Politics

Republicans Rant About Prices At Posh RNC Venue

The Huffington Post reports: Any grassroots Republican activists thinking about heading to the party’s winter meeting to lobby members ahead of Friday’s election for chair should probably check their credit card limits. Rooms at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach resort, where the Republican National Committee is holed up this week, start at $1,283 for Wednesday night, with a AAA discount, …

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Anti-Vax Doctor Launches Bid For Mississippi Governor

The Associated Press reports: A Mississippi doctor who leads a group of physicians opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates has filed paperwork to challenge Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves in the state’s Republican primary. Dr. John Witcher is the only Republican other than Reeves who has entered the gubernatorial primary so far. He’s best known for founding Mississippi Against Mandates, a group …

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Nearly 1M Floridians Set To Lose Medicaid Coverage

The Miami Herald reports: Almost a million Floridians are slated to lose their Medicaid coverage starting in April once the federal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end. Florida is one of 11 states that did not expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, which means tens of thousands of Florida families are expected to fall into the Medicaid access gap. …

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Jacksonville Outlaws Unapproved Building Projections

The Jacksonville Daily Record reports: To stop a recent string of antisemitic displays, Jacksonville City Council approved legislation at midnight Jan. 25 making it illegal for anyone to project messages on private structures without the owner’s consent. The Council voted 18-1 to approve emergency Ordinance 2023-0044. It says “projections of text, graphics, logos, or artwork onto a building, structure or …

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McCarthy Boots Schiff And Swalwell From Intel Panel

The New York Times reports: Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday unilaterally exiled Representatives Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee, making good on a longstanding threat to expel the California Democrats in his first major act of partisan retribution since taking the majority. The move was a much-anticipated tit-for-tat after Democrats, then in the majority, voted …

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RNC To Consider Condemning Prominent Anti-Semites

Politico reports: Republican National Committee members are set to vote on a resolution this week condemning not just antisemitism, but Ye, better known as Kanye West, and other conservative provocateurs who have made antisemitic remarks. The resolution was filed by California national committeeman Shawn Steel, an Orange County attorney and past California Republican Party chair who said in an interview …

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GOP Senators Flummoxed By Pence Docs Report

The Hill reports: “I don’t know what the hell is going on around here. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Hill. “I have no reason to believe it’s nefarious in any way, but clearly at the executive branch they’re just packing boxes.” “I don’t get …

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Doomsday Clock Reset To 90 Seconds Before Midnight

NPR reports: The world is closer to catastrophe than ever: the Doomsday Clock, the metaphorical measure of challenges to humanity, was reset to 90 seconds before midnight on Tuesday. The science and security board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the move — the closest to widespread calamity humanity has ever been judged to be — was “largely, …

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Niger Proposes Death Penalty For Same-Sex Marriage

76 Crimes reports: The president of the West African nation of Niger is laying the groundwork for enacting harsh anti-homosexuality laws in his country, where same-sex intimacy is currently legal. He proposes the death penalty for people in same-sex marriages. Mohamed Bazoum, president of Niger, is preparing for a newly established committee of experts to develop the new anti-homosexuality laws. …

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Classified Documents Found At Pence’s Indiana Home

CNN reports: A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and …

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Scott Presses Govs To Return Unused COVID Funds

Politico reports: It’s about to be budget season in Tallahassee and that means Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will begin rolling out his recommendations on how to spend the billions in surplus money the state has accumulated the last few years. But as DeSantis preps for another session — and an expected presidential run — he has a familiar nemesis who …

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GOP Rep “Sidelined” For Weeks Over Injuries From Fall

CNN reports: Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, announced Monday that he will be “sidelined” in his home state for several weeks as he recovers from multiple injuries suffered in an accident at his Sarasota property last week. Steube wrote on Twitter that he is recovering from “a fractured pelvis, a punctured lung, and several torn ligaments in my neck.” …

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POLL: 58% Of Democrats Want Biden As 2024 Nominee

The Hill reports: A majority of Democratic voters say President Biden should be the party’s 2024 White House nominee, according to a new Emerson College poll released on Tuesday. Fifty-eight percent of registered Democrats said Biden should be the nominee, while 42 percent said it should be someone else. “Biden has solidified his support among minority voters in his party,” …

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Death Certificate Says Diamond Died Of Heart Disease

The Associated Press reports: Lynette Hardaway, a zealous supporter of former President Donald Trump whose death had prompted widespread speculation over its cause, died earlier this month of a heart condition, according to a death certificate obtained Monday by The Associated Press. Hardaway, 51, died Jan. 8 of heart disease due to chronic high blood pressure. A memorial ceremony renewed …

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DeSantis Calls For “Supermajority” Death Penalty Law

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis started out his week with the Florida Sheriff’s Association (FSA), where he discussed his desire to allow juries to administer the death penalty via a supermajority vote, rather than requiring unanimity. “Fine, have a supermajority. But you can’t just say one person (can decide against the death penalty). So maybe eight out of 12 …

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Former NE Gov. Pete Ricketts Sworn In As US Senator

The Associated Press reports: Former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts was sworn in as the newest member of the U.S. Senate on Monday, replacing Republican Sen. Ben Sasse as the Senate returns from several weeks of recess to begin a new session of closely-divided government. Ricketts is bringing the Senate back to its “full 100-person strength,” said Republican leader Mitch McConnell, …

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Adams To Counter Media “Distortions” With Newsletter

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor Adams is taking media coverage into his own hands. Adams, who has grown increasingly cranky lately with how he’s covered by the City Hall press corps, launched a newsletter Monday that he claimed will counteract “distorted” journalism about his administration. “You can report a distorted version of what I say. I want to …

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Pompeo Ridicules Jamal Khashoggi In Coming Memoir

NBC News reports: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sharply criticizes murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in his new book, questioning his journalism credentials and lambasting what he calls the media’s sympathetic coverage of his brutal killing in Saudi Arabia. “He didn’t deserve to die, but we need to be clear about who he was — and too many …

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Miami Mayor To Launch Tour Of Early Primary States

Florida Politics reports: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is hitting the road next month with a former official from Donald Trump’s administration to speak with law enforcement, politicians and community groups about how to better keep Americans safe from crime. The tour’s funding comes from Public Safety Solutions for America (PSSA), a coalition former Trump adviser Ja’Ron Smith founded in October …

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Bolton Hits Back At Pompeo’s Call To Imprison Him

The Guardian reports: Pompeo describes Trump calling John Bolton, his third national security adviser, a “scumbag loser”. After being fired, Bolton produced a memoir of his own, The Room Where It Happened. Trump sought to prevent publication but the book was a bestseller. Bolton has now floated a White House run of his own, to try to block Trump. Pompeo …

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