Jordan flames out; House Republicans need a clown bus at this point

From CBSNews -

GOP drops Jim Jordan as House speaker nominee after he loses 3rd vote

House Republicans voted to drop Rep. Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker after he failed to win a majority three times this week, sending the party back to the drawing board and leaving the House leaderless for at least three more days.

The House Republican Conference gathered for a closed-door meeting Friday afternoon, where they voted by secret ballot on whether Jordan should remain the nominee. Eighty-six members said Jordan should stay in the race, and 112 said he shouldn't, according to lawmakers who were in the room.

The race is on to supplant Jordan as the R nominee for speaker.  They'll need either a clown bus or will have to hope their clown car has an extended back seat.

From Axios -

Flood of GOP lawmakers hits the House speaker race

A large group of House GOP lawmakers announced on Friday they are interested in running for speaker, setting up a raucous closed-door meeting on Monday.

Why it matters: Hostilities between GOP factions have escalated since the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, followed by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) bowing out of the race and the conference voting to remove Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as nominee.

As of Friday evening, the following House Republicans had officially announced bids for speaker or expressed interest in the role.

• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)
• House Republican Vice Conference Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.)
• Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)
• House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)
• House Small Business Chair Roger Williams (R-Texas)
• Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)
• Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
• Jack Bergman (R-Mich.)
• Austin Scott (R-Ga.)
• Dan Meuser (R-Pa.)

Personally, I still they should vote for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

They'll each have a different reason, but all of the Rs will hate him equally.

Which won't happen. 

If the Rs decide to hate-vote for Speaker, it'll probably be for Matt Gaetz, whose ego drew them into this mess.

Federal Committee update

 

Democrat Nez is a former President of the Navajo Nation who's seeking the Congressional seat currently held by stone bigot Eli Crane.

In 2020, he was a Presidential elector for the eventual winner, Joe Biden.

Legislative schedule - week starting 10/20/2023

This is basically a rerun of my post of 9/22.

Nada.

As in "nothing official scheduled as of this writing."

As in, "regular Arizonans should be verrrry worried."

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

Arizona Republicans engage in a little addition by subtraction

Well, at least they improved the Governor's Water Policy Council.  By not being part of it.

From KPNX (Channel 12 in Phoenix) written by Kyra O'Connor, dated 10/13 (emphasis added by me) -

Arizona Senate Republicans, Farm Bureau withdraw from governor’s water policy council

Senate Republicans and the Arizona Farm Bureau withdrew their membership from Arizona Gov. Katie Hobb’s Water Policy Council calling it “beholden to out-of-state special interests,” according to a press release from the caucus.

Sen. Sine Kerr, who is also the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water, said the council is “nothing more than a forum to rubber stamp the progressive environmental goals of special interest groups.” 

Who knew that protecting our water supply was a partisan issue?  Protecting and maximizing profit for its members may be the Farm Bureau's stated imperative, but protecting the public's interest is supposed to be the duty of public servants like Sen. Kerr.

"Alleged" public servants.

Lesko's out; the race is on to replace her

From Arizona Agenda -

The Daily Agenda: Congressional scramble!

Republican U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko blindsided Arizona’s political junkies yesterday when she announced she has had enough of the swamp.

“Right now, Washington D.C. is broken; it is hard to get anything done,” she wrote, declaring she won’t run for reelection next year so she can spend more time with her mother and grandchildren.

Already, the scramble is on to replace her. There are rumors that last year’s U.S. Senate GOP nominee Blake Masters might get in the race. That Mark Lamb might drop out of the Senate race and run for the West Valley district instead. That Arizona Treasurer Kim Yee could resign and run, or that any number of Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Ben Toma and Rep. Steve Montenegro, might be eyeing the soon-to-be-vacant seat. 

Kari Lake has already announced she’s backing failed Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh, who made it official and jumped into the race a few hours after getting slapped with $55,000 in court sanctions for making things up in his election lawsuit. 

Two things here:

1. I'm NOT saying that the folks at AZ Agenda are wrong (they know way more about this stuff than I do) but if Lamb enters this race, he'll have an uphill battle.  While under Section II of the US Constitution, he only has to live in the state to be a Congresscritter in any district in the state, in practical terms, it's a good idea to live in the district or at least in the county of the district.

And while the Pinal County Sheriff lives in AZ, he most assuredly doesn't live in the district or even in Maricopa County.

2. The person most relieved by Lesko's decision may be...fellow Republican Congresscritter David Schweikert.  

One (or more) of the people looking Lesko's seat may have been looking at mounting a primary challenge to ethically-deprived Schweikert (his lack of ethics doesn't bother them, but lack of Gosar-esque insanity may trouble them), but that's no longer a safe R seat.

Lesko's seat is.

Senate reports are in*

* = Kari Lake entered the race too late to have to file a report this time around.

Net contributions and refunds are for the reported quarter (Q3 2023) while cash on hand is for the end of the quarter.

A few takes:

Ruben Gallego is doing well.  He's got more than $5 million in cash on hand and the vastness of his filing (10K+ pages!) indicates that many of his contributions are from small donors.

Mark Lamb is toast now that Lake is in the race.

Sinema is an interesting case.  She raised the least amount of cash and has the smallest filing of the three.  She also has the most cash on hand; actually, she has more than twice the total of Gallego, who's doing well.

She may not be raising much, but she's stockpiling what she has.

My guess is that she has one of three plans in place for the money (there may be others, but these seem to be the most likely to me):.

1. She intends to run for re-election, and is saving the cash for that.

2. She has found a way, or hopes to find a way, to keep the money for herself.  There are restrictions against doing just that, but if anyone has the smarts to figure out a way around them, she's got 'em.

3. She intends to gift the cash to one of the other candidates (Lake?).  Given her track record, this seems to the least likely of the three.

Looking at her report (hoping for some insight), I was struck by two questions -

1. She's reporting all contributions as being for the primary. As an I, though, she's not going to face a primary.  On the other hand, their may be some arcane FEC rule on the subject and this may be an actual violation.

2. She's still fundraising through ActBlue.  I thought that was a platform only for Democratic candidates and committees, and she is resoundingly not one.

How long before Cheeto insists that he can yell "fire!" in a crowded theater?

From CNN -

Trump ‘does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases,’ Judge Chutkan says, issuing gag order

A federal judge on Monday issued a gag order on former President Donald Trump, limiting what he can say about special counsel Jack Smith’s federal prosecution into his alleged attempt to subvert in the 2020 presidential election.

The order restricts Trump’s ability to publicly target court personnel, potential witnesses, or the special counsel and his staff. The order did not impose restrictions on disparaging comments about Washington, DC, – where the jury will take place – or certain comments about the Justice Department at large, both of which the government requested.

[snip]

Trump will appeal Chutkan’s order, he said in a post on his social media website Truth Social.

“WILL APPEAL THE GAG ORDER RULING. WITCH HUNT!” he wrote.

I don't really expect Cheeto to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, but I *do* expect him to do two things:

1. He will claim victimhood and defy the order.  He'll egg on his supporters and then he'll chime in.

2. He will claim victimhood and fundraise off of the order..  It's always about the grift for him.

People are dying in Israel and the US federal government is about to stop paying its debts. So the House GOP is running an ideological purity test.

And they've deemed that the person best suited to drive their clown car is someone with a track record of looking the other way at sexual predators. 

From KATU (OR) -

Speaker-designate Jim Jordan seeks to schedule election vote on Tuesday, despite lack of full House GOP support

Rep. Jim Jordan, the designated candidate for Speaker of the House by the House Republican Caucus, is attempting to force a vote in the speaker election Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

Jordan, a hard-right conservative Republican that serves as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and was the first chair of the House Freedom Caucus, was voted by a majority of his fellow House Republicans to be their pick for the speakership Friday after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise wit8reallyhdrew his name from the race Thursday night.

He *really* wants the gig, maybe to the point of waging a "scorched earth" campaign for it.

From Politico -

Will Jim Jordan bully his way to the speakership?

Back in September 2016, Rep. Jim Jordan was on a crusade: He wanted the House to launch impeachment proceedings against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen over allegations that the agency had targeted conservatives.

But Jordan (R-Ohio) had a problem: GOP party leaders saw impeachment as a political loser and refused to even haul Koskinen in for questioning.Jordan wasn’t about to back down, however. He cornered then-House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) on the House floor and presented him with a choice: Either you summon Koskinen to the Hill or the Freedom Caucus forces a vote on his impeachment a few weeks before Election Day.

Jordan got his hearing.

That is one of many instances where the Ohio Republican used hardline tactics — or what some of his colleagues would call bullying — to get his way. He was so good at it, in fact, that POLITICO dubbed him the “other speaker of the House” at the time.

Jordan has his critics within the GOP caucus but he and his supporters plan to coerce/force his detractors into supporting him.

From The Hill -

Crenshaw says pressure campaign by Jordan is ‘dumbest way’ to support GOP nominee for Speaker

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) blasted some of his fellow Republicans for planning an online pressure campaign on behalf of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying that they will not get more votes backing him that way.

“So what I would really recommend to Jordan’s allies too, is a lot of them have mounted this high-pressure campaign,” Crenshaw said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They’re going to whip up Twitter against the people who are against Jordan.”

Crenshaw is pretty extreme himself but may be what passes for a decent human being in the modern GOP.

The Democrats is Congress are not the party of chaos.

However, they're not going to bail the Rs out of a mess of their own making.

Also from The Hill -

Jeffries suggests Dems won’t help nominate ‘extremist extraordinaire’ Jordan as Speaker

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Friday reiterated the need for bipartisanship amid the race for Speaker — but suggested the Republicans’ most recent choice wasn’t the answer.

House Republicans delivered Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) the second GOP nomination for the leadership role on Friday — a day after first choice and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew from the race.

The way that I see it, there are two possible ways for Democrats to vote in favor of a speaker candidate.

1. Gym Jordan (or whichever extremist will be nominated by the R caucus after him) stands in the well of the House and publicly kisses the butt of any Democrat who pledges to vote for him.  Or, if that doesn't happen (and it won't)

2.  Get behind Hakeem Jeffries, as in a few of the Republicans and all of the Democrats vote to make him Speaker.  While the Rs wouldn't like him, but they'd all dislike him, and the Rs are unable/unwilling to find someone they all like.

Dislike seems to be the best solution.

"Appearance of impropriety": a phase the AZ Supreme Court should take to heart

AZ government is routinely considered to be among the most corrupt in the U.S., at least among neutral observers.  And like a lot of political phenomena here, much of it is rooted in the legislature (I've seen too many bills that looked as if they were written by an industry lobbyist and given to a member to slap their name on as sponsor).

But that's OK, because the legislature writes the laws that say it is.

From Illinois State University's Institute for Corruption Studies

The thing is, it's not just legislators; their contempt for civil society and standards of behavior for (putative) public servants suffuses other branches of government.

From AZCentral, written by Richard Ruelas and Ray Stern, dated 10/12 - 

A state Supreme Court Justice and former Phoenix councilman had great seats at DBacks game. Who paid for them?

Fans of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona public officials wanted to know: Was that really state Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick and former Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio with the great seats behind home plate for Wednesday's epic game?

Indeed it was, as Bolick and DiCiccio confirmed. Which brings up another question: Who paid for the Bolicks' seats, which are among the most expensive at Chase Field?

The tickets may be bad enough, but hanging with someone like DiCiccio?

*Not* a good look for justices on the AZ Supreme Court.

Legislative schedule - week starting 10/15/2023

There are going to be lots of interim committee meetings at the Capitol this week; many/most of them will be all about propagating Republican propaganda.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday 10/16 

-

House Ad Hoc Committee on Oversight, Accountability and Big Tech meets at 9:30 a.m. in HHR3 to hear diatribes presentations on technology companies.

Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Water Security meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1.  They'll be reviewing/accepting presentations on bills from previous legislative sessions.

Arizona Off Highway Vehicle Study Committee meets at 1 p.m.in SHR1.  It's a joint committee.  The fix seems be in here - not only is one of the committee members is giving a presentation, that person is an industry executive.

Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Air Quality and Energy meets at 3 p.m. in SHR1.  This one looks to be focused on gasoline.

Also, the two reservations for community events at the Capitol look to be part of the "propaganda" theme.

On Friday, 10/20 

-

Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee meets at 8 a.m. in SHR1.  They'll meet to hear presentations from anti-vaxxers, including two from a lawyer who represents an anti-vaxxer group.

Oh, and the only testimony on the agenda is from a sports gambling writer who blames the Covid vaccine for her suffering a stroke.

What's not part of any meeting and/or agenda?

Fixing the state's budget.

Of course, the hole in the state budget is due to legislative irresponsibility so why should they start acting like responsible public servants now? 

Short Attention Span Musing

The "what you get when you put crooks in charge" edition.

...Maybe they can put it next to Ben Carson's $31K dining table.

From AP via Yahoo! -

Scrutiny of Arkansas governor's $19,000 lectern deepens after new records are released

New public records have widened questions over when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office planned to use Republican Party funds to reimburse the state for a $19,000 lectern, which was bought in June using a government credit card.

The Arkansas GOP paid for the lectern in September, but the words “to be reimbursed” were only added later to the original invoice, records released this week show. The undated reimbursement note adds to weeks of scrutiny over the purchase, which has dominated political talk in Arkansas.

...If only the oft-charged Ken Paxton had a sense of irony.

From the Texas Tribune -

Ken Paxton to file criminal complaints against Texas House impeachment managers

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday he plans to file criminal complaints against the group of state representatives who led the impeachment against him for releasing his personal information.

“The impeachment managers clearly have a desire to threaten me with harm when they released this information last week,” he said in a statement. “I'm imploring their local prosecutors in each individual district to investigate the criminal offenses that have been committed.”

The 12 House representatives being targeted by Paxton led the impeachment trial in the Senate after the House overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton in May. Last month the Senate acquitted Paxton of 16 articles of impeachment that alleged corruption and bribery.

...Should we all pitch in to buy Steve Scalise a hair shirt?

From CNN -

Steve Scalise picked as GOP speaker nominee, but struggles to lock down votes to win the gavel

House Republicans picked Rep. Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker on Wednesday, but the Louisiana Republican lacks the votes needed to win the gavel and it remains unclear whether he will be able to win over holdouts.

Republicans are now worried that Scalise is facing grim prospects of becoming speaker as he confronts opposition within the ranks, a situation that threatens to prolong the GOP’s leadership crisis following Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.

Do I believe that Scalise is a better human being than Gym Jordan?  Yes.  If only because he hasn't enabled and protected a sexual predator.

To the best of my knowledge, anyway.

On the other hand, he's still a lousy human being.

...Speaking of lousy human beings...

Does ignoring part of your job and actively working against the interests of your employers count as a voluntary resignation?

In his ads touting school vouchers to siphon money from public schools to private pockets., Arizona's Tom Horne refers to himself as the state's "superintendent of schools."  [edited] Actually, he campaigned for and won the office of "superintendent of public instruction".

Yes, I believe that elected office is a job like any other.

[Note - edited on 10/12 - I heard the spot again.  He said "schools", not "education", as I originally wrote.  Of course, "public" is still not part of his mindset.

The original text - 

]

Impeachment: no longer an anti-corruption or anti-criminality tool

Rs view it as a power retention tool

From AP via Yahoo! -

Impeachments and forced removals from office emerge as partisan weapons in the states

Republicans in Wisconsin are threatening to impeach a recently elected state Supreme Court justice and raised the possibility of doing the same to the state’s election director.

A Georgia Republican called for impeaching the Fulton County prosecutor who brought racketeering charges against former President Donald Trump. Republicans in the Pennsylvania House have already impeached the top prosecutor in Philadelphia.

None of the targets met the bar traditionally set for impeachment — credible allegations of committing a crime while in office. Their offense: staking out positions legislative Republicans didn’t like.

To the best of my knowledge, only one Arizona elected official has been been impeached - then-Governor Evan Mecham.

Former Governor Fife Symington resigned upon conviction on multiple criminal charges before he could be impeached.

That's it, though I expect that would change if the Rs had a supermajority in the state senate.

McCarthy makes his case...for being Cheeto's running mate

Certainly not as a decent human being, but that would utterly disqualify him from being one of Cheeto's hangers on.

However, he's got the "petty, vindictive, and cowardly" part of the job description down pat, to the point where the Rs who voted against him may be thinking that they'd change their votes if only he were like them all the time.

From CNN, dated 10/4 -

McCarthy behind move to kick Pelosi out of her office, sources say – so he can move into it

Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN.

GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.

She didn't even vote to depose McCarthy; she didn't vote to keep him, either.  She was out of town, escorting the body of a friend, Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

From the vote to depose McCarthy -

Yes, McCarthy didn't even have the fortitude to face the target of his ire.  Nope, he did dirt to someone who did nothing to him but waited until she was a continent away to do it.

Basically, he exhibited the epitome of cowardice.

But it's not just him; it's the entire GOP caucus.

From The Hill, dated 10/4 -

House GOP takes revenge on Democrats after McCarthy ousting

Allies of toppled former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are fuming at Democrats for failing to back him amid his historic ejection — leaving Democrats arguing the GOP has no one to blame but themselves.

Republican ire hasn’t just been centered on the eight members of their own conference who ignited and backed the vote to oust McCarthy, but also the Democrats who voted in unison to remove him.

No has explained why members of the Democratic caucus should be thought of as responsible for fixing the Republicans' mess. 

The Rs (including McCarthy) *chose* to embrace and empower their most radical members; that's on them.  

They made this mess; they need to clean it up.

I'm not a Biblical person, but this reminds me of a saying taken from Hosea 8:7, emphasis added by them..

In other House Speaker news, Cheeto has endorsed one of the Rs who are declared candidates for the speakership.

From AP -

Donald Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Former President Donald Trump is backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site early Friday. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

Not surprising the someone deemed liable for raping someone thinks so highly of someone noted for using his position to protect sexual predators.

Get your popcorn out, and fasten your seatbelts - this is shaping up to be an entertaining but bumpy ride.

Federal Committees update

From the website of the FEC -

Republican Lake is failed 2022 candidate for Governor who's running for the US Senate seat currently held by former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.   The FEC filing only makes official something that all observers already knew.  My guess is that the only real difference this will make is that there won't be any more (planted?) stories about how she's "considering" a run.

Republican Winn is a former senior campaign staffer for current State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.  She's running is CD6, currently held by Republican Juan Ciscomani, setting up a primary.

Republican Jasser is running in CD4 for the seat currently held by Democrat Greg Stanton.  He's best known as a Muslim who hates other Muslims.

Democrat Newman seems to be a quixotic candidate for POTUS.