Tag: republicans

Bipartisan Vote Blocks CISA Budget Cut Despite Speech Censorship Concerns

104 Republicans and 198 Democrats voted to uphold a proposed budget increase for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the defense appropriations bill. Representative Andrew Clyde from Georgia proposed an amendment to freeze CISA’s funding at its 2024 level, which would reduce the budget by just over 2% to $2,379,485,00. During a forceful speech on the House floor, Clyde criticized the agency for misusing its resources to suppress dissenting opinions.

The vote came just following the Supreme Court siding with the Biden administration’s partnership with tech giants to encourage the suppression of social media content, overturning the injunction by alleging that the case lacked standing.

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Rep. Neil Friske released from jail amid investigation into sexual assault, gun charges

State Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, who was arrested early Thursday morning following a disturbance in Lansing that involved a firearm and a possible sexual assault, was released from the Lansing police lockup late Friday morning as Ingham County prosecutors continue to investigate possible charges against him.

Friske, 62, declined comment as he left the Lansing police station with his attorney, Edwar Zeineh of Lansing. Friske then drove away as a passenger in a red pickup truck.

“This is a case that is getting our full attention to show actual innocence,” Zeineh told the Free Press.

Records the Free Press obtained Friday through the online Michigan State Police criminal background service, the Internet Criminal History Access Tool, show Lansing police requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault, and a weapons-related offense against Friske. The lawmaker has not been charged or arraigned and it is not clear those are the charges he will ultimately face.

In a Friday news release, Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane’s Office said it has requested Lansing police to continue its investigation, and prosecutors are coordinating with law enforcement on the matter.

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Allegations of Election Fraud Rock Lynchburg, Virginia Republican Primary — Poll Watchers Claim Obstruction in Mail-In Ballot Processing, Broken Seals, and Unsupervised Ballot Counting

The integrity of the Republican primary in Lynchburg has been called into question following a series of alleged procedural breaches.

The campaigns of Peter Alexander and Chris Faraldi, both candidates in the June 18th primary for City Council in Ward 4, have reported multiple irregularities, including issues with mail-in ballots and potential breaches in the chain of custody.

According to the Lynchburg City Registrar, the race remains too close to call, with incumbent Chris Faraldi holding a narrow lead of 21 votes over Peter Alexander for the Ward 4 seat.

There are concerns about the Lynchburg Republican primary center on several key issues. Primarily, there are significant concerns regarding the chain-of-custody of ballots collected from drop boxes.

Additionally, absentee ballot processing began before observers were permitted to monitor the process. Records also show that ballot box seals were broken before observers could watch, suggesting potential tampering or mishandling of ballots.

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MSM Defames MAGA Michigan State Rep. – Media Caught Lying about 3AM Stripper Shootout

Rep. Neil Friske is one of the most conservative pro-Trump members of the Michigan House of Representatives, and last night was arrested for alleged assault in the state capital, Lansing.

Immediately the accusation was salacious: the mainstream media claimed that Rep. Friske fired gunshots at a stripper shortly before 3 A.M. after a dispute. The implication was that Rep. Friske met the woman at a south Lansing strip club, Deja Vu, and brought her home for sex, and then during a dispute started shooting at her and chased her down the road. This was what the media pushed through its disinformation networks.

But of course none of that is true.

Friske has told several sources that he was awoken at his home to a 3 A.M. robbery, saw an intruder, and started shooting. The robber was trying to take a briefcase as they fled, and the briefcase was left by the police on the lawn of his residence. Friske said it was likely the briefcase was simply left by police on the lawn. He was arrested and has been unable to make any public statement so far.

The media ran with a bogus, obviously-untrue story, because it hurt a conservative and they knew Friske was silenced by virtue of being in jail.

Friske is widely known in Lansing to never drink alcohol, and is known as a soft spoken, pleasant, and upstanding legislator. The idea that he would be drunkenly paying a hooker at 3 A.M. and then shooting her in the street is completely out of character.

Here are left-wing fake news disinformation outlets that are quietly changing their story: Detroit Free Press, MLive, Bridge Magazine, Detroit News.

But the damage was done. The smear has been made. The narrative has been set. Friske, unable to offer any other side to the story because he was being held without bail, has been unable to say anything while the media spun these lies against him.

The lies started with unreliable and dishonest MIRS News, which is a Capitol-focused blog whose audience is almost exclusively legislators, quoted anonymous sources as saying the Friske incident involved a stripper.

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Most Consumable Hemp-Based Cannabinoid Products Would Be Banned Under Another GOP Committee’s New Bill

A GOP-led House committee has put forward a large-scale spending bill that contains language that would effectively ban most consumable hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including delta-8 THC and CBD items containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies posted the text of the legislation on Monday—just one day before a scheduled vote.

If enacted into law, cannabinoids that are “synthesized or manufactured outside of the plant” would no longer meet the definition of legal hemp.

The language is virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee late last month via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL).

The proposed ban faced sizable pushback from the hemp industry, though certain key marijuana businesses have joined prohibitionists in supporting the proposed policy change.

Many observers expect that the timeline for advancing the Farm Bill will be pushed back until next year, however, so the hemp provision’s inclusion in a must-pass spending bill raises the stakes for hemp industry advocates.

Supporters of the ban have described the language as a fix to a “loophole” that was created under the 2018 Farm Bill that federally legalized hemp.

While they’ve focused on the need to address public safety concerns related to unregulated “intoxicating” cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC, some hemp industry advocates say the effect of the proposed language could be a ban on virtually all non-intoxicating CBD products as well, as most on the market contain at least trace levels of THC, consistent with the Farm Bill definition of hemp that allows for up to 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.

Hemp industry stakeholders have recognized that there’s a need to address legitimate concerns related to the unregulated market that’s proliferated since hemp was federally legalized, but the solution they’ve put forward is to enact strategic regulations to ensure product safety and prevent youth access.

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Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz wants Congress to OK killing rare whale

Of all the movies ever made in Florida — “Body Heat,” “Cocoon,” and “Spring Breakers,” to name a few — the one with the oddest concept was “The Truman Show.”

Jim Carrey plays a man with a sunny disposition who has no idea that secret cameras are recording every moment of his life for the entertainment of millions.

“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night,” he’d cheerfully tell his neighbors, not realizing they were actors.

This movie was filmed in a seaside Florida town named Seaside. The town is real, not a movie set. I know someone who grew up in the house that Carrey’s character occupied in the movie, and so do you. His name is Matt Gaetz, and he’s the pompadoured U.S. congressman representing a chunk of the Panhandle.

Lately, though, Gaetz, R-Venmo, seems to be copying a much dourer fictional character. He’s been styling himself after Captain Ahab from “Moby Dick.”

He’s set a course to take out a whale. Or several.

Not a white whale, of course. No, he wants to harm the rarest whale on earth.

The Rice’s whale is the only one that lives entirely in the Gulf of Mexico. The species, discovered only recently, is definitely endangered. Scientists estimate that there are fewer than 100 of them — maybe as few as 51.

And Gaetz wants Congress to OK the military bombing the heck out of them.

Even though the military doesn’t want to do that.

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GOP Congressman Will Attempt To Remove Marijuana Banking Protections From Spending Bill Due To ‘Overwhelming’ Concerns

A GOP congressman says he’s “overwhelmingly concerned” with a provision of a spending bill that would provide limited protections for banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses, and he’s threatening to file an amendment to strip the language as the underlying measure advances.

During a markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations measure on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) spoke out against the cannabis banking section, which subcommittee chairman Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) secured in the base bill.

“I understand it’s not in order to propose amendments at this level, but I certainly intend to raise that issue at the appropriate time,” Edwards said, signaling that he will propose an amendment to remove the section in the full committee or on the floor.

He said that the proposal is not germane to an appropriations bill because, he argues, it is “an affirmative authorization disguised as a limitation” on the spending of funds. But his primary contention is with the policy substance of the measure, which would prevent federal regulators covered under the FSGG bill from using their funding to penalize financial institutions that service state cannabis businesses.

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Neocon Nikki Signs Israeli Bombs Urging Israel To Kill Palestinian Civilians

Just when you thought “Neocon Nikki” could not sink any lower, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has posted on Twitter/X a deeply disturbing photo of former Republican presidential candidate – and reportedly in the running for Trump’s VP pick – in Israel signing bombs destined for Palestinian refugees living in tents in Rafah with the slogan, “FINISH THEM!”

Just one day after the Israeli military incinerated untold scores of Palestinian refugees in Rafah and after the International Court of Justice demanded that Israel stop its offensive against civilians, Nikki Haley urges the Israeli regime to “finish” the job of killing Palestinians.

You can despise Hamas if you wish, but if you call yourself “conservative” or especially “pro-life” it should go without saying that urging a foreign military – fully underwritten by the US government through the involuntary “contributions” of the US taxpayer – to “FINISH” families displaced in tent encampments after their homes have already been destroyed, is the epitome of endorsing mass murder.

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Vermont’s Republican Governor Allows Ban on ‘Ghost Guns’ to Become Law

Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott has allowed a ban on “ghost guns” to become law without his signature.

The bill, S.209, prohibits Vermont residents from possessing “unserialized firearms,” such as those created with 3D printers or kits purchased online.

According to a report from VT Digger, “The legislation does not prohibit home-built guns, but it does require that a Vermonter with an unserialized gun take it to a licensed firearms dealer, who can then conduct a proper background check and inscribe a serial number onto the weapon. It also establishes higher penalties for anyone who commits a crime while in possession of an unserialized firearm.”

While allowing the bill to become law on Tuesday, Governor Scott wrote a letter to legislatures saying he was allowing it to become law because, “As a public safety measure, I agree firearms should be serialized.”

Gov. Scott’s letter concluded, “Again, while my concerns on the practical impacts and enforceability keep me from signing this bill, I’m allowing it to go into law because I understand the fears behind access to untraceable firearms and respect the effort to tailor the scope and exceptions to limit impact for law abiding citizens.”

“To allow a bill to go into law without a signature is a middle-ground approach available to the governor — in between striking it down with a veto and endorsing it with a signature” VT Digger noted. “Scott holds the record for issuing the most gubernatorial vetoes in state history: 46.”

The bill was strongly opposed by Second Amendment defending organizations, including the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.

Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs President Chris Bradley told VT Digger that the group would let its current lawsuits challenging Vermont’s ban on high-capacity magazines and the state’s waiting period laws play out in court before challenging other “unconstitutional laws.”

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House votes to punish Biden for pausing some bombs for Israel

The Israel Security Assistance Support Act that passed the House on Thursday is primarily a messaging and political bill — one aimed at emphasizing Republican support for Israel and dividing Democrats between those who want to support President Joe Biden’s decision to pause the delivery of a shipment of bombs to Israel and those who prefer to maintain Washington’s unconditional support for Tel Aviv’s war.

Despite reports that up to 40 Democrats could go against Biden and support the bill, in the end, only 16 voted for it. Three Republicans — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — joined with the rest of the Democratic caucus in opposition.

To be sure, if the legislation — led by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) — were to become law, it would be consequential, as it would restrict the budgets of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council if Biden doesn’t deliver the withheld weapons. But after Biden pledged to veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk, senate Democratic leadership said it would not it take up.

There are plenty of policy, political, and legal reasons to oppose the legislation.

“Congressman Calvert’s bill would wipe away decades of US law and policy that set clear human rights and humanitarian standards for all recipients of US weapons. No country — including Israel — should get special exemptions from these standards,” John Ramming Chappel of the Center for Civilians in Conflict said in a press release on Tuesday. “No legislator who cares about human rights or the rule of law should support this proposal.”

“Under this bill, it may not be possible for the U.S. to even debate whether or not arms should be provided to units that have committed gross violations of human rights, and would seem to suggest that the U.S. cannot deny anything Israel might request, however inappropriate, from cluster bombs to ballistic missiles,” added former State Department official Josh Paul.

But some Democrats who oppose passage have instead argued that it would restrict the president’s ability to freely conduct foreign policy.

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