#monte wolverton

[tomorrowusa]

Good economic news doesn't always win votes. The electorate is not made up of doctoral candidates who carefully weigh evidence from credible sources and then vote accordingly after pondering the options. 🤣

The reptilian brain plays a greater role in elections than many liberals are comfortable admitting. Don't just say how wonderful your candidate is, get voters to understand that the other candidate is an utter disaster – and don't let up with that message. Repetition is your best friend in political campaigns.

In 2024, what Democrats need to do is remind voters that...

Trump tanked the economy with his horrifically botched response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did hundreds of thousands of Americans die because of Trump's incompetence, but the US economy went into recession.

The Trump tax breaks for the filthy rich widened the income gap in the US.

Trump eliminated a number of mortgage interest tax deductions and lowered the amount of state and local taxes which people could deduct from federal income tax. This is Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Hit to Homeowners.

Trump used regulations to weaken labor unions to keep wages low.

Trump tried to repeal Obamacare and replace it with nothing.

In short, Trump tried to screw anybody who isn't filthy rich. Several links give more details on how Trump hurt middle class and low income voters...

How Trump Took the Middle Class to the Cleaners

Trump’s Economy: 7 Broken Promises to Working Americans

Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind

12 Ways the Trump Administration Has Deepened Inequality

And Trump wants to do it all over in a second term...

Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024

What happens cyclically is that Republicans screw up the economy, lose office as a result, and then complain that Democrats aren't cleaning up the GOP mess fast enough. And we're still cleaning up much of Trump's mess.

[aunti-christ-ine]

~*~*~

[siryl]

A tribute to Basil Wolverton, scanned from Mr. Monster's Weird Tales of the Future #1.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Monte Wolverton, Wolvertoons

* * * *

"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress, and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.... We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth." --Abraham Lincoln, December 1, 1862

+

Jim Jordan fails to win election for Speaker of the House.

          Jim Jordan’s campaign of intimidation failed to convince 217 Republicans to vote for him to become Speaker of the House. He garnered only 200 votes—with 20 Republicans voting for other candidates. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries received 212 votes—every Democrat in the House.

          Although Jordan had planned to push for a second vote on Tuesday as a way of pressuring hold-outs, acting Speaker Patrick McHenry recessed the House indefinitely while Republicans tried to come up with “Plan F”—or is it “Plan G?”  See generally, The Hill, Jim Jordan struggles in Speakership vote.

          Observers are split on Jordan’s prospects. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo believes that Jordan’s election is inevitable, while Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says that Jordan “clearly does not have the votes.” See BBC News, House speakership up in air as resistance to Jim Jordan hardens.

          Perhaps the most telling sign is that GOP Rep. Ken Buck said that the “No” votes against Jordan will increase in the second round of voting. See MSNBC, Rep. Ken Buck thinks Jordan could lose more votes for speaker in a second round.

          But the story is not “the horse race” between Jordan and anti-Jordan forces in the GOP. The story is that 200 House Republicans were willing to vote for someone described by former Speaker John Boehner as a “legislative terrorist” and who is an election denier, coup-enabler, coward who refused to honor a subpoena from a committee of the House of Representatives that he now seeks to lead. Jordan is a miserable person and bully who does not belong in Congress, much less as the Speaker of the House. Shame on Republicans for giving Jordan 200 votes!

          The good news is that momentum is building for a “temporary” Speaker who will serve through the budget showdown in November and the funding of our allies in Ukraine and Israel. Hakeem Jeffries acknowledged the possibility of supporting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry for that role. See CSPAN, Leader Jeffries on Possibly Supporting Rep. McHenry as Speaker.

          Republicans are openly discussing the possibility of a “temporary acting Speaker Pro Tempore” with limited powers—a position that does not exist under the Constitution and cannot be created by legislation in the near term. (For example, Republicans would need a Speaker in place to create the position of “temporary acting Speaker Pro Tempore.”) If Republicans want to elect Patrick McHenry for a short stint until they get organized, they are free to do so. The sooner, the better.

          The dysfunction of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives is the logical conclusion of the hostile takeover of the GOP by MAGA extremists. It is a debacle that has been years in the making and will not be over when Republicans finally elect a speaker. The MAGA hostile takeover will be complete when the GOP splits into two or more smaller parties. Spoiler alert: It already has; all that remains is formal recognition of that fact.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[azspot]

Monte Wolverton

[funideas95070]

Fun Ideas Podcast #279 - Monte Wolverton with Mark Slade

[editorialtoons]

Monte Wolverton - Cagle.com

[kenneturner]

Cartoon du jour -- Western Drought

Cartoon du jour — Western Drought

Western Drought — Monte Wolverton politicalcartoons.com

[secotm]

Not just labeling what something is, but what it’s doing. It’s almost Platonic in being a stereotype.

[immigrationnewsdigest]

pic.twitter.com/DeZ2TQRCzF

— Monte Wolverton (@montewolverton) August 21, 2020

[tomorrowusa]

Large mammals such as elephants, whales, and tigers tend to get a disproportionate amount of attention when it comes to conservation. Birds and beneficial insects are often overlooked.

Northern Ontario residents are building bee hotels to attract them and to encourage them to produce more bees.

Bee my guest: Northerners build hotels for pollinators as spring unfolds

Lawns are one of the worst things for pollinators and birds. They encourage wasteful water practices and unnecessary chemical use.

Michael Pollan put it best...

"A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule."

It's time to help our airborne friends and overthrow the tyranny of lawns.

Natural looking green space may require a bit more effort at the start of the growing season but is a lot less work from week to week. It's worth it just to get rid of the noise pollution and fumes from lawn mowers.

Get your local municipal governments interested in supporting nature-friendly and climate-friendly landscaping practices.

[aunti-christ-ine]

Oh no -- turn around, Monte, there's a goll-durn whippersnapper on your lawn!!!

[furryalligator]

(via Today's best political cartoons via @theweek )

[cartoonpolitics]

(cartoon by Monte Wolverton)

[azspot]

Monte Wolverton

[blogology]

“Trump uses many tactics inherited from Fascism, and consciously signals to neo-Nazis and other far-right communities, but he belongs in a broader authoritarian lineage that encompasses Pinochet, Putin, Orbán and others ” .. (quote historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat) .. (cartoon Monte Wolverton)