Republican Representative George Santos of New York was expelled from the House of Representatives on Friday of last week. The vote was 311-114-2-8. This was the third attempt at expulsion, (keep in mind that Santos didn’t take his seat until January of this year). I’d like to list the 112 Republicans who voted to keep Santos in office. 8 (split 5-3 Republicans to Democrats) did not vote; I’ll comment one on. Then I’d like to explore the motivation for some of the votes. (Even a political junkie like me isn’t comfortable ascribing motivations to many of the back benchers.) Totally perplexing to me are the two Democrats who voted “Present”.
Tag Archives: Ben Cline
The Anti Democracy Party
On September 21, 2022 the House voted on the Presidential Election Reform Act. Basically, it plugs many of the loopholes that Donald Trump tried to exploit to overturn the free and fair election he lost in 2020. The vote was 229 in favor, 203 opposed and one not voting. Nine Republicans joined all 220 Democrats who voted in voting for the resolution. The nine Republicans who also voted for democracy are all leaving Congress at the end of this term. All 203 of the other Republicans (most of whom are on the 2022 ballot) voted against the resolution and in the process American democracy.
213 Dangers
America has a gun problem. If you don’t realize that you are either of extremely limited mental capacity or haven’t been paying attention. If you are also a member of Congress you are a danger to American society and Americans.
No Guardrails
Today I’m approaching the Republicans’ assault on the First Amendment from a different angle. The right to free speech comes with responsibilities and guardrails. The current House GOP caucus either doesn’t understand that and/or is too cowardly to stand up for it (and by extension America). Continue reading No Guardrails
Don’t Let Them Take Credit
As it turns out my selection for the biggest American political story of last week may indeed have been a bit premature. Very late Friday night the House passed a $ trillion+ infrastructure package that the Senate had previously passed and the President is certain to sign into law (if he hasn’t already by the time you read this). It was sausage making at its best (or should I say worst?). The real issue is that it may (hopefully) still be an incomplete story. Today I want to focus on one of my political pet peeves – the hypocrisy of many elected officials.