Perspectives; Thoughts; Comments; Opinions; Discussions

Posts tagged ‘speaker’

GOP Slams Biden’s $7.3T Budget, $5.5T in Tax Hikes


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Monday, 11 March 2024 01:49 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/house-gop-leadership/2024/03/11/id/1156805/

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House GOP leadership members say President Joe Biden’s proposed 2025 fiscal year budget “is a roadmap to accelerate America’s decline.”

Biden on Monday unveiled a $7.3 trillion spending wish list that is as much an election-year pitch to voters — one that slams Republicans and former President Donald Trump by name — as it is a policy proposal.

“The price tag of President Biden’s proposed budget is yet another glaring reminder of this Administration’s insatiable appetite for reckless spending and the Democrats’ disregard for fiscal responsibility,” Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said in a joint statement.

“Biden’s budget doesn’t just miss the mark — it is a roadmap to accelerate America’s decline.”

It has been widely reported Biden wants to raise $5.5 trillion in tax on corporations and high earners during the next decade, the 2025 budget showed. That would help cut the federal deficit and pay for new programs to assist those who make less cope with high housing and child care costs, according to The Associated Press.

“While hardworking Americans struggle with crushing inflation and mounting national debt, the President would increase their pain to spend trillions of additional taxpayer dollars to advance his left-wing agenda,” the GOP leaders said in their statement.

They added that the House Republican Conference has “taken action to steer our nation back to a path of fiscal sanity.”

“Our efforts to rein in the runaway spending spree from last year’s budget have already yielded results, lowering projected deficits by $2.6 trillion over the next decade,” they said in the statement.

“The House’s budget plan for the next fiscal year, preceding the President’s proposal, reflects the values of hardworking Americans who know that in tough economic times, fiscal discipline is non-negotiable. House Republicans understand the American people expect and deserve nothing less from their government.”

Although Biden released his proposed 2025 budget, Congress has yet to pass full funding for federal agencies for the current fiscal year. House Republicans on Thursday issued a plan that aims to balance the federal budget within a decade by cutting $14 trillion in federal spending, including green energy subsides and student loan forgiveness, while reducing taxes. The White House, though, called that plan unworkable.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which provides independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process, released a Feb. 7 report that offered a budget and economic outlook for 2024 to 2034. In CBO’s projections, federal budget deficits total $20 trillion over the 2025–2034 period and federal debt held by the public reaches 116 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Charlie McCarthy ✉

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Biden: House GOP ‘Walking Away’ From Russian Threat


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Monday, 19 February 2024 02:43 PM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/joe-biden-house-gop/2024/02/19/id/1154161/

President Joe Biden on Monday accused House Republicans of “walking away from the threat of Russia.”

While walking gingerly in the cold from Marine One and across the White House lawn with first lady Jill Biden, Biden briefly stopped to answer a couple of reporters’ questions, as seen on C-SPAN. After saying he’d be willing to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Biden then was asked whether he would “go as far as to say that Alexei Navalny’s blood is on the hands of House Republicans right now?”

Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison Friday, Russia’s prison agency said. Biden later blamed Putin for Navalny’s death and warned there could be consequences, saying he was “not surprised” but “outraged” by the opposition leader’s passing.

Conservative lawmakers have refused to support aid to Ukraine until Biden and Democrats agree to stricter border security measures to deal with the migrant crisis.

The president on Monday said the GOP is “making a big mistake” regarding Russia.

“The way they’re walking away from the threat of Russia, the way they’re walking away from NATO, the way they’re walking away from meeting our obligations, it’s just shocking. I mean, they’re wild. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Biden said.

The reporter followed up to ask whether Navalny’s death might nudge the House Republicans to take up Ukraine aid.

“I hope so, but I’m not sure anything’s going to change,” he said.

Another reporter asked whether the president was looking into imposing sanctions against Russia following Navalny’s death.

“We already have sanctions but we are considering additional sanctions, yes,” he said before turning and walking toward the White House.

The Democrat-led Senate on Tuesday passed a $95.34 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Taiwan. A $66.3 billion bipartisan House bill to fund military aid to those countries and tighten border security was unveiled Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Charlie McCarthy ✉

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

Category:

International Politics

Tagged with:

Speaker Johnson, GOP Members Visit Southern Border


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Wednesday, 03 January 2024 09:09 AM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/speaker-mike-johnson-republicans/2024/01/03/id/1148040/

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and more than 60 House Republicans are visiting the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday in an attempt to raise awareness of the ongoing migrant crisis under President Joe Biden. Johnson and his fellow conference members will visit Eagle Pass, Texas, and are expected to demand that Biden and the Democrats agree to strict new immigration policies to stop the flow of migrants into the country, The New York Times reported.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics show that in November there were 242,418 migrant encounters. That’s the third-highest official number since the crisis began in late January 2021. A CBP source told Newsmax on Monday that in December there were about 302,000 encounters at the southern border, surpassing the monthly record of 269,735 set in September.

The lawmakers’ visit to the border comes as Senate Republicans and Democrats struggle to reach an agreement on an emergency spending bill that would send more than $50 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

House Republicans and some GOP Senate members have demanded sweeping immigration changes in exchange for their support of the supplemental legislation.

“This situation requires significant policy changes and House Republicans will continue advocating for real solutions that actually secure our border,” Johnson said Tuesday in a post on X.

A spokesperson for the speaker said Biden has been “derelict in his duty to protect” the border.

“While the president requests more funds — not to stop illegal immigration — but to process more illegal immigrants through their ‘catch and release’ policy, he has undermined security at every turn,” spokesperson Raj Shah said, Politico reported.

“From his decision to rescind the Remain in Mexico policy to the widespread abuse of the parole and asylum systems, there is a direct line between this administration’s reckless policies and the record 300,000 illegal immigrants encountered at the Southern border last month.”

The White House, meanwhile, is placing blame for the migrant surge on the GOP. Biden’s team has argued that Republicans have rejected a supplemental funding package that included money to hire new border agents, asylum officers, and immigration judges, as well as technology to combat the flow of fentanyl, Politico reported.

“On Day One, President Biden proposed a comprehensive immigration reform plan and followed up by delivering record border security funding every single year of his term,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.

“House Republicans have obstructed his reform proposal and consistently voted against his unprecedented border security funding year after year, hamstringing our border security in the name of extreme, partisan demands.”

However, a Pew Research Center survey late last year found that only 32% of U.S. adults were confident in the president’s ability to make “wise decisions about immigration policy.”

Charlie McCarthy | editorial.mccarthy@newsmax.com

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

Related Stories:

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Rolling Stone Dishonestly Demonizes Speaker Mike Johnson for Protecting His Son from Porn


BY: JORDAN BOYD | NOVEMBER 06, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/11/06/rolling-stone-dishonestly-demonizes-speaker-mike-johnson-for-protecting-his-son-from-porn/

Mike Johnson

Author Jordan Boyd profile

JORDAN BOYD

VISIT ON TWITTER@JORDANBOYDTX

MORE ARTICLES

Rolling Stone published an article over the weekend vilifying Speaker Mike Johnson for being a Christian who actively protects his teenage son from the damaging effects of porn. In the clip scrutinized by Rolling Stone, Johnson readily explains to a crowd at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana, that he uses a subscription-based accountability software called Covenant Eyes to notify him if his son views vile imagery and sexual content online.

Johnson testified to the efficacy of Covenant Eyes by noting that Jack has “a clean slate” and does not appear to regularly view internet porn, something that can’t be said for 73 percent of his son’s teenage peers.

The speaker’s attempt to protect himself and his son from content that negatively affects sexual and mental development is admirable parenting and often hailed as best practice in evangelical circles around the country.

Rolling Stone, however, led its article by dishonestly accusing Johnson and his son of “monitor[ing] each other’s porn intake,” of which Johnson already indicated there was none. The publication then framed Johnson’s vigilance as “creepy Big Brother-ness” that matched his track record as a “faith-obsessed, election-denying, far-right Christian nationalist” with a staunch belief in traditional marriage and in the sanctity of life in the womb.

The publication tried to suggest that the scorn it directed at the Louisiana native is rooted in concerns that the third-party technology company “might ‘compromise’ Johnson’s devices.”

But Rolling Stone’s use of the word “admits” in its headline reveals the paper’s belief that Johnson’s preventative actions should be viewed as villainous and something worth hiding.

According to corporate media like Rolling Stone, faithful Christians like Johnson (or even former Vice President Mike Pence) who participating in normal Christian practices are “faith-obsessed” and “far-right Christian nationalist[s].”

Just weeks after dogpiling on the new speaker for living out his faith, leftist mouthpieces, Democrat strategists, and Biden ad writers quickly amplified the publication’s unfair framing and even used it to insinuate that Johnson is a pervert.

Rolling Stone routinely publishes articles lamenting the “Christian right” and evangelical conservatives like Johnson.

The publication’s latest attack on the speaker of the House, however, proves Rolling Stone understands nothing about the voting bloc that it blames for helping former President Donald Trump get elected.

Rolling Stone did not immediately respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

Category:

Media

Tagged with:

Trump Congratulates Johnson: ‘Will Be Great Speaker’


By Sandy Fitzgerald    |   Wednesday, 25 October 2023 03:13 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/trump-mike-johnson-house/2023/10/25/id/1139653/

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday added his name to the list of people congratulating newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who secured the gavel through a unanimous party-line vote, ending the weekslong impasse to pick a new speaker after the ouster earlier this month of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the seat.

“Congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson,” Trump posted on his Truth Social page, shortly after the House vote. “He will be a GREAT “SPEAKER.” MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump earlier Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans to vote for Johnson and end the leadership fight.

“My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!” Trump wrote in a post.

Johnson’s nomination came Tuesday, marking the fourth person to be nominated for the leadership seat. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was nominated earlier in the day but dropped his bid, leaving the candidacy open for Johnson.

Trump, though, said he would not make an endorsement in the speakership race after offering his congratulations to other candidates, including “Reps. Byron Donalds (Florida), Charles J. ‘Chuck’ Fleischmann (Tennessee), Mark Green (Tennessee), & Roger Williams (Texas), & the ultimate winner of yesterday’s vote, by a significant margin, Mike Johnson (Louisiana).”

He said all of them had supported him “in both mind and spirit, from the very beginning of our GREAT 2016 Victory and commented that “In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more important, WIN!”

Sandy Fitzgerald | editorial.fitzgerald@newsmax.com

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

USA Today/Suffolk Poll: Two-Thirds Want Quick Speaker Decision


By Charles Kim    |   Monday, 23 October 2023 02:22 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/poll-speaker-congress/2023/10/23/id/1139321/

A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll determined that 2 out of 3 U.S. voters want Congress to quickly elect a new speaker of the House to prevent a government shutdown and provide aid to Israel and Ukraine. According to the survey, 67.1% of voters want a new speaker elected “as soon as possible” to ensure immediate funding needs are met, with 24.7% saying they didn’t care. Another 8.2% said they were undecided on the issue. According to Suffolk University, the poll was conducted with 1,000 registered voters in the United States from Oct. 17-20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

“We got to have a speaker, [but] I don’t think we’re going to have anybody soon,” George Ramge, 72, of San Diego, a building contractor and political independent told USA Today in the survey. “There’s a lot of Hollywood politicians out there getting their time on TV, and I don’t think they’re really serving the people’s purpose.”

Maryland Democrat Carl Hickey, 85, agreed with Ramge.

“They need to be functioning, and that’s the only way they’re going to function,” the retired Methodist minister said in the report.

Despite political differences, large majorities favored a quick resolution to the speaker dilemma with 86% of Democrats, 57% of Republicans and 59% of independents saying they want a speaker elected quickly.

“How often do you see Democrats, Republicans, and independents agree on anything in D.C.?” said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center. “Look at every demographic: gender, geography, age, race, education level, income, political philosophy, even those who trust CNN vs. Fox News. They are all speaking the same seven words in unison: ‘Elect a speaker and do your job.’ “

Former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was voted out of the seat earlier this month 216-210 with all Democrats joining eight Republicans to oust him. Potential successors House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, could not gather the 217-vote majority required to win the position during several rounds of balloting, the report said.

The poll also found 61% of voters want Congress to reach a deal and not cause the government to shut down after a Nov. 17 deadline.

“I mean, don’t we live in a bipartisan world?” said Desiree Whitney, 64, of Boerne, Texas, an independent who voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020. “Why should it stop, you know, at our government, or does it begin there? I mean, it’s all about negotiations.”

Charles Kim | editorial.kim@newsmax.com

Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Jim Jordan Revives Fight, Will Hold 3rd Vote for Speaker


Thursday, 19 October 2023 03:36 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/jordan-third-speaker/2023/10/19/id/1138949/

WASHINGTON — Hardline conservative Jim Jordan vowed to continue his floundering bid for speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, after his fellow Republicans abandoned a backup plan to allow the leaderless chamber to resume business. Jordan, who has lost two votes for speaker this week, emerged from an hours-long closed door meeting with fellow Republicans to say he would press ahead with a third vote.

“I’m still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race,” Jordan told reporters.

Republicans told Newsmax that Jordan is pushing for a third speaker vote at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. ET.

According to lawmakers in the room, Jordan had earlier said he would pause his speaker bid and called on them to extend the authority of Representative Patrick McHenry. McHenry has been acting speaker since Oct. 3, when a small group of party members ousted Kevin McCarthy.

But many Republicans objected to that proposal.

The House’s leadership vacuum has prevented Congress from acting on urgent legislative business.

Democratic President Joe Biden is expected to ask Congress this week to approve as much as $60 billion for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel, and funding for U.S. government operations is due to expire in less than a month.

Jordan has twice failed to secure the 217 votes needed to claim the speaker’s gavel as he has faced opposition from Democrats and more than 20 of his fellow Republicans.

Republicans who have voted against him the first two times have predicted he will also fail on a third vote.

The prolonged leadership battle has laid bare divisions among Republicans who control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 margin. Investors say the turmoil on Capitol Hill is also contributing to market volatility.

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Jordan Loses 2nd Ballot, 22 Republicans Vote Against Him


Wednesday, 18 October 2023 01:31 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/politics/jim-jordan-speaker-lose/2023/10/18/id/1138782/

Jordan Loses 2nd Ballot, 22 Republicans Vote Against Him
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, listens as the House of Representatives holds its second round of voting for House speaker.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Conservative Jim Jordan failed in his second attempt at the top job in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, as his fellow Republicans considered a backup option for the leaderless chamber to move forward.

Jordan, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, for a second straight day fell short of the 217 votes needed to fill the vacant speaker’s chair, as 22 Republicans and all 212 Democrats voted against him.

The House is now in its 16th day without a leader, which has left Congress unable to respond to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, or to take action to head off a partial government shutdown which will begin in less than a month without congressional action.

Jordan’s vote total of 199 was less than the 200 Republican votes he secured on Tuesday.

Republicans who control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 majority have been unable to unite behind a speaker candidate since a small faction of them ousted Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3.

It was not immediately clear whether Jordan would mount a third attempt or clear the way for a fallback option that would give increased power to Rep. Patrick McHenry, who has been temporarily filling the speaker’s chair.

The idea has been floated by Republicans and Democrats, as well as two former Republican speakers, Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.

“We’ve got to decide today,” Jordan told reporters before the vote. “Both questions should be called. Let’s get an answer. We’ve been at this two weeks. The American people deserve to have their government functioning.”

One proposal submitted by Republican Representative Mike Kelly would name McHenry as speaker through Nov. 17 or until a permanent speaker is selected, which would remove uncertainty about his current ability to run the chamber. That temporary solution could also buy more time for Jordan to line up support for the job after that point.

Democrats, whose support would likely be crucial, have made clear they want Jordan out of the picture. “We want a bipartisan path forward. That does not involve Jim Jordan, who is a poster child for Republican extremism and a danger to our democracy,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday.

Jordan’s supporters say he would be an effective advocate for advancing conservative priorities in Washington, where Democrats control the White House and the Senate.

“I don’t think anybody in here on any issue of any substance would have to guess where Jim Jordan is going to stand. He doesn’t deceive. He doesn’t dissemble. He simply tells you straight up,” Republican Representative Tom Cole said as he nominated Jordan for speaker ahead of the vote.

But other Republicans have voted against him for a variety of reasons, including his positions on taxes, spending and disaster aid, and the strong-arm tactics of his supporters.

New Republican alternatives aside from McHenry could also emerge if Jordan does not pick up support. Potential candidates include Representative Tom Emmer, currently the No. 3 House Republican.

Jordan, a former wrestling coach, is a close ally of former President Donald Trump and a founder of the House Freedom Caucus.

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Fireside Chat

A.F. BRANCO | on May 24, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-fireside-chat/

Strong house conservatives continue to hold Speaker McCarthy’s feet to the fire on the debt ceiling fight.

Holding McCarthy’s Feet to the Fire
Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

McCarthy: Too ‘Far Apart’ for Debt Deal by Weekend


By Eric Mack    |   Monday, 15 May 2023 02:37 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/debt-ceiling-talks-house/2023/05/15/id/1119869/

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blasted President Joe Biden for being disingenuous and failing to negotiate on the House-passed debt ceiling package, saying time is running out and Biden wants debt default more than a deal.

“I still think it’s far apart,” McCarthy told a reporter Monday while walking through the Capitol Building. “It doesn’t seem to me yet they want a deal. It just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting, but they aren’t talking anything serious.”

McCarthy cited the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report released recently that was forced to raise the debt estimates from the February report.

“In the meantime, we just watched the CBO come out and say we’re $100 billion further in debt,” McCarthy said. “It seems more like they want a default than a deal to me.”

Time is running out to reach a deal before the June warning of surpassing the debt limit and sending the U.S. into debt default for the first time.

“I think we’ve got to have a deal done by this weekend to have a timeline to be able to pass it in both houses,” McCarthy said.

Related Stories:

© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud