Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Democrats: ‘I’m the boss, how about that?’
When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her Green New Deal she was shocked to learn that not everybody was on board with the Democrats’ plan to take over every aspect of our lives in order to save the planet from a crisis which was manufactured for the purpose.
I am sure she expected resistance from the “unidoctrinated” right, however she probably did not expect this level of push-back from the Democrats in the Congress because she probably thought they bought into their own doomsday rhetoric. But they have not and we saw it with Dianne Feinstein over the weekend when she let her guard down in front of a bunch of children and admitted she “didn’t give a damn” because it would not impact her. (Of course if she was being totally honest she would have told the children it was not going to impact anybody…)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been getting quite annoyed with the ridicule she has been taking since she introduced the plan and she has a message for the Democratic establishment and she is making it loud and clear. The other day she made it known that she and her cronies are in charge and just in case the message was misunderstood she reiterated it by claiming she is the boss and basically asked the Democrats how they liked them apples.
Ocasio-Cortez said, “Like I just introduced the Green New Deal two weeks ago, and it’s creating all of this conversation. Why? Because no one else has even tried. Because no one else has even tried.”
She added, “So people are like, ‘Oh it’s unrealistic. Oh it’s vague. Oh it doesn’t address this little minute thing.’ And I’m like, ‘You try. You do it. Cuz you’re not. Cuz you’re not. So, until you do it, I’m the boss.’ How about that?”
I might not like the policies she is pushing but I do have to give her credit for not backing down and for taking on her own party, and in a way it reminds me of the way Donald Trump took on the establishment Republicans and refused to back down. The Republicans could learn a thing or two from her and I wish the Republicans would take a page out of her playbook and take on the Democrats.
This act must be wearing thin on the Democratic leaders–who have focused all of their energy on opposing the President and because of this have not been able to concentrate on any form of platform–and one has to wonder how long they are going to put up with it. There is already talk from some Democrats about making sure she is a one-termer and it is sure to grow if she does not fall in line with the Democratic masters soon.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, February 24th open thread: ’16 Military Wives’
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Today’s musical number includes a long distance dedication to the incomparable Jussie Smollett and the mainstream media. You know what? I am feeling generous let us also dedicate this to all of Hollywood:
“Fifteen celebrity minds
Leading their fifteen sordid, wretched, checkered lives
Will they find the solution in time
Using their fifteen crispy moderate liberal minds
Eighteen academy chairs
Out of which only seven really even cares
Doling out the garland to five
Celebrity minds, they’re humbly taken by surprise
Cheer them on to their rivals
‘Cause America can, and America can’t say no
And America does, if America says it’s so
It’s so
And the anchor person on TV
Goes la di da di da
La di da di da”
Here is the Decemberists performing “16 Military Wives” live in 2005, enjoy:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to establishment Democrats: ‘we’re in charge’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a message for the establishment Democrats (many of whom thought they would be able to get her under control once she got to Washington) and it is basically lead, follow, or get out of the way. And she also has made it pretty clear she does not believe the establishment can lead–at least on the issue of global warming.
Here is what she had to say:
“If you don’t like the #GreenNewDeal, then come up with your own ambitious, on-scale proposal to address the global climate crisis,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a social media post.
“Until then, we’re in charge – and you’re just shouting from the cheap seats”
Democrats had hoped that when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made it to Washington she would focus her anger and her ire on the Republicans but she made it to Washington by taking on the establishment Democrats and she has not let up since she was inaugurated.
Right now the Democrats have no coherent strategy other than to oppose the President, if I were a Republican in Washington I would just sit back and let Ocasio-Cortez do her thing and watch the Democrats eat their own. That is what I intend to do and so far it has been quite entertaining.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump cuts funding for Planned Parenthood
Conservatives have been calling for cutting all Federal funding from Planned Parenthood and today a new rule issued by the Trump administration takes a step in that direction. Here is more:
The Trump administration issued a final rule on Friday that could effectively cut off tens of millions of federal family planning dollars to Planned Parenthood and steer some of that funding towards anti-abortion, faith-based care providers.
While the revamp of the Title X program does not accomplish the full defunding of Planned Parenthood that Republicans have called for, it is a major step in that direction, and marks another major policy win for social conservatives looking to prohibit access to abortion.
Under the rule, clinics would still have to provide an array of contraceptive services but could partner or subcontract with groups that stress abstinence only or natural family planning. It would also bar Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that accept the funding from making any abortion referrals or performing abortions — regardless of the funding source — at the same facilities where they provide Title X services like birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings.
While this new rule change would cut millions of dollars in Federal funding to Planned Parenthood it is still just a small portion of the money the government gives to the organization.
The bulk of Planned Parenthood’s government funding, however, comes from state Medicaid programs, which are unaffected by this rule.
Of course you know where this is going, several states are already planning to sue and history has shown us there will be a judge who will issue a stay while this makes it though the courts. And the left is sure to ramp up the “war on women” rhetoric again…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Jussie Smollett is being investigated for filing a false police report
The big news over the last several days has been the homophobic and racist “attack” on Jussie Smollett by a couple of Donald Trump supporters. I have not written anything about it because, frankly, I have never even heard of this guy and right from the beginning it seemed something was wrong with the story.
Between the “attackers” yelling “this is MAGA country” and wearing MAGA hats it was too conveniently connected to the President’s supporters. Jussie Smollett went too far in making sure everybody knew who the guilty party was and I think in the end this was his undoing.
Jussie Smollett is now being accused of hiring the two brothers to “attack” him and tie the noose around his neck and now, according to this story he is being investigated for filing a false police report.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Jussie Smollett is officially a suspect in a criminal investigation for filing a false police report, a Class 4 felony.
Guglielmi said CPD detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County grand jury.
The problem is, and I have had to write this time and time again recently, that in today’s America a person is guilty until proven innocent and we saw it again in this case. It is true we never had any individuals to blame for this attack but that did not stop the media, liberals on social media, and members of the Democratic party from blaming Trump supporters for the attack and Donald Trump for the climate of hate which led to the attack.
But there was no attack and the story was fishy from the beginning, so why did the mainstream media, liberals, and the Democrats jump so quickly on Donald Trump and his supporters? Because they desperately wanted it, or something similar to it, to be true and to date I have not seen one Democrat apologize for getting this so wrong.
Not one mea culpa and that is because in their eyes the end justifies the means and they do not think they have anything to apologize for. They still agree with Hillary Clinton in that if you voted for Donald Trump you are “irredeemable” and belong in a “basket of deplorables.”
The left so desperately wants a Reichstag fire, this one failed but do not worry they will try again.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
16 states sue to stop Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration
We knew it was coming and it did not take long; today 16 states filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to reallocate funds in order to build a wall on the Southern border. Here is more:
A coalition of 16 U.S. states led by California sued President Donald Trump and top members of his administration on Monday to block his decision to declare a national emergency to obtain funds for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California came after Trump invoked emergency powers on Friday to help build the wall that was his signature 2016 campaign promise.
Trump’s order would allow him to spend on the wall money that Congress appropriated for other purposes. Congress declined to fulfill his request for $5.7 billion to help build the wall this year..
“Today, on Presidents Day, we take President Trump to court to block his misuse of presidential power,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We’re suing President Trump to stop him from unilaterally robbing taxpayer funds lawfully set aside by Congress for the people of our states. For most of us, the office of the presidency is not a place for theatre,” added Becerra, a Democrat.
Here are the states which are joining in the lawsuit:
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Michigan joined California in the lawsuit.
In other words:
I apologize for the digression but you get the point.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how this one is going to go; some judge will slap a stay on the President and stop him from reallocating funds while this makes its way through the court system. It will eventually make it to the Supreme Court and based on the last decision the Supreme Court made on a similar issue–the travel ban Executive Order–it would seem likely Donald Trump will win. (Although John Roberts remains the X-Factor.)
The plan here seems to be delay, delay, delay in the hope that they can hold out long enough for a new President to take over and reverse the national emergency declaration. The only problem with that strategy is the fact the Congress already gave Donald Trump $1.37 billion to play with so the wall will continue to be built while we are awaiting the final decision.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Democrats introduce legislation to stop Donald Trump from building the wall using national emergency
On Friday Donald Trump made good on his threat to declare a national emergency in order to reallocate money from the Defense budget to build the wall on the Southern border.
This was met with unanimous opposition by the Democrats and to mixed reviews by the Republicans and now the Senate Democrats have introduced legislation which will block the President from doing an end-run around the Congress and stop him from using Defense funds to build the wall.
Here is more:
A group of Senate Democrats, including several 2020 contenders, have introduced legislation that would prevent President Trump from using disaster relief funds to finance a wall along the southern border.
The Protecting Disaster Relief Funds Act would block Trump from taking funds allocated to the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Army Corps of Engineers for disaster relief and using that money to construct physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Harris said in a statement announcing the legislation that Trump “cannot go around Congress to fund his ridiculous vanity project.”
“I’m proud to introduce this bill today to ensure that funds intended for victims of natural disasters do not go towards a wall that Congress won’t fund and people on the border don’t even want,” she added. “This bill will stand up for Congress’ power of the purse and help California families affected by recent natural disasters begin the process of recovery.”
It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the Senate. With some opposition by Republicans to the President’s emergency declaration there is the possibility it could pass and be sent to the House where there is no doubt it will pass. If it does pass the Senate will it pass with a veto-proof majority? That is the question that is most interesting.
As you know, I am opposed to Donald Trump using a national emergency declaration in order to pass part of an agenda he could not get through the Congress but of course I was also opposed to Barack Obama doing the same and that is where people like myself differ with the people who are opposed to the President this time around.
Where were all of these Democrats when Barack Obama used Executive action to change immigration law? And what about the Republicans who opposed Barack Obama’s use of his pen and his phone who are now behind Donald Trump doing the same?
I have come to the conclusion that most politicians in Washington have a love/hate relationship with the Constitution and it is directly proportionate to how much power–or lack thereof–their party has at the time.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, February 17th open thread: ‘Wonderful Life’
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is Nick Cave performing “Wonderful Life” live from 2003, enjoy:
Nancy Pelosi says a Democrat President could declare a national emergency on gun violence
For several weeks now Donald Trump has been threatening to declare a national emergency at the Southern border so that he will be able to take money from the Defense Department in order to build a border wall. It is now being speculated that the President is going to declare a national emergency while signing the new spending bill.
Regular readers of America’s Watchtower know that I am vehemently opposed to this type of governance by crisis and I am very much afraid of the precedence it would set moving forward. Even Barack Obama, who loved to use his pen and his phone to go around the Congress, did not push the envelope this far.
And now, according to this story, Nancy Pelosi is warning people to be careful what they wish for because a Democratic President could play the same game and declare a national emergency in regards to gun violence. Here is more:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday issued a warning to Republicans poised to support President Trump‘s decision to declare a national emergency at the southern border: the next Democratic president, she said, could do the same on guns.
“A Democratic president can declare emergencies, as well,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “So the precedent that the president is setting here is something that should be met with great unease and dismay by the Republicans.”
Pelosi noted that Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 students and faculty dead. She argued that the real national emergency is not illegal border crossings, but gun violence in the U.S.
“Let’s talk about today: The one-year anniversary of another manifestation of the epidemic of gun violence in America,” Pelosi said. “That’s a national emergency. Why don’t you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would.
“But a Democratic president can do that.”
There you have it, exactly what I feared but why stop there once this cat is out of the bag?
This reminds me somewhat of when Harry Reid used the nuclear option to get some of Barack Obama’s judicial nominees and cabinet appointees through the Congress. When Donald Trump won the Presidency the Republicans expanded the nuclear option to include Supreme Court nominees and more cabinet appointees and some Democrats have expressed remorse at having set that process in motion.
You might agree with Donald Trump declaring a national emergency in order to build a wall but you must ask yourself if you think it is worth it to do an end-run around the Congress on this issue while knowing the Democrats will then use this same power to advance their agenda without the Congress.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Green New Deal co-author upset Mitch McConnell wants to vote on it
Last week the Democrats unveiled the Green New Deal which would set America back a couple of hundred years or so and yesterday Mitch McConnell agreed to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote in the Senate.
You would think, if they were serious about saving the earth from global warming, the Democrats would be thrilled by the opportunity to pass a major part of their agenda but they are not. In fact Ed Markey, who cosponsored the legislation, is rather upset by the turn of events. Here is what he Tweeted out today about this:
And here is another one:
So now voting on a piece of legislation is “silencing your voice” and that seems 180 degrees off to me. And when Ed Markey says that this will not allow people to debate this issue what he is really saying is the Democrats had no intention of passing this legislation but wanted instead to use it as a political issue for the 2020 election. That tells us all we need to know about how serious the Democrats are about this issue.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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