal Rogers, KY-5
Andy Barr, KY-6

Remember in November.

KY Repugs Vote to Allow Toxic Waste Everywhere

Ed Whitfield, Thomas Massie, Hal Rogers and Andy Barr all voted yes on HR 2279, which guts the Superfund law. Brett Guthrie did not vote, and Democratic representative John Yarmuth voted no.

Congratulations especially to Massie and Barr, whose Central Kentucky constituents will have them to thank when toxic fracking waste from the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline poisons our land and water but the pipeline company gets to skate without consequences.

Charlie Pierce:

The next time you see your friendly neighborhood Republican, ask him why his party is so enthusiastically in favor of toxic waste.

You know it's a corporate-financed, "business-friendly" scam because of the right party name they hung on it -- the Reducing Excessive Deadlines Obligations Act. With the stock market going through the roof, and CEO pay going into orbit, American business is simply too embattled and burdened to be bothered to carry enough insurance to clean up the toxins that the free market must unleash upon the land in order to maintain our liberty. And, also, before the EPA could designate a site as a Superfund site, the EPA now would have to jump through even more hoops constructed by some champions of the environment like Rick Perry, he of the unregulated exploding fertilizer plants, and Louisiana's "Bobby" (Y'all Come Poison Us, Heah?) Jindal. For 30 years, Superfund has been cleaning up toxic dumps all over the country. This bill was designed to make that job harder because the people who own American industry have created within the American economy a class of reckless sociopaths bent on turning the United States into another corporate state that they can bleed and poison for their own profit before moving along. This bill will die in the Senate or, if everyone in the Senate takes LSD at the same time, the president will deliver on his promised veto. But you have to keep an eye on everything passed by this House of Representatives. This is the wish list. They get the Senate in 2014, and the White House in 2016, this is the basis on which the country will be governed. Be aware of that.

Erik Loomis has seen the post-Superfund future, and we are fucked:

I now see why the Republicans passed the bill to gut Superfund. It’s clearly unnecessary, what with a company actually named Freedom Industries taking care of the good people of West Virginia.

Schools and restaurants closed, grocery stores sold out of bottled water, and state legislators who had just started their session canceled the day’s business after a chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston shut down much of the city and surrounding counties even as the cause and extent of the incident remained unclear.

The federal government joined the state early Friday in declaring a disaster, and the West Virginia National Guard planned to distribute bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the nine affected counties. About 100,000 water customers, or 300,000 people total, were affected, state officials said they reported in requesting the federal declaration.

Shortly after the Thursday spill from Freedom Industries hit the river and a nearby treatment plant, a licorice-like smell enveloped parts of the city, and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an order to customer of West Virginia American Water: Do not drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes with tap water.

The chemical, a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process, leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries and overran a containment area. Officials from Freedom, a manufacturer of chemicals for the mining, steel, and cement industries, hadn’t commented since the spill, but a woman who answered the phone at the company said it would issue a statement later Friday.

Now that’s some clean coal! Freedom indeed!!!

Tebagger Tommie Massie Wants You To Die Without Healthcare

Boy, does tea-tommy think we Fourth District voters are Fucking. Morons.

We've watched you for a year now, tea-tommy, and we know for a fact you'll do everything you can to prevent us from having affordable health insurance.

This little email announcement just proves you want us to keep paying way too much money for shitty health insurance so your billionaire buddies in the insurance business can get even filthier richer.

Below is information on two bills I have cosponsored to address Obamacare's disastrous roll out and the National Security Agency's continuous violations of our civil liberties.

Introducing the 

"IF YOU LIKE YOUR HEALTH CARE PLAN YOU CAN KEEP IT Act of 2013":

     We have long maintained that Obamacare was unworkable, and the first few weeks following the program’s rollout are proving that we were correct. Americans are now being forced to buy health insurance they can't afford from a website that doesn't work, while the President gives exemptions to big business and congressmen.

     Now, contrary to the President’s repeated promises that people can keep their individual insurance if they want, millions of Americans are slated to lose their healthcare – and the Obama administration knew this for more than three years.

     I have repeatedly fought against the implementation of Obamacare and will continue to do so. I joined Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to introduce the 'If You Like Your Health Care Plan You Can Keep It Act of 2013' to make good on the President’s promise to allow Americans to keep their current insurance plans. View the press release of the legislation here. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is leading the measure in the Senate.

Steve Benen explains how mendacious this truly is:

First, we’re not talking about Americans who are suddenly being dropped from the insurance rolls. Rather, this is a period in which insurers are scrapping old, awful coverage plans and replacing them with better insurance – which for millions of Americans, will be subsidized through the law. Even if we look past the nuances involving grandfathered plans, consumers will be in a more secure position, so the notion that this is some sort of scandal is ridiculous.

 

Second, we knew all of this years ago. Some journalists seem to have stumbled upon this a few days ago as if it were new – you mean the White House knew folks with lousy plans would be transitioned to better ones? – but for those who paid even cursory attention to the process in 2010 and 2011, this is quite literally old news.

 

And finally, there’s just something extraordinary about listening to far-right lawmakers complain bitterly about consumers losing health care coverage. I’m genuinely amazed so many political reporters are so invested in the story.

 

The mild-mannered, always polite Jonathan Cohn blasted the whole narrative as “breathtakingly cynical.”

Republicans have repeatedly endorsed proposals that would take insurance away from many more Americans – and leave them much, much worse off.

This isn’t complicated. The House Republican budget plan, as designed by Paul Ryan, seeks to take health care coverage away from a minimum of 14 million Americans. GOP lawmakers also hope to prevent Medicaid expansion under “Obamacare,” which would deny insurance to as many as 17 million people. And the larger effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, of course, would wreak havoc on the coverage plans of millions more.

 

As Cohn concluded, “Honest Republicans … should stop pretending that it’s possible to address the problems of American health care without disrupting at least some people’s insurance arrangements – because, after all, they want to do the very same thing.”