#Rep. Rob Portman

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

On Thursday, the Social Security Administration announced its largest cost of living adjustment for beneficiaries in four decades, an inflation-driven raise of 8.7% that will take effect in January 2023. That increase matches the average annual COLA from 1975 through 1982, an era of recessions and high inflation. Annual Social Security raises declined after that year. From 1996 through 2021, they averaged 2.3%, and were zero in some years. The 2021 raise was substantially higher: 5.9%.

The new increase in benefits will be pricey. On the other hand, the cost to taxpayers of the entire Social Security program pales in comparison with the cost of federal subsidies for rich Americans enrolled in private or supplemental retirement plans, such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs). According to Federal Reserve data from 2019, only 31% of households from the poorest half of the wealth spectrum contributed to such a plan, while 91% of households in the top wealth decile did.

This suggests that low-wealth retirees rely heavily or exclusively on Social Security, but all US workers get to collect benefits starting at age 62. As of last month, nearly 66 million Americans, rich and poor alike, were getting monthly checks. Most are retirees, but there are also spouses, disabled workers, survivors of deceased workers, and dependent children. The largest and best-compensated group, the retired workers, averaged $1,674 a month, or about $20,000 per year.

The SSA now pays out about $1.2 trillion a year in benefits all told, but those outlays are largely funded by payroll taxes paid by workers who will later reap the benefits. In 2021, the price tag of the entire program—benefits plus administrative costs—totaled $1.14 trillion, of which $1.09 trillion was covered by payroll taxes, income taxes on benefits, and interest. In other words, the federal Social Security subsidy was only about $50 billion.

Compare that with subsidies for private plans and IRAs, which cost the government nearly eight times as much—about $380 billion a year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. And unlike Social Security subsidies, these subsidies skew heavily toward the highest earners.

There’s a reason I noted the year 1996 above. Before then, as I point out in this earlier exposé about America’s retirement system, private retirement accounts were strictly regulated and not heavily subsidized. Starting that year, federal lawmakers—led by then Reps. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), began introducing bipartisan retirement “reform” packages that pumped more and more federal dollars into bolstering private retirement savings, mainly to the benefit of high-income workers and Wall Street.

University of Virginia law professor Michael Doran, who dug deep into the subject for a January 2022 paper titled, “The Great American Retirement Fraud,” suggested that lawmakers, rather than helping rich Americans shuffle even more of their money into tax-­deferred or tax-exempt retirement funds, could instead pass laws to benefit Americans who actually need help in retirement. That might include simply beefing up Social Security, he wrote.

Instead, yet another bill that benefits wealthy savers sailed through Congress. And Republican Rick Scott released a set of aspirations for his own party—an 11-point “Plan for America,” of which one provision would let all federal laws “sunset” every five years—including laws governing Social Security and Medicare.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Here are just two of the corporate giveaways hidden in the rushed, must-pass, end-of-year budget bill

Yesterday, Congress finally voted through the must-pass, end-of-year budget bill. As has become routine, this bill was stalled right until the final moment, so that Congressjerks could cram the 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion package with special favors for their donors, at the expense of the rest of the country.

This year’s budget package included a couple of especially egregious doozies, which were reported out for The American Prospect by Lee Harris (who covered a grotesque retirement giveaway for the ultra-rich) and Doraj Facundo (who covered a safety giveaway to Boeing and its lethal fleet of 737 Max airplanes).

Let’s start with the retirement scam. The budget bill includes Rep Richie Neal’s [DINO-MA] SECURE Act 2.0, which gives savers with retirement funds until age 75 to cash out their retirement savings — netting an extra three years of tax-free growth for the lucky, tiny minority with substantial retirement savings. This follows on Neal’s SECURE Act 1.0 of 2019, when the age was raised from 70.5 to 72.

The tax-exempt retirement savings account is a Carter-era bargain that replaced real pensions — ones that guaranteed that you wouldn’t starve or freeze to death when you retired — with accounts that let people gamble on the stock market, to be the suckers at Wall Street’s poker table:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/25/derechos-humanos/#are-there-no-poorhouses

The market-based gambler’s pension is a catastrophic failure. Half of Americans have no retirement savings. Of the half that have any savings, the vast majority have almost nothing saved:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Retirement_Accounts;demographic:all;population:all;units:have

All in all, America has a $7 trillion retirement savings shortfall:

https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IB_19-16.pdf

But for a tiny minority of the ultra-rich, tax-free savings accounts like ROTH IRAs are a means of avoiding even the paltry capital gains tax that you have to pay if you own things for a living, rather than doing things for a living. Propublica’s IRS Files revealed how ghouls like Peter Thiel avoided tax on billions in “passive income” by abusing tax-free savings accounts that were supposed to benefit the “middle class”:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/26/wax-rothful/#thiels-gambit

Meanwhile, Social Security is crumbling, thanks to a sustained attack on it by the business lobby and its friends in both parties. Progressive Dems had sought to amend SECURE Act 2.0 by inserting some clauses to shore up Social Security, and none of these were included in the final bill.

One of the fixes that died was the Savings Penalty Elimination Act, introduced by Senators Sherrod Brown [D-OH] and Rob Portman [R-OH]. This act would have tweaked the means-testing for Supplemental Security Income, which supports 8m low-income disabled adults and kids. Right now, you can’t collect SSI if you have $2k in the bank, a limit that hasn’t been adjusted for inflation since the 1980s (adjusted for inflation, $2k in 1980 is $7226.00 in 2022).

The $2k savings cap means that you have to be substantially below the poverty level to receive $585/month in SSI assistance — this being the only source of income for the majority of SSI recipients. Means-testing is a self-immolating fetish for corporate Dems and in retrospect, this betrayal seems inevitable:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/03/utopia-of-rules/#in-triplicate

(Notice how no one proposes means-testing billionaires when they get PPP loans or hundreds of millions in IRS “refunds” — like Trump, who paid substantially less tax than you did:)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/21/trump-income-tax-returns-detailed-in-new-report-.html

And it was a betrayal: progressive Dems bargained with Neal and co not to publicly condemn SECURE Act 2.0 if they could get some concessions for the 8 million poorest disabled people in America. In the end, Neal rug-pulled them. Of course he did! This is Richie Fucking Neal, the best friend the Trump tax giveaway ever had:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/13/youre-still-the-product/#richie-neal

As with everything Neal touches, this screws poor people in multiple ways. First, it leaves the SSI cap intact. But it also creates a giant unfunded liability in the federal budget. Technically, there’s no reason this should lead to cuts. The US Treasury can’t run out of dollars, and giveaways to the rich are only mildly inflationary, since rich people put their money in the bank and mostly spend it on buying politicians, not goods.

But because of the delusion that currency producers like the US Treasury have the same constraints as currency users like you and me, Congress will need to come up with “Pay Fors” in future budgets to “make up for” the money they’re giving to rich people with SECURE Act 2.0. Dollars to toenail clippings, they’ll do that by hacking away at the tattered remains of the US social safety net.

Fear not, you don’t need to be a desperately poor disabled person or child to get fucked over by late additions to a 4,000 page must-pass bill! If you can afford to get on an airplane, Congress has something for you, too!

Remember when Boeing (the monopoly US airplane manufacturer that squandered $43b on stock buybacks and had to borrow $14b from the US public to survive the pandemic) told the FAA that it could self-certify its 737 Max airplanes, and then killed hundreds and hundreds of people with its defective planes?

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/12/boeing-crashes/#boeing

The 737 Max was unsafe for many reasons, but one glaring factor was the fact that Boeing sold some of its core safety as “extras” — like they were downloadable content for your Fortnite character — leading to multiple crashes in which all lives were lost:

https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-indonesia-accidents-ap-top-news-international-news-140576a8e9d4449eae646c8c479fdc3a

Boeing was forced to take the 737 Max out of service, but it eventually brought the plane back, “fixing” the problems by renaming the “737 Max” to the “737 8”:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/20/dubious-quantitative-residue/#737-8

Supposedly, Boeing has been diligently working on fixing the problems with its defective jets that can’t be addressed by a rebranding campaign. This wasn’t voluntary: the 2020 Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act required Boeing — and every other manufacturer whose aircraft were certified by the FAA — to meet new minimum safety standards by December 27, 2022.

Every manufacturer met that deadline, except Boeing, and someone amended the budget bill to give the company three more years to meet these security standards. Critically, the new security measures, when they come, will be certified by an FAA that Republicans will control, thanks to the House changing hands.

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/government-spending-bill-waives-aircraft-safety-deadline/

Boeing is slated to ship 1,000 new 737 Maxes, which will fetch $50b for the company. Many of these planes will fly directly over my house, which is on the approach path for Burbank airport. Southwest Air flies dozens of 737 Maxes right over my roof every single day.

As Facundo points out, the FAA can ill afford any more hits to its credibility. It was once the case that if the FAA certified an aircraft, every other country in the world would waive any further certification, so trusting were they of the FAA’s judgment. That is no longer the case: today, the European Aviation Safety Agency does its own aircraft testing, holding jets that enter EU airspace to a higher standard than the FAA does for US planes.

It’s just another reminder that the US doesn’t have “corporate criminals” because the US doesn’t have any meaningful enforcement for corporate crimes. In America, we love our companies like we love our billionaires: too big to fail and too big to jail:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-criminals-no-crimes/#get-out-of-jail-free-card

Image: Ryan Lee (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/190784293@N05/50862532686

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Henry Wadey (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flames_%2858765896%29.jpeg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A living room scene, featuring a sofa in the background and a sofa in the foreground. A man's hand reaches into the frame to lift up the corner of the sofa. A broom enters the frame to sweep a pile of dirt under the rug. Mixed in with the dirt are a crashed WWI biplane with Southwest Airlines livery, and an old lady in a rocking chair.]

[theyoungturks]

At a recent U.S. Senate debate, Tim Ryan called out J.D. Vance for doing nothing but kissing Donald Trump's ass. Ana Kasparian discusses on The Young Turks. Watch LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live Read more HERE: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-took-j-d-vances-dignity-from-him-on-the-stage-tim-ryan-brutally-mocks-republican-opponent-during-senate-debate/ "Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) went on the offensive during Monday’s U.S. Senate debate, casting opponent J.D. Vance (R) as a lackey for former President Donald Trump, who told rally-goers last month in Youngstown, Ohio that the Republican hopeful “is kissing my ass.” Vance, the author of the best-selling Hillbilly Elegy, formerly opposed Trump, but ultimately supported him and was rewarded with the former president’s endorsement during the Republican primary. Ryan is trying to win the seat occupied by retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R) in a state Trump won twice. The congressman has tried to portray himself as a maverick and has distanced himself from Democratic Party leaders who are unpopular in the Buckeye State." *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews 221011__TA01TimRyan by The Young Turks

[newswireml]

Not couch cushion money: Former members sitting on $54 million#couch #cushion #money #members #sitting #million

Ohio Republican Rob Portman, who retired from his Senate seat, still had $3.1 million in campaign cash and another roughly $47,000 in his leadership PAC. Former Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont had $1.3 million in his two accounts. Former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost a primary over her vote to impeach Trump, converted her campaign committee into a PAC called the Great Task,…

[worldofwardcraft]

The China syndrome.

January 23, 2023

Most Americans understand that, under its Communist dictator Xi Jinping, China is a determined rival and a potential menace. A recent report by the Atlantic Council describes at length how "China presents a serious problem for the whole of the democratic world." Which is why President Biden's administration is investing $53 billion in American tech innovation and making it illegal for US companies to aid the Chinese chip-making industry. Under Biden, the US has also sent defensive weapons to Taiwan to create a massive stockpile in the event China moves on the island.

But while Biden is engaging in sober, serious steps to check China's growing power, Republicans have become infected with off-the-charts lunatic anti-China hysteria. We saw a hint of it back when disgraced former-president Trump insisted on calling COVID-19 the "China virus." And when he initiated a trade war with China that proved devastating to American farmers and ended up costing us 245,000 jobs, according to a 2021 study commissioned by the US-China Business Council.

But recently Republicans have taken Yellow Peril panic to outlandish extremes. The new GOP majority in the House, for example, has already established a Select Committee to investigate "strategic competition" between the US and China to be chaired by Wisconsin’s Mike Gallagher. This is the same Mike Gallagher who told CNN he considered the Chinese Communist Party "an enemy of the United States."

But he's not alone. Rep. John Katko of the Homeland Security Committee has warned, "We are going to be laser focused on China threat issues." And not to be outdone, Rep. Michael McCaul of the Foreign Affairs Committee proclaimed,

The Hunter Biden laptop issue involves China so you'll see a joint investigation between the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and HFAC.

Over in the Senate, Ohio's Rob Portman published a report alleging that for more than a decade China has targeted economists working for the Federal Reserve to access insider information.

Elsewhere, the far-right Hudson Institute has distributed a series of videos critical of the Chinese Communist Party, featuring former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (who calls COVID-19 the "Wuhan virus"). And the even further-right Committee on the Present Danger — originally created in the 1950s to fight Russian communism and now repurposed against the Chinese version — stated that stopping China’s rise would be “the defining event of our time.”

There's no doubt that Xi’s China presents a substantial diplomatic and economic challenge for the US. But the frenzied, pathological freak out on the part of the GOP is simply deranged.

[pashterlengkap]

GOP Congressmember says he was tricked into voting for marriage equality bill

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) claims the Democrats tricked him into voting for the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA). He is urging senators to learn from the error of his ways and vote against the bill. The RFMA would require every state to recognize marriages performed in other states and would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The bill would not require states that ban marriage equality to perform those marriages themselves, should they ban them if Obergefell v. Hodges, which nationally legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, is overturned. The bill also protects interracial marriages. In an interview with evangelical leader Tony Perkins, who is the head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council, Rep. Perry said he had to make a difficult choice since voting against the bill would also mean voting against interracial marriage. “When I walked onto the floor, of course the vote was on, I had to vote almost immediately. And I calculated incorrectly. And maybe that’s the best way to put it, that my long-standing support of traditional marriage would be understood, and I didn’t want to vote against interracial marriage.” “And that’s the same trick they’re playing now. Now they’re gonna offer some kind of amendment but this actually literally destroys religious freedom and the ability to enforce religious freedom.” He encouraged senators to “not be fooled” and vote against the legislation. Last week, 62 senators – including 12 Republicans – voted to invoke cloture on the bill, meaning it is no longer at the mercy of a filibuster and the Senate is able to advance the legislation for a debate and vote. “It tricks people,” Perry said. “You don’t want to be a racist but you’re not against traditional marriage. You shouldn’t have to make that choice, yet that was the choice in the bill and that’s what’s facing senators, and if they have not gone through it… They don’t realize this is an absolute assault on religious liberty and the ability to enforce the freedom of religion.” Perkins also piped in to claim that the RFMA is “one of the most egregious assaults on religious freedom and the rights of parents. When you talk about what’s happening in classrooms across America, the indoctrination, this is linked to it.” Perry agreed and said, “This is by design.” An amendment to the bill will be put forward by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) to clarify that religious nonprofits would not be required to provide “any services, facilities, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage” because of the law itself, although state anti-discrimination laws may still apply. It also says that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Constitution’s religious freedom protections still apply. But for Perry, the amendment isn’t enough, despite the fact that many religious leaders have agreed that the bill in its current form protects religious liberty. Even the anti-LGBTQ Mormon church has endorsed the bill as is. But Perry touted a different and harsher amendment proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), one that is not being strongly considered by the Senate. Perry said that “anything less than the Mike Lee amendment is gonna be unacceptable.” http://dlvr.it/SdMXGJ

[usnewsrank]

J.D. Vance projected to win Ohio Senate seat

J.D. Vance projected to win Ohio Senate seat

(NewsNation) — The race for the U.S. Senate seat for Ohio has been called by NewsNation/ Decision Desk HQ in favor of J.D. Vance. Democratic U.S. Rep Tim Ryan and former President Donald Trump’s backed Republican, venture capitalist J.D. Vance, were locked in a race to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman who chose not to seek reelection after 12 years…

[sfnewsvine]

Important Ohio Newspaper Endorses Tim Ryan While Blasting JD Vance For Craven Political Cowardice

The Cleveland Plain Seller endorses Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan within the Ohio U.S. Senate race whereas calling out JD Vance’s craven political cowardice. The editors of The Cleveland Plain Seller wrote: Vance, in contrast, has not exhibited the astute judgment essential to return the Senate to its former standing because the world’s biggest deliberative physique. Exhibit No. 1 is Vance’s craven political cowardice in advancing Trump’s Massive Lie that Joe Biden just isn’t the legitimately elected president of the USA. That’s disqualifying in itself. However Vance hasn’t stopped there. His accusation that Biden is answerable for the fentanyl epidemic due to his immigration insurance policies is equally irresponsible – and who can overlook his preliminary response to the Russian invasion: “I don’t actually care what occurs to Ukraine a technique or one other.” Sadly, Vance elected to not seem earlier than our editorial board to elucidate his indefensible embrace of Trump’s Massive Lie or make clear the place he stands on Ukraine, abortion restrictions, home violence in opposition to girls or different issues. With Tim Ryan, voters know what they’ll get and who he’s — a gradual voice for the working class, a bipartisan collaborator, and somebody laser-focused on manufacturing innovation to maintain jobs and earnings in Ohio. That’s why Tim Ryan deserves your vote for U.S. Senate. Early voting within the Nov. 8 election has begun. In a 12 months of harmful and horrible Senate candidates, JD Vance tends to get misplaced within the shuffle behind the holding weapons to girls’s heads, Herschel Walker and canine serial killer/Hitler’s automotive aficionado Dr. Oz, however JD Vance recommended that girls keep in abusive marriages, helps Russia over Ukraine, needs a nationwide abortion ban, and has an agenda that’s each bit as excessive as Walker’s. Rep. Ryan is the form of bipartisan, state, and district-first public servant that the nation’s corporatized political media claims don’t exist anymore. Ryan has been in a position to run shut in his election by being real with the individuals of Ohio. Ryan’s marketing campaign is similar to Lt. Governor John Fetterman’s in Pennsylvania. Each Ryan and Fetterman are well-known and widespread blue-collar candidates of their respective states. The distinction between Fetterman’s lead and Ryan being tied is Pennsylvania’s slight Democratic lean versus Ohio’s Republican tilt. Ohio could be harmed in the event that they had been to interchange outgoing Sen. Rob Portman with JD Vance. The candidate who’s greatest suited to signify the Buckeye State’s curiosity is Rep. Tim Ryan.   Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He’s additionally a White Home Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Diploma in Political Science. His graduate work centered on public coverage, with a specialization in social reform actions. Awards and  Skilled Memberships Member of the Society of Skilled Journalists and The American Political Science Affiliation Supply hyperlink Originally published at SF Newsvine

[zumpietoo]

J.D. Vance is a total snake.....I remember excerpts from his book and my reaction being, “uhhhh....hypocrite, much? Why TF are YOU so critical of government funded programs when you’ve consistently benefitted from them since birth? 

I also STILL wanna know how a remarkably mediocre white dude, from a medicore state university, with seemingly a mediocre background managed to inexplicably leapfrog over all sorts of peeps from better schools, with better grades and moar accomplishments, past the white privilege he pretends eludes him. And even THEN, I continue to not get it...

[sellmyhomefastcolumbusoh]

Drug companies in opioid crisis donated $27K to Ohio's Ryan

Over the years, Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has received campaign cash from drug distributors blamed for important roles in the epidemic, according to an Associated Press review of campaign donation records. Between 2007 and August of this year, Ryan received contributions from AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health's Dublin, Ohio-based subsidiary to the tune of $1.3 million. Sell My House Fast Columbus OH Three companies known to fuel the opioid crisis gave House Speaker Paul Ryan a total of $27,000 this year. These organizations have faced many lawsuits claiming their responsibility in the addiction epidemic, but they reached a multi-billion dollar settlement earlier this year that allowed them to avoid further litigation. Now these same companies are donating heavily to Ryan's campaign--even though his opponent has stronger ties to fighting opioids. “He's been one of Congress' most outspoken fighters against the opioid epidemic,” Ryan's campaign spokesperson announced. “Cardinal is a significant Ohio employer, and their contributions account for just one-fifth of 1% of the $17 million he has raised thus far this quarter.” Vance's nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, spent far more than that "for political polling and consultant fees to his top political advisor — when it wasn't promoting a Purdue Pharma-linked doctor with a reputation for downplaying the deadly threat of OxyContin,” spokesperson Izzi Levy said. Ryan and Vance are engaged in a tight battle for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Republicans see the seat as a key one to keep if they want to reclaim the Senate, while a flip to Democrats would be a huge triumph in an increasingly conservative-leaning state. Ryan's most generous distributor was from Cardinal Health Inc., a multinational health care services company headquartered in his home state. The company’s PAC has given him $21,000 since 2007, including $5,000 this August. McKesson Corp.'s Employees PAC gave Ryan $5,000 in 2012 while Amerisource Bergen Corp.'s Employees PAC gave him $1,000 in 2019; both when the opioid crisis was still ongoing . Since 2007, the three companies’ PACs have donated a combined total of nearly $10.8 million to various candidates across the country according their party affiliation. Out of that sum, about $4.5 million went to Democrats and the remaining $6.2 million was given to Republicans. None of Vance’s campaign has been funded by these PACs directly. Ryan's early commercials called Vance's Our Ohio Renewal a “fake” that “didn't fund a single addiction program” in order to fight the epidemic, but rather backed plans that “made it worse.” A second ad included an August Associated Press story about a residency organized by the nonprofit for an addictions doctor with links to Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Even though Vance was unaware of the addiction doctor's Purdue Pharma ties, he "remains proud of her work to treat patients, especially those in an area of Ohio who needed it most." Ryan's team said he had worked to provide funding for health care providers and law enforcement officials working to combat opioids, as well as expand treatment access for people with substance abuse issues.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Donald Trump on Friday endorsed J.D. Vance in the Republican Senate primary in Ohio, halting a last-ditch effort by Vance's opponents to prevent the former President from handing his coveted endorsement to the "Hillbilly Elegy" author.

In a statement, Trump acknowledged the difficult decision he faced in choosing to wade into the crowded primary for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. At least three other Trump-aligned candidates -- former state treasurer Josh Mandel, businessman Mike Gibbons and former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken -- had been jockeying for his support.

"I've studied this race closely and I think J.D. is the most likely to take out the weak, but dangerous, Democrat opponent -- dangerous because they will have so much money to spend," Trump said, presumably referring to US Rep. Tim Ryan, who is likely to win the Democratic primary.

In his endorsement, which comes ahead of the former President's April 23 campaign rally in the state, Trump called on Republicans to coalesce behind Vance before the May 3 primary.

"It is time for the MAGA movement ... to unite behind J.D.'s campaign because, unlike so many pretenders and wannabes, he will put America First," he said.

Vance said he was "honored and thrilled" to have the former President's support.

"He set an example in the White House that I'll follow in the Senate. Together, we're going to take this country back," the candidate said in a statement.

Trump's endorsement comes just hours after Vance's rivals penned a letter to the former President arguing that Vance would be a weak general election candidate due to the negative comments he has previously made about Trump and his supporters. Vance was highly critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential election and openly mused about supporting then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

But in meetings with the former President at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and numerous appearances on Fox News, Vance has spent the past year embracing a new image as one of the leading proponents of Trumpism and a Senate candidate committed to advancing the former President's "America First" policy agenda.

"Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades," Trump said Friday, describing Vance as the GOP's "best chance for victory in what could be a very tough race."

Promised Endorsement Sent Candidates Scrambling

Trump had spent months fielding conflicting advice from aides and advisers on whom to endorse in the contentious Buckeye State primary and when -- or even whether -- he should weigh in. The former President met with all four candidates who were actively seeking his endorsement and was constantly in touch with his advisers about the race -- some of whom were working for specific candidates or outside groups involved in the primary.

A person familiar with his thinking said Trump has always felt the most comfortable around Vance but had been taken aback at times by polls that were presented to him and showed the bestselling author in third or fourth place behind his MAGA-aligned competitors.

"His endorsement in primaries tends to matter, and he doesn't want to get this wrong," said one Trump adviser, who requested anonymity to speak about private deliberations.

Reports of Trump's promised endorsement had sent Republicans across Ohio scrambling to stop it.

After NBC News first reported Thursday that Trump was on the brink of backing Vance before the primary, some of Vance's opponents began urging the former President, through private and public channels, to reconsider.

A small group of county GOP chairs drafted and began circulating a letter attempting to remind Trump of Vance's past criticisms of him. The letter came to the attention of the Timken's and Mandel's campaigns, both of which helped promote it to encourage other Republican leaders in the state to sign on, according to people close to those campaigns.

The draft letter had been signed by several county GOP chairs and other state party leaders, all of whom support different candidates in the Senate race.

"This was sort of a grassroots, organic process," said Lisa Stickan, who chairs the Cuyahoga County GOP.

Stickan, who is supporting Gibbons in the Senate primary, told CNN prior to Trump's endorsement that she doubts these local party leaders would have come together if Trump were planning to back one of the other candidates.

"I don't think there would have been the same reaction," she said.

In addition, a polling memo from Remington Research Group, which works for Mandel's campaign, began circulating among Republicans in Ohio and among the press Thursday night. The memo, obtained by CNN, purported to demonstrate that Vance would not be able to significantly boost his position in the crowded GOP primary field (which also includes state Sen. Matt Dolan, who has not actively sought Trump's support).

"JD Vance will still lose even with President Trump's endorsement," the memo read.

But those hoping to reverse Trump's intention to back Vance didn't have any luck. One person close to the former President said Trump reviewed a new poll that showed Vance pulling ahead of Timken and Gibbons and into second place behind Mandel, giving him confidence that his endorsement could carry Vance to victory in the primary.

Another source close to Trump said the former President has come to view Vance -- whose tirades against corporate and political elites have become a programming staple on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" -- as his "ideological twin" and someone who "fell in line" following Trump's ascension to power.

"Here's the mistake that everybody makes when they assume that past criticism of [Trump] disqualifies someone in his mind: He considered Mitt Romney for secretary of state. It's the weakest argument that people can make. Trump is like, 'Can you be more original?'" said one of the people close to the former President.

[beardedmrbean]

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers flew to Taiwan for an official visit Thursday, defying threats from the Chinese government.

Lawmakers from both the House and Senate landed in the country Wednesday morning to a warm welcome from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The Chinese government soon released a statement condemning the visit.

The lawmakers visiting were Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Rob Portman of Ohio, Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, and Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.

The lawmakers are among the most high-level U.S. officials to visit Taiwan, a territory of China. Mainland China argues Taiwan is a rogue region of China and not an independent country. 

The U.S. has tenuously respected that designation for decades, even while sending military aid and occasional visits from U.S. officials to support Taiwan.

CHINA ACCUSES US, TAIWAN OFFICIALS OF ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ WITH  UKRAINE COMPARISONS

"China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and China’s Taiwan region," the spokesperson for the Chinese government tweeted Thursday.

Fears that China may move to invade Taiwan have risen in recent years, thanks to China's increasing aggression in the region, including frequent air force flights near Taiwan's airspace.

The issue has also been highlighted thanks to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Observers say Russia's invasion may embolden China to take action on its own.

The U.S. delegation in Taiwan will meet with President Tsai and is scheduled to depart Friday.

[when-did-this-become-difficult]

The SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act: An Update!

The US Senate bill that would let disabled & elderly people save more money while still keeping their Social Security benefits (and which is pegged to inflation so we don’t need to keep passing increases over and over!) aka baby’s personal favorite legislation of the 117th Congress, has a little update!

On 06/06/2022, the bill’s original sponsors, senators Sherrod Brown (OH Dem) and Rob Portman (OH Rep), were joined by two new sponsors, Senator Ron Wyden (OH Dem) and Senator Bill Cassidy (LA Rep). (Source: official congressional website for the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, also known as S.4102) The more bipartisan support, the better a chance it has of actually passing, so I’m excited!

Right now, it’s still in the Senate Committee on Finance. Keep in mind that Sherrod Brown actually introduced this legislation (or something very similar) in a previous year and it didn’t go through, but now he has Portman on board and Portman is going to get replaced in 2022, probably by a far worse Republican (fucking JD Vance, a massive capitalist who thinks welfare is Bad), so the time to get this passed is now! We don’t know what the 2022 midterms will bring.

Here’s all the current Senate Committee on Finance members, with links to their Wikipedia page. If one of these belongs to you, now would be a great time to call or send a letter! If you enter in your state on the official Senate site it will tell you their official Senate contact info. If you'd like to read the full text of the bill, I recommend it, it's very short, probably shorter than this post! I don't have a head count of who supports it at this point, but it wouldn’t hurt to let them know that they should! (I mean, I’m guessing Elizabeth Warren’s on board, lmao, but.)

DEMOCRATS on the Senate Committee on Finance

Ron Wyden, Oregon, Chairman - new co-sponsor

Debbie Stabenow, Michigan

Maria Cantwell, Washington

Bob Menendez, New Jersey

Tom Carper, Delaware

Ben Cardin, Maryland

Sherrod Brown, Ohio - original co-sponsor

Michael Bennet, Colorado

Bob Casey, Pennsylvania

Mark Warner, Virginia

Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island

Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire

Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts

REPUBLICANS on the Senate Committee on Finance

Mike Crapo, Idaho, Ranking Member

Chuck Grassley, Iowa

John Cornyn, Texas

John Thune, South Dakota

Richard Burr, North Carolina

Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania

Tim Scott, South Carolina

Bill Cassidy, Louisiana- new co-sponsor

James Lankford, Oklahoma

Steve Daines, Montana

Rob Portman, Ohio - original co-sponsor

Todd Young, Indiana

Ben Sasse, Nebraska

John Barrasso, Wyoming

[dhaaruni]

Hope you're feeling better!! Dont feel obligated to answer this but im just straight up exhausted from washington journalists - why do you think even credible beltway reporters cant seem to help themselves from doing horserace pieces or any type of serious reframing? Like I see these journo guys on twitter reblogging all these like pledges about how to cover politics where the context is the GOP is openly running against democracy but then going ahead and interviewing these folks w ZERO pushback??? Do you think there is any possibility of industry overhaul?

I am feeling a bit better, taking it day-by-day, thank you for your kind words.

I think the issue boils down to even reporters at reputable news sources like CNN or WaPo hailed from places like Politico or in Kaitlan Collins’ case, The Daily Caller. I don’t even think Politico is all terrible since there are some pieces that are worthwhile in it, but their feature writers and opinion writers opt for sensationalism over accuracy because that’s what brings about more clicks.

Like, Donald Trump was good for the Beltway press’ business model, and they’re trying to recreate it with Republicans. Reporters could write a puff piece on his late night Twitter rant and be done with work by 10am and then fuck around Twitter for the rest of the day! Now, they have to *shudder* do their jobs and report on the actual happenings in the White House and Congress and on legislation. Like, the Republicans being batshit insane and hurling masks at staffers and claiming the insurrection is a tourist adventure gets way more traffic than like, Mark Warner and Bernie Sanders bickering for 10 minutes about how they want to distribute the infrastructure budget and then agreeing that childcare is essential to include in it.

It’s just really mercenary, like reporters really don’t need to chase Republicans around to get comments day in and day out when there are dozens of House and Senate Democrats standing right there. Like, go ask *spins wheel* Sherrod Brown or Catherine Cortez-Masto what they think of the infrastructure negotiations! Brown reps Ohio, which Trump won twice, and CCM reps Nevada, which Biden won less than 3%, and she’s up for re-election in 2022! But no, they’d much rather treat Republicans like Rob Portman, who didn’t acknowledge Biden won the election for over a month, like good faith actors.

It’s like this: Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who impeached Trump in 2021 but acquitted him in 2020, will always get better press than Dems like Conor Lamb and Lauren Underwood, who flipped districts, and Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester in the Senate, whose states Trump won twice, who all quietly voted with their party to convict Trump twice. I’m not going to give a few Republicans for doing the right thing once when the majority of Democrats in the House and Senate vote party-line every single time! Even Joe Manchin never votes against Democrats when he’s the deciding vote like him being a Democrat is why Chuck Schumer is Senate majority leader, so I’m not going to spend my time complaining he doesn’t vote like Elizabeth Warren (whose anti-Betsy DeVos rally Manchin attended for the record). 

To be fair though, even voters hold Democrats to different standards than Republicans, which is why Abigail Spanberger has to be a moderate while Republicans in swing districts can vote to overturn the election and will still sail to reelection in 2022. That’s also why the press sucks, but so do American voters, which has to be understood as we try to build a more perfect union.

[ridenwithbiden]

"The #House, and especially the #Senate, are full of Portman types: long-serving, mainstream #Republicans who pride themselves on being practical problem-solvers - but who did not lift a finger to stop the takeover of their party by the lunatic fringe."

"After Trump won, however, #Portman caved just as the rest of the #GOP did. In Portman's case, he supported Trump on 88.3 percent of the legislation, higher than Sen. #RandPaul (R-KY) or Sen. #LindseyGraham (R-SC)."