By Michael Woyton
Well, it’s another day here in the United States, or not, if you believe the House of Representatives.
Included in the continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government that narrowly passed the House Tuesday was a provision that would give more power to President Donald J. Felon.
The GOPmagas in the House added wording to the CR “that could prevent Congress from using its authority to end a national emergency declared by Trump last month,” NJ.com reported.
The grifter-in-chief, in order to impose tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, had to declare a national emergency. That sets the clock ticking for any member of the House to force a vote to repeal the tariffs.
By declaring every day as the same day, that effectively takes the power of taxation away from the Congress and gives it to the person in the White House who is tanking the economy even as we speak.
Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA, and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-WA, said in a joint statement that the Republicans in the House voted “to give Trump expanded powers to raise taxes on American households through tariffs with full knowledge of how he is using those powers, and every Republican will own the economic consequences of that vote. It speaks volumes that Republicans are sneaking this provision into a procedural measure hidden from the American people.”
Beyer and DelBene said the Constitution gives the Congress the authority to set tariffs, which are taxes.
“Yet House Republicans are choosing to surrender the power of their own votes to a reckless president, putting politics over the country and their constituents,” the statement said.
Beyer’s deputy chief of staff, Aaron Fritschner, outlines more about how this works here.
Fritschner explained that it is a House resolution, “meaning it will take effect without further action. Republicans passed it and it’s done.”
In other words, that is the way tariffs will be dealt with whether or not the Senate approves the CR.
It was suggested on social media that if the House declares the session to be one long day, then perhaps they should only be paid for one day.
I agree.
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Speaking of special elections, there are two coming up soon in the state of Florida that could have an effect on how things are going lately.
The adjudicated rapist in the White House plucked Rep. Michael Waltz, FL-6, to be head of the National Security Agency and Rep. Matt Gaetz, FL-1, to be attorney general out of Congress, leaving two openings.
Waltz did indeed become the 29th U.S. national security advisor, while Gaetz crashed and burned after the nomination to become a talk-show host on an obscure right-wing “news” network.
Gay Valimont, a Democrat and a gun violence prevention activist in Pensacola, Florida, is running to replace Gaetz in the FL-1 district.
Josh Weil, a Democrat, an Orlando resident and a public school educator, is seeking to replace Waltz in the FL-6 district.
These two races, along with an as-yet-unscheduled special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, NY-21, could sway the balance of power in the House of Representatives, according to reporting by First Coast News. (Stefanik’s nomination to be U.N. ambassador is being held because House Speaker Mike Johnson cannot spare her vote.)
Susan Horwitz of the St. Augustine Beach Democratic Club in Florida said shifting the balance in the House could happen because of these two Florida elections.
“If the Democrats can take over and have the Speaker of the House, then we have created a new balance,” she told First Coast News. “And it would give us a little more input into what’s going on in Washington.”
So if you have a few bucks to spare, it might be worth it — and benefit America and its democracy, not to mention the economy — to contribute to Weil and/or Valimont.
I did.
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Lead art by Michael Woyton
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