Up is down, black is white. These GOP nutjobs are aggressively disinforming voters to enable their attempts to destroy our democracy and our government that works for and protects Americans.

What the heck does ‘weaponizing the federal government’ even mean?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/05/republicans-weaponization-government-jordan-roy/

#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracy
#GOPInBedWithRich
#GOPOligarchPuppets

"Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), in his failed attempt to help House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) secure the speakership on Tuesday, hollered that the government “has been weaponized against ‘we the people,’ the very people we represent.” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) later insisted that he wants his party’s leadership to stop the “swamp” in D.C. from “running over” and “stepping” on average Americans.

What the heck are they talking about?

Unsurprisingly, Republicans rarely explain just how they think the federal government is tormenting people. The overwhelming number of Americans, for example, don’t think it’s tyrannical for the government to secure $35 per month insulin for seniors, give them green energy credits or expand access to health care to veterans exposed to burn pits during war.

Perhaps Republicans are referring to the mythical 87,000 new IRS agents who they claim are about to knock down the doors of ordinary taxpayers. But as the New York Times explained, “The 87,000 figure refers to a May 2021 estimate from the Treasury Department of the total number of employees — not just auditors — the I.R.S. proposes to hire over the next 10 years with funding requested by Mr. Biden. And while the I.R.S. plans to conduct more audits, wealthy Americans and businesses will bear the brunt of that scrutiny, not, as Republicans have suggested, working families.”

If “weaponizing” government amounts to forcing rich Americans to pay taxes owed under existing law, then Republicans should come out and say that.

Then again, maybe Republicans object to prosecuting Jan. 6 insurrectionists who attacked and injured police officers, destroyed public property, and attempted to halt the peaceful transfer of power. In the eyes of a number of MAGA types, the insurrectionists are the innocent victims, while the police, FBI and National Guard are the enemies.

So much for “back the blue.” As Aquilino Gonell, one of the Capitol Police officers injured while defending members of Congress, wrote in an op-ed for the Times condemning former president Donald Trump for his role in the insurrection, “Even more galling are the Republicans who still refuse to provide testimony under oath and instead dangerously downplay how close we came to losing our democracy.” In fact, 21 House Republicans voted against giving Congressional Gold Medals to the heroic police.

Maybe Republican are still harping on the federal government’s efforts to prevent Americans from dying of covid-19. Requirements for masks, vaccines, social distancing — the horror!

MAGA extremists seem to have sympathy for the Republican governors who resisted lifesaving measures, resulting in disproportionate deaths in red locales. As Scientific American found, “Republican-leaning ‘red’ states were much more resistant to health measures. The consequences of those differences emerged by the end of 2020, when rates of hospitalization and death from COVID rose in conservative counties and dropped in liberal ones.” (Oddly, these same Republicans favor using the government to force women to remain pregnant and give birth, a practice straight from Communist China’s playbook.)

Indeed, right-wing authoritarians seem to be engaged in a giant exercise in projection. You want examples of abusive government? Take a look at red-state governors who seek to use the power of the state to target LGBTQ youths, deny the right of assembly, silence dissent and suppress voting rights.

So if you are confused about what in the world Jordan, Roy and the other MAGA radicals are hollering about, you are not alone. Their party of nihilists insists that legitimate functions of government amount to tyranny, while their own abuse of power represents the will of “real Americans.” Whether they believe this nonsense is irrelevant; what we know is that the same delusional thinking that triggered the 2021 coup attempt is alive and well, fanned by right-wing hucksters who can dupe Americans into sending a few more bucks to fight “socialists” — or something."

The treasonous members of the Freedom Caucus are puppets of the Koch's and Peter Theil, among other oligarchs, who want to neuter the government so they face no regulations and have total power, control and even more money.

"With Trump running for President and the Freedom Caucus running the House"

How not to mark the 2nd anniversary of the day American democracy almost died https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-not-to-mark-the-2nd-anniversary

#GOPHatesDemocracy
#FreedomCaucusTreason
#GOPTreason
#GOPInBedWithRich
#GOPOligarchPuppets
#WantTheirSerfsBack

"Two years ago today the United States Capitol was attacked by a mob determined to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as President.

Members of Congress most involved in that insurrection — those subpoenaed by the January 6 committee yet who ignored the subpoenas (Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama), and others who have been linked to the insurrection (Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, and Louie Gohmert of Texas) — are members of the far-right Freedom Caucus.

They are on the verge of hijacking the Speakership, which means hijacking the House, hijacking Congress, and hijacking the American people.

In their pending deal with Kevin McCarthy, they will have the power to recall him at any time if he doesn’t hew to their demands. They’ll also get approval power over some plum committee assignments, including a third of the members on the influential Rules Committee, which controls what legislation reaches the floor and in what form. And spending bills would have to be considered under so-called open rules, allowing any member to put to a vote an unlimited number of changes that could gut or scuttle the legislation altogether.

Two years have passed, yet the top lawmakers in the US government who were most directly involved in the insurrection — Trump and his co-conspirators in Congress — have not been held accountable.

To the contrary, Trump is so far unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination for President, and his co-conspirators are wielding more influence over the U.S. government than ever before.

This is not the way to mark the second anniversary of the day American democracy almost died."

Part 2
There is something very disturbing about these freedom caucus members' support for Putin, attempts to destroy democracy, social security and whole agencies and their funding by Peter Theil and Koch.

"Is this all a continuation of Trump’s January 6th coup attempt and his desire to convert America from a democracy into a despotic strongman-rule nation aligned with Russia?"

Is the Anti-McCarthy Crowd in the Bag for the Billionaires, Putin, or Both? https://hartmannreport.com/p/is-the-anti-mccarthy-crowd-in-the

#GOPTreason
#GOPHatesDemocracy
#GOPInBedWithRich
#PutinHatesDemocracy
#GOPInBedWithPutin
#GOPOligarchPuppets
#WantTheirSerfsBack

“It's becoming clear now: This is January 6th, Episode II. The Freedom Caucus is demanding debt default, which will spark a ~$15T global financial crisis. COVID was ~$4T. This will only help Putin and his BRICS+/GGC allies.”

Skeptical but curious, I plugged the names of each of the 20 Republicans who voted against McCarthy in the first vote yesterday into a search engine along with the word “Russia.” Here’s what I found about 15 of them:

Andy Biggs voted against legislation to document Russian war crimes in Ukraine, as did Paul Gosar and Scott Perry.

Matt Gaetz, Dan Bishop, Paul Gosar, Ralph Norman, and Scott Perry all voted against suspending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.

Dan Bishop, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Chip Roy all voted against a bill to ban imports of Russian oil and gas.

Those four also voted against legislation to strip Russia from “most favored nation status” by the World Trade Organization.

Paul Gosar and Matt Rosendale both voted against a resolution that reaffirmed US support for Ukrainian sovereignty.

John Brecheen is new to Congress, but when asked by his local newspaper about whether America should support Ukraine against the Russian invasion he replied, “My position is I would not have voted for funding of war.”

Michael Cloud tweeted: “The Biden Admin has ignored a year-long invasion at our southern border but is considering risking the lives of U.S. soldiers to protect Ukraine's border? Ukraine is thousands of miles away.”

Voting against Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a pet Putin peeve, were Michael Cloud, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Ralph Norman, and Chip Roy.

Eli Crane says of the US supporting Ukraine, “This is a war we shouldn’t be involved in,” and it will make the Afghanistan exit “look like child’s play.”

Matt Gaetz tweeted: “Today the House didn't organize. Biggest loser: Zelensky. Biggest winner: U.S. Taxpayers.” He also tweeted: “I’m more concerned with the US-Mexico border than the Russia-Ukraine border. Not sorry.”

Opposing US aid to Ukraine, Matt Gaetz told a CPAC audience: “Why should Americans have to pay the costs for freedom elsewhere when our own leaders won't stand up for our freedom here?”

Paul Gosar tweeted: “Ukraine is not our ally. Russia is not our enemy. We need to address our crippling debt, inflation and immigration problems. None of this is Putin's fault.”

Paul Gosar wrote an open letter to the White House asking President Biden to “refrain from participating in its annually recurring nuclear exercise ‘Steadfast Noon’ in conjunction with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to ‘prevent further escalation.’”

Paul Gosar tweeted: “Putin puts Russia first as he should.”

Mary Miller, Bob Good, Ralph Norman, Andy Biggs, and Matt Gaetz co-sponsored legislation to forbid any further delivery of military equipment to Ukraine.
...
Ralph Norman, who called for Trump to impose “Marshall law” to prevent Biden from being sworn in, first issued a statement on day one of the invasion of Ukraine condemning Russia but then voted “No” on US aid to Ukraine in September and continues to oppose such aid.
...
Matt Rosendale issued a statement saying: “The United States has no legal or moral obligation to come to the aid of either side in this foreign conflict.” He voted against a resolution “supporting the people of Ukraine.” He also introduced legislation blocking any US aid to Ukraine.

Byron Donalds voted against US aid to Ukraine.
...
While none of this proves that the anti-McCarthy forces are getting their marching orders from Putin, it does raise some significant questions about their commitment to the continuation of the current form and nature of our government. I think Dave Troy’s idea is worth taking seriously.

Because the outcome he contemplates is something both the rightwing billionaires and Putin could get behind."

Part 1
There is something very disturbing about these freedom caucus members' support for Putin, attempts to destroy democracy, social security and whole agencies and their funding by Peter Theil and Koch.

"Is this all a continuation of Trump’s January 6th coup attempt and his desire to convert America from a democracy into a despotic strongman-rule nation aligned with Russia?"

Is the Anti-McCarthy Crowd in the Bag for the Billionaires, Putin, or Both? https://hartmannreport.com/p/is-the-anti-mccarthy-crowd-in-the

#GOPTreason
#GOPHatesDemocracy
#GOPInBedWithRich
#PutinHatesDemocracy
#GOPInBedWithPutin
#GOPOligarchPuppets
#WantTheirSerfsBack

"Amazingly, it’s the second anniversary of January 6th and we’re still talking about an ongoing attempt to sabotage the American government.

Yesterday, I argued that the Freedom Caucus members and their handful of compatriots voting against Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House may have been doing so because the rightwing billionaires who back them want to roll back FDR’s “big government” in America.

Now comes investigative journalist Dave Troy noting that America’s rightwing billionaires aren’t the only ones who want the US government to fail. So does Vladimir Putin.

And most of those voting against McCarthy not only appear to be in the bag for the billionaires but for Putin as well.
...
“Putin and others in his milieu well-remember what Russia defaulting on its debt was like in 1998. Now it seems they feel like it's payback time, as many of them feel that default was something engineered by the US between 1989-1998.”

There’s absolutely no doubt that a default by the United States would cripple our economy and lead to a crisis not seen since the Republican Great Depression.

CBS News reports that Moody’s Analytics’ Chief Economist Mark Zandi says it would nearly instantly wipe out as many as 6 million jobs and destroy $15 trillion in household wealth. Unemployment would rapidly spike to at least 9 percent and the stock market would fall by a third.

But is it possible that’s actually the goal of the anti-McCarthy crowd? And, if so, why or on whose behalf?
...
Back in 2011, the last time Republicans played chicken with our national debt by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, our nation’s credit was downgraded, leading to higher borrowing costs and economic weakness that continued into the 2012 election year, badly (but not fatally) damaging Democrats and Obama’s re-election chances.

Had Republicans not blinked at the last minute and given in to lifting the debt ceiling so the Treasury could pay bills run up by Congress years before, we would have defaulted and the shattering consequences would still be felt today. It’s hard to overstate how much damage it would have done to America, American businesses, and American families.

But are the Republicans fighting against McCarthy really planning a repeat of blocking the debt ceiling only, this time, actually destroying our nation’s creditworthiness? Could they be that psychopathic?

And, if so, are they doing it because their billionaire sponsors think we should shut down most government agencies that support the middle class and the poor, or because Putin is supporting such an effort?

Or both?

Ryan Grim reported Wednesday in The Intercept that when insurrectionist Congressman Ralph Norman was asked if he and his colleagues actually intended to force McCarthy (or any other Speaker) to “shut down the government rather than raise the debt ceiling,” Norman replied:

“That’s a non-negotiable item.”

When asked if he was talking about shutting down the government or actually defaulting on the debt, Norman said:

“That’s why you need to be planning now what agencies — what path you’re gonna take now to trim government. Tell the programs you’re going to get to this number. And you do that before chairs are picked.”

Norman was explaining that if Biden and Congress don’t agree to kill off the federal agencies he and his buddies don’t like — HHS? FBI? EPA? SEC? FEC? — they will destroy America’s full faith and credit in the eyes of the world this summer when we hit the debt ceiling.

Troy argues this is all a continuation of Trump’s January 6th coup attempt and his desire to convert America from a democracy and ally of democracies around the world into a despotic strongman-rule nation aligned with Putin’s Russia:"