November 1, 2023

Wednesday, November 1, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.

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Joe is always busy.

One more thing. Or two.

FLOTUS on Hallo-Read. She and the President gave books to young goblins and witches.

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Kamala is always busy.

Mike Johnson, MAGA Speaker of the House, is speaking MAGA, not morality.

Senator Schumer said.

Bipartisan cooperation will be the only way anything gets to the president’s desk. So I’m deeply troubled that yesterday, House Republicans released a partisan and woefully inadequate package with no aid to Ukraine, no humanitarian assistance for Gaza, no Indo-Pacific, and in addition, poison pills that increase the deficit and help wealthy tax cheats avoid paying their fair share.

The House GOP bill is woefully inadequate and has the hard right’s fingerprints all over it. It makes Aid for Israel, who has just faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, contingent on poison pills that reward rich tax cheats.

In short, it makes it much, much harder to pass Aid for Israel. It’s insulting that the hard right is openly trying to exploit the crisis in Israel to try and reward the ultra-rich. The new speaker knows perfectly well that if you want to help Israel, you can’t propose legislation that is full of poison pills.

And this kind of unnecessarily partisan legislation sends the wrong message to our allies and adversaries around the world. It’s almost as if the real goal of this House GOP package is not to help Israel, but to get tax relief for the super-wealthy, while leaving out Ukraine aid, leaving out humanitarian aid for Gaza, and funding for the Indo-Pacific.

Watch. 👇

Johnson’s Israel proposal runs into stiff Senate opposition.

Senators say that new Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) demand to separate Israel funding from Ukraine and offset the $14.3 billion in Israel aid with cuts to the IRS budget isn’t going anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

It’s uncertain whether Johnson can even get his controversial proposal passed through the House, where Republicans hold a slim four-seat majority.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) declared the House Republican proposal to cut IRS funding to pay for aid to Israel dead on arrival in the Senate. 

“It’s a non-starter. It’s a poison pill,” he said.  

Like Cardin, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and key Senate GOP defense hawks such as Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) don’t favor splitting up President Biden’s emergency funding request for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. 

Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of McConnell’s leadership team, told reporters Monday that it would be “the most prudent move” to keep the two national security priorities tied together.

“I’m open to suggestions but I think it’s important that we do border, Ukraine, Israel, and give Taiwan what they need, also,” he said.

Wicker, however, was more neutral on finding offsets to reduce the impact on the deficit, adding “there’s plenty of room … for offsets” in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law to boost investment in renewable energy.

Graham said last week: “We got national security issues that are all connected up — I’d like to do it all at once.”

Other GOP senators warn that getting into a food fight with Democrats over offsets is guaranteed to slow down any emergency military aid, leaving Israeli and Ukrainian forces without weapons at a critical time.

“Realistically speaking, it’s going to be challenging,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“We all know how hard it is to find offsets of substance. This is real money we’re talking about,” she added. “If you’re looking at trying to offset the entire package, I think that’s going to be a real challenge for that.

We’re operating with a pretty tight time frame, in order to move something,” she said.

Murkowski warned that if aid to Israel moves without assistance to Ukraine, Ukraine might not get any additional U.S. military aid for the foreseeable future.

“I am very worried that we would not be able to advance additional support for Ukraine in this supplemental [spending package] going forward,” she said. “I think the best approach is one that couples them altogether.

She said the “contours” of the Biden administration’s proposal to bundle aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and money to secure the U.S. southern border into one package is “solid.” She acknowledged, however, “there’s plenty of room” to discuss changing some of the details.

“I think it would be hard for Ukraine to get the political support for a stand-alone Ukraine package,” she added. “Now is not the time to be saying we can only do one thing at once.”

Another Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the House Republican proposal said it has little chance of passing Congress anytime soon.

“I’ve never seen us offset, honestly, normal spending, and I can’t imagine that this place would go out of its way to offset defense spending,” the lawmaker said.

“It will slow down this package substantially,” the senator warned.

Senators say they expect Johnson and his House GOP colleagues to attempt to pass the measure later this week. 

McConnell urged Senate GOP colleagues at a lunch meeting last week to keep the Israel and Ukraine money together. He’s getting strong pushback from conservatives such as Sens. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).  

McConnell reiterated his support for the war in Ukraine at an event Monday featuring Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center.  

“Right now, loud voices on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that American leadership isn’t worth the cost. Some say our support for Ukraine comes at the expense of more important priorities, but as I’ve said every time I’ve got the chance, it’s a false choice,” he said. “America is a global superpower with global interests, and enemies of democracy around the world like nothing more than to outlast our resolve to resist Russian aggression.” 

He warned that a Russian victory in Ukraine would imperil the security and economy of all of Europe, the United States’s largest trading partner and strategic ally.  

And he drew a parallel between Russia aggression in Ukraine and Iran-backed terrorism in Israel, calling them “clear examples that there’s evil in the world.” 

On the question of keeping military aid to Israel and Ukraine tied together, McConnell and his Senate GOP allies are more aligned with President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). 

Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish leader in Congress in American history and one of Israeli’s biggest champions on Capitol Hill, argued Monday that money for Israel must be kept tied to the other national security priorities.  

“The way forward is exceptionally clear. We must pass the president’s supplemental request which has funding for Israel, Ukraine, the South Pacific, while providing critical humanitarian aid for Gaza,” he said. “America does not have the luxury of burying our head in the sand or leaving our friends to fend for themselves.” 

Senate Republican leaders as well as Democrats are reluctant to cut federal programs to offset the cost of helping Israel. Emergency spending outside the regular appropriations bills traditionally does not count against the annual spending cap.  

Senate Democrats warned Monday that finding cuts to pay for an emergency foreign assistance package would make it tougher to pass. 

A Senate Democratic aide argued that the House Republican proposal to cut the IRS budget to pay for foreign aid would actually increase the deficit because it would hamper the enforcement of tax compliance.  

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) warned it will be difficult to come up with spending cuts or revenue raisers to cover the cost of military aid to Israel, let alone all of Biden’s proposed $105 billion emergency assistance package.  

“It won’t be easy,” he said, warning it could delay the timing of the aid to Israel and Ukraine.  

“If you’re talking about life-and-death military funds for the cause in Ukraine or the cause in the Middle East, this notion, ‘We’ll debate it and get back to you later,’ I don’t accept that,” he added.

Durbin, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he couldn’t remember the cost of an emergency spending package being offset with spending cuts.  

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Biden’s emergency funding requests. (The Hill).

One more thing.

Only 2 Republicans, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted to confirm Lew.

Lew was opposed by all the other Republican Senators, who argued that Lew’s work on the multinational nuclear pact with Iran during the Obama years made him unfit for this Ambassadorship.

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Fight to win. Election Day,Tuesday,November 7.

Ohio.

Ohio's GOP Sec of State canceled the registrations of nearly 27,000 voters just before voting ends for Issue 1, which will amend the state constitution to enshrine the right to abortion. Share this and tell people to check their Ohio voter status here: https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Remember Senator Sherrod Brown needs us too.

Virginia.

From Senator @TimKaine of Virginia on the Washington Post report, that Republican Gov. Youngkin’s elections team has admitted in the run-up to the General Assembly elections that it removed nearly 3,400 qualified voters from the state’s rolls, far higher than the administration’s previous estimate of 270.

This is inexcusable.

This never should have happened in the first place. The DOJ must immediately investigate what happened here and what's being done to make sure voters who were wrongfully removed are being notified with sufficient time to vote in next week's election.

Virginia voters can check their registration here. 👇 Share this.

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/view-your-info/

Virginia is the LAST state in the South without an abortion ban. Republicans in Virginia are 2 state Senate seats away next week from passing an abortion ban.

Get out the vote…yours and others.

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Antisemitism worldwide.

Paris.

America.

Eve and I spent the last 4 summers in Montauk and plan to be there in 2024.

Montauk Swastika Graffiti Spree Shocks The Hamptons.

A vandal or vandals spray painted swastikas and anti-Semitic messages at several locations across Montauk, where East Hampton Town Police are investigating the incidents and the community is rallying in response.

The graffiti was found Monday morning at food trailers, a sign and utility equipment near Ditch Plains Beach as well as outside Naturally Good Foods, a health food store downtown, and Sausages Pizza, at the rear of the buildings on Main Street in Montauk.

The person or people involved were believed to have struck between Sunday night and Monday morning.

“We live in a close-knit, caring, and inclusive community, but this morning we were greeted by evil and disgusting symbols of hatred which appeared in Montauk during the overnight hours, on town buildings and private businesses,” said East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc. “I condemn these racist, anti-Semitic acts in the strongest possible terms. Civil society requires us to treat each other with respect, tolerance, and dignity, especially now as tensions are increasing due to conflicts in other parts of the world.”

The incident came about a month after Hamas terrorists massacred and kidnapped Israeli civilians in a surprise attack that prompted the Israeli military to respond with a counter offensive aimed at Gaza. The Monday rally condemning the anti-Semitic in downtown Montauk is the latest effort on the East End to show support for the Jewish community following Hamas’ attack.

hoto: Rabbi Josh Franklin

“I spent the morning in Montauk cleaning up the graffiti left on a Montauk store owned by Jews,” Rabbi Josh Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons wrote on Facebook. “It feels like I’m living Kristallnacht in 2023.”

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, was the Nazi-led campaign to smash the windows of businesses owned by Jews in 1938, one of the precursors to the Holocaust in which the Nazis systematically killed 7 million Jews and others.

Besides black spray-painted swastikas — the Nazi symbol — the graffiti also included the phrases “Jeden Die” and “Free Palestine.”

Police are still investigating and ask that anyone with security cameras near the two incidents check for suspicious persons during the night of Sunday, October 29 or morning of Monday, October 30.

Call East Hampton Town Police with tips or information at 631-537-7575. (Dan’s Papers).

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Some of Halloween’s best.

I posted this on #PumpkinDay 9 years ago too.

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