#suspended congress

[x3no9]

Bold, subtly rude, possessive Ghost is best Ghost. I picture that man grabbing handfuls of Johnny shamelessly in private and sometimes not so in private. He isn't timid, just quiet and cunning.

Johnny didn't get him out if his shell, he simply removed the sinister shroud.

Koenig hides from others because he wants to stay hidden, doesn't want to deal with people. He isn't frightened at all, just worried he will break too many necks. I also picture him brazenly pursuing juicy "little" Johnny.

Two words for Koenig x Soap : suspended congress lol.

The dynamic between Ghost and Koenig is complex. I think they respect each other as warriors but behind closed doors its wild as hell. Constant, testosterone driven physical contact, bed breaking, lamp throwing type struggling. Mask smashing against mask...

This is the mindset I have for my current trio fic.

[swampthingking]

andrew’s definitely gotten in trouble with his pr manager for tweeting things along the lines of:

“no mania inducing medication will compare to the euphoria i will feel the day donald trump drops dead”

[gorillaxyz]

suddenly a book abt a dystopian version of america has become so much more interesting to me. i can not imagine Why.

[townpostin]

Crime Wave Rocks Jharkhand as Opposition Slams Government

BJP alleges breakdown of law and order under current JMM-Congress-RJD coalition Recent violent incidents have sparked concerns about deteriorating security in Jharkhand. RANCHI – The Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri criticized the state government for failing to maintain law and order during a press conference at BJP headquarters. Rising Crime Rate Alarms Opposition Bauri highlighted a…

[remindertoclick]

Here's your daily reminder to click for Palestine!!!

U.S. residents, take 5 minutes and use this link to pressure your members of Congress to stop sending weapons to the Israeli military!!

(Letter variants you can copy/paste under the cut!!)

Original letter written by Jewish Voice for Peace:

I am writing as your constituent to ask that you do everything in your power to press the Biden administration to suspend all weapons shipments to the Israeli military, and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah, even though President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line." On May 7, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and ordered 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate. The 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere to flee should a full invasion commence. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Slight variations I created (so that emails don't get marked as spam for being identical to each other)

Variation 1:

I'm writing to you as your constituent to ask you to do everything you can to pressure the Biden administration into suspending all weapons shipments to the Israeli military and opposing any and all future military funding to Israel! The Israeli government is pushing forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah. President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line," yet his administration is still supporting this operation. On May 7th 2024, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to abandon their homes. 1.3 million Palestinians have been displaced. Those sheltering in Rafah have nowhere to flee during a full invasion. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. Their fate lies in the hands on Congress, in your hands. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Variation 2:

I'm writing you today to ask that you do everything in your power to convince the Biden administration to stop funding Israel. We have to telk them to stop all shipments of weapons to the Israeli military and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah... President Biden made it clear that such an operation would be a "red line," and yet he continues to fund them. On May 7th of this year, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians to flee their own home of Eastern Rafah. Should a full invasion commence, 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere safe to go. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I am begging you now, as your constituent, to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late... Thank you

[dozenhost]

Dollar bribery: Ganduje’s son pays solidarity visit to Kano anti-graft agency chairman

Abdulazeez Ganduje, the eldest son of the suspended national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, has paid a solidarity visit to the chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Muhyi Rimingado, at his office. Mr. Abdulazeez visited Mr. Rimingado, on Wednesday evening, to show his support for the chairman’s anti-corruption efforts. He…

[razbb]

Action for Palestine: CLICK HERE

Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, is asking for signatures on her petition requesting Biden to suspend weapons transfers and military funding to Israel in accordance with the recent ICJ ruling.

PLEASE SIGN, especially if you live in the US, but you can select other countries on the form. It takes one minute to sign, and another minute to share with your friends.

This is not some bullshit change.org petition, Rashida cares deeply about this cause.

AS OF THIS POST SHE DOES NOT EVEN HAVE 50,000 SIGNATURES.

You can help change that. Click here to sign.

The form asks only for your name, ZIP code, and email. The site is mobile friendly. You don't need to verify the email.

Don't scroll, it will take one minute, just go do it now!

THANK YOU!

[filosofablogger]

Asleep At The Wheel

What happens when a driver falls asleep at the wheel of the car he is driving?  Typically it results in an accident, possibly the loss of at least one life, maybe more.  Kevin McCarthy, hired to represent the 330 million people living in the United States, has fallen asleep at the proverbial wheel and is driving this train right toward a cliff – fiscal and otherwise. Intentionally. On…

[the-final-sif]

I feel like there's two parts to the no fly list leak that are getting overlooked right now

1) the person in question has the handle "maia arson crimew" meaning media outlets have to cite "crimew" as the person they're quoting, which is amazing.

2) From everything I've read, crimew didn't actually commit a crime (in this case at least). According to crimew, the no-fly list was discovered on a publicly accessible server, totally unsecured. crimew was using Shodan which is a totally legal tool regularly used by a lot of the security community for research. Schools use and provide access to Shodan, it's a normal tool. Nothing crimew was doing was out of the ordinary. Her access and use of the file was most likely legal (or at least next to impossible to prosecute), given that it was publicly accessible.

crimew even notified CommuteAir of the data vulnerability. Which prevented more sensitive data from leaking, and was absolutely a sign of acting in good faith. Her obligation to even do that is a pretty gray area, but she did it anyways.

Now, crimew has gotten charged by the US in the past for other things, however, Swiss citizens cannot be extradited against their will. So the proceedings were suspended. She could only be charged under Swiss law, and given that the data is/was publicly accessible and the exposure was for public good, that's very unlikely to happen.

The people actually getting investigated by congress/the FBI/the TSA are the idiots at CommuteAir that were hosting the no fly list on an unsecured publicly accessible server. They're the ones who actually get in trouble for failing to have followed basic security protocols. They're the ones who had a legal obligation to safe guard that data, and they're the ones who fucked up.

[to-dance-beneath-the-diamond-sky]

US folks, please take literally 30 seconds to send an email to your reps demanding they immediately stop sending money to Israel.

Link here: https://act.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/a/no-more-weapons-israel-c2e

Also please use this tool (also takes literally 30 seconds) to demand your reps reinstate funding to UNWRA. UNWRA funding will run out in less than two weeks. This is SUPER SUPER URGENT!!!

Link here: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/tell-congress-demand-biden-reinstate-unrwa-funding/ 

Please also send these tools to 3 other people off of tumblr!

If you don't live in the US, please reblog anyways and share with anyone you know who does live in the US

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[carriesthewind]

Ok. I am maybe kind of losing my mind just a little bit.

A few days ago, I mentioned in a post that the IA only cares about information being digitized, not about actual digital access. And I mentioned that access includes patrons being able to actually find what they are looking for, and suggested IA did not prioritize that critical aspect of access. But I didn't really go into any more detail.

So someone over on bluesky linked to this write-up of a talk Brewster Kahle gave about using so-called AI. And one of his reported statements made my mouth drop open in shock.

...and then I read further in the article and realized it was incorrectly reporting basic facts around Hachette, so I had to go and listen to the whole speech myself.* (And I want to say, briefly - he raises some legitimate potential uses for LLMs! He's kind of a dick about some of it ("it's up to us to go and keep [Balinese] culture alive"), but some of the things he's talking about actually seem useful.)

*Incidentally, while Kahle doesn't lie about the ALA brief in the speech, he absolutely misleads about the nature and facts of the case and deliberately omit the part of the story where the IA decided to suspend the one-to-one owned-to-loan ratio thing, despite repeatedly emphasizing that one-to-one was what the IA was doing with their lending program.

And oh my god. He really said what the article reports. (This portion starts around 20:10.)

He says that the IA has scanned over 18,000 periodicals. And that they used to have professional librarians manually create descriptions of the periodicals in order to catalog them. (Sidenote: there are existing directories, but he describes their licensing terms as "ridiculous." This is not a field I know much about, but I spoke to one person who agreed, though for different reasons. His reason is that you can only license, not purchase, the directory descriptions. The person I spoke to was instead focused on the prices demanded for the licenses. Regardless, the idea of creating an open, free directory seems both like an incredible amount of work and an amazing resource...if it was accurate.)

But according to Kahle, it took 45 minutes to an hour to create a description and catalog each periodical.

And so now, instead, they're using AI to make the descriptions and so it only takes 7-10 minutes!

"And yes it hallucinates, and it has some problems, and whatever — but it’s a lot faster than having to write it yourself!"

Oh. My god.

Just.

YOU ARE KNOWINGLY INTRODUCING AI HALLUCINATIONS INTO YOUR CATALOG?!

(And yes, he says that they are "confirmed by a librarian" but it can't really be, not if it's only taking 7-10 minutes! Maybe the librarian can do a quick check for super obvious errors, but actually checking a AI's summary work requires actually going back to the source and reviewing it yourself!)

I just....

I need to emphasize for those of you for who aren't familiar - if a book or article is miscataloged, it is effectively lost. Because it doesn't mater if a library or an archive owes it - if someone can't find it when they are looking for it, it is not only inaccessible, the only way to find it again is through chance. Imagine if you went into a library, but instead of organized shelves (where if even if you can't find what you're looking for, the librarians know where to look), every single book was just piled in a heap.

If a book is miscateloged, it still exists, but it is lost, not truly accessible. And they know that this is happening, "but whatever." Because Brewster Kahle doesn't actually care about real, practical, digital access. (Much less non-digital access.)

(And then to top it off, he goes on to criticize the Library of Congress for not being "access oriented.")

I just. 18,000 periodicals. And they've knowing, recklessly lost who knows how many of them. I feel like crying.

18,000 periodicals.

[contemplatingoutlander]

Although Congress averted a government shutdown, Hakeem Jeffries' remarks about the attempt by a couple of "puppet masters" to overturn the bipartisan funding bill & GOP hypocrisy are still worth repeating.

"In our nation’s 248 year history, 25% of our nation’s debt was accumulated during the four years of the former president. 25%. How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility ever."

—Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House minority leader

Below are some highlights from the transcript of Hakeem Jeffries' remarks before the House on 12/19/24, including his comments on:

The attempt by the "puppet masters" (i.e., Musk and Trump) to overturn the bipartisan government funding bill.

The history of how Democrats repeatedly had to clean up the fiscal messes that Republicans (the so-called party of "fiscal responsibility") created time and again because of their unfounded belief in tax cuts for the wealthy (i.e., "trickle down economics").

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: [Democrats and Republicans in Congress] reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government, prevent a shutdown and meet the needs of the American people. We reached a bipartisan agreement to provide disaster assistance to people who had their lives turned upside down by extreme weather events hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and wildfires all across America. We reached a bipartisan agreement to be there for farmers and families, children, seniors, working-class Americans all across the country, the men and women who serve this country in uniform and our veterans.

House Republicans have abandoned that bipartisan agreement that we entered into in good faith. A bill that House Republicans negotiated, gave us your word that we were going to move forward together on behalf of the American people.... And then one or two puppet masters weigh in and the extreme MAGA Republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well-off, the well-connected millionaires and billionaires, not working-class people all across America. The bill that is before us today is just part of an effort to shut down the government unless we, as representatives of the American people, bend to the will of just a handful of millionaires and billionaires because the provisions in this bill, particularly as it relates to suspending the debt ceiling for two years, are designed to bring about a massive tax cut unpaid for wealthy donors and for wealthy corporations for millionaires and billionaires who, clearly, some in this Congress are working for. And this bill is validation for it.

[added color is mine; all emphasized text is from Hakeem Jeffries' Congressional website]

[See more excerpts below the cut.]

HAKEEM JEFFRIES (Continued): Now, what’s been interesting to me is that for decades, the Republican Party has lectured America about fiscal responsibility, about the debt and the deficit. It’s always been phony. This bill proves it. One thing we do know is that every time a Republican president comes into office, the one thing we can count on Republicans to do is to pass a massive tax cut for wealthy Americans and, in the process, stick working-class Americans with the bill by raising the deficit and the debt. That’s what happened in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was president. The biggest thing that he did was pass a massive tax cut for the wealthy and the well-off paid for by working families and middle class folks all across the country. Didn’t do anything for middle class Americans. Didn’t do anything to stimulate the economy.... I’ve come to the conclusion that trickle down economics simply means that middle class families, that working-class Americans may get a trickle, but they’re guaranteed to stay down. That’s what your economics are all about. Massive tax cuts for the wealthy and the well-off under President Reagan continued into President Bush. Bill Clinton comes to office, inherits a significant deficit, and under his stewardship, President Clinton turns a deficit into a surplus and passes that surplus to President George W Bush. The so-called party of fiscal responsibility.

And once again, we see the same exact playbook. Republicans inherit a surplus and they immediately blow it to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, not provide relief to working-class Americans. A tax cut in 2001, unpaid for, and then a tax cut in 2003, unpaid for. And they continue to run up the debt and the deficit prosecuting two failed wars. The so-called party of fiscal responsibility. Want to lecture America, but your record speaks for itself.

President Obama comes in after mismanagement related to the prior administration, including helping to trigger the Great Recession, inherits the deficit from a Republican president of $1.5 trillion, as well as the Great Recession. And working under the leadership of President Obama, Democrats in the House and the Senate, the situation turned around and over an eight year period of time reduced the deficit by $1 trillion. From $1.5 trillion to $500 billion. Progress under Democratic leadership as it relates to getting America’s fiscal house in order. And then Donald Trump comes to office and again follows the same exact playbook... Republicans turned their attention to the GOP tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1%. Why? To subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. And in the process of doing that, borrow $2.3 trillion added to our debt. Explode the deficit. So-called party of fiscal responsibility. In fact, this debt that we’re dealing with... that’s what this two-year suspension of the debt ceiling is all about. In our nation’s 248 year history, 25% of our nation’s debt was accumulated during the four years of the former president. 25%. How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility ever.

And then President Biden comes to office. Gets big things done for the American people on infrastructure, on the CHIPS and Science Act, standing up a clean energy economy, rescuing America from a once-in-a-century pandemic. Gets all of these big things done... and in the process, in his first two years, reduces the deficit by $1.7 trillion. And so we see a very clear pattern. The facts speak for themselves.... which bring us to this very moment. Because this bill is designed to set up the GOP tax scam 2.0. To stick the American people with a bill so you can continue to cut taxes for wealthy donors and well-connected corporations and jam working-class Americans. That’s what this bill today fundamentally is all about. That’s why Republicans are suspending the debt ceiling for two years, the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. And in addition to these massive tax cuts, we know how you want to pay for it. Many Republicans have said this in the public domain, that we want to end Social Security as we know it, end Medicare as we know it, end Medicaid as we know it, end nutritional assistance as we know it, not support our veterans. These are all the reasons why Democrats are opposed to this legislation. [...] Why would you eliminate funding for community health centers? That impacts the heartland of America, urban America, rural America, suburban America, small-town America, Appalachia.... Why would you cut funding for nutritional assistance for children in America? For seniors in America? For veterans in America? Why would you do that?.... This legislation actually cuts a program that was designed to help children and their parents detect cancer. Cruelty is the point. Why would you eliminate that program? We’re going to fight for the children of America.

And so, the reasons are too numerous to articulate.... But we’ve laid out the challenges with this bill, the phoniness in claiming that extreme MAGA Republicans are about working-class Americans or are the party of fiscal responsibility. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you run up the debt and the deficit, middle-class families pay, working-class families pay, and we are going to defend them. House Democrats are going to continue to fight for working families, middle-class families, all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, for the children of America, for the seniors of America, for the unions in America, for the veterans of America, for the least, the lost and the left behind, for the poor, the sick and the afflicted. We are going to continue to fight for everyday Americans. That is why we are voting no on this bill. And to stop this reckless, regressive and reactionary Republican shutdown. Vote no.

[added color is mine; all emphasized text is from Hakeem Jeffries' Congressional website]

[starboye]

pairing: bill skarsgård x male reader

request: If you’re taking request, can you please make a top Bill Skarsgård x bttm reader smut where Bill has an affair with the reader and he performs oral sex which leads to them fucking in the suspended congress position

warnings: smut, face fucking, breeding kink if you squint, daddy kink, cheating, cursing, unprotected sex

it wasn't the smartest idea to be having affair with bill seeing as he was married and had a kid but how could you resist such a fine man, and i mean if anything he came onto you first with his little remarks on you body and how he would always flirt with you when no one else was around so of course you ended up under him.

"good boy just like that" bill groaned running his fingers through your hair as you sucked his dick before coming off of it with a pop "should we really be doing this" you ask stroking his dick to make up for the loss of your mouth "i don't care if we shouldn't" bill says pushing your head back on his dick, grabbing a chunk of your hair to hold you in place before he begins thrusting into your mouth.

"fuck your mouth is so good" bill groaned while you gagged and choked on his dick as it slid down your throat with such ease that it was impressive, you put your hands in his thighs for more stability as the face fucking gets sloppier and more rough but just as bill is about to cum he pulls you off his dick.

"no please i want your cum" you whine flicking your tongue at his sensitive dick but he pulls your head away making you pout "as much as i would love to fill that fucking throat i'm not done just yet" bill smirks leaning down to kiss you, the kiss sloppy and wet with the mix of saliva and cum before he lifts you up into his arms.

his hands holding up your thighs as your ass rests over his dick, he kisses you deeply before putting his dick in, you moan into his mouth as he lifts and lowers you on his dick, your hole was just the right size for him after the multiple times he's fucked you.

"you love my dick right, love the way it ruins your tight hole" bill asks as he kisses your neck leaving some hickeys behind "yes daddy i love your big dick so much" you moan wrapping your arms around bills neck and resting your head on his shoulder.

"i should make you my new wife, get you all nice and filled with my cum" bill says, the thought of him making you his husband and filling you everyday is enough for you to cum right there with light whimpers "such a filthy boy, cumming untouched just from my words" bill teases kissing the of your head.

"please cum in me i want it so bad" you beg bill as you squeeze your hole around his dick, trying to milk him for it "you want me to make you mine officially" bill asks and you lean back from his shoulder and nod quickly, he holds your ass in his hands and thrust upwards into you.

after a couple more thrusts he cums in you, his dick spasms in you as he paints your walls white, letting huffs fall from his mouth as he lays you on the bed "so how much longer are we gonna have to keep this a secret" you question "just till my divorce is finalized then i can fill you up whenever you want baby" bill coos kissing you.

taglsit: @nouearth @mailmango @spermeboy @ghostking4m @gayaristocrat

[mariacallous]

As president of the United States, Donald Trump threatened the federally issued licenses of television broadcast outlets that displeased him. In 2017, after NBC News reported a dispute between the president and his military advisors about the size of the nuclear arsenal, the president launched a series of tweets:

These 2017 tweets did not specifically suggest that he would have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which issues the airwave licenses, revoke them on his order. Instead, they appear to echo the 1972 tactics of Richard Nixon, who, displeased by coverage from the Washington Post, encouraged a third party to file a challenge at the FCC (which ultimately went nowhere).  

In response to the 2017 tweets, the Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, took a firm stand. “I believe in the First Amendment,” he said. “Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on a particular newscast.”   

Now, in 2024, as a presidential candidate, Donald Trump has reasserted that broadcasters who displease him should lose their federal airwave licenses. A September 2023 post on Truth Social accused NBC of “Country Threatening Treason.” He added, “Why should NBC, or any of the other corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE?”

The current Chair of the FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, responded, “the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”  

However, the ability of future FCCs to stand up to such instructions could be at risk. Candidate Trump has promised, “I will bring the independent regulatory agencies, such as the FCC and the FTC, back under Presidential authority, as the Constitution demands.” While the Constitution never mentions regulatory agencies, bringing the FCC under direct presidential control would surely undercut its independent decision-making.   

But a president of the United States already has powers beyond coercing the FCC. These powers could be exercised not only against broadcasters, but also against those who operate the internet. 

The “Doomsday Book” 

During his presidency, Donald Trump asserted, “When somebody’s president of the United States, the authority is total.” Whether or not presidential authority is “total,” there does already exist a compendium of presidential powers that have been enacted by Congress for use in extreme circumstances.  

Reportedly locked in a White House safe are the secret “Presidential Emergency Action Documents” (PEADs). Colloquially known as the “Doomsday Book,” they are a collection of powers authorized by Congress for the president to use in emergencies. Included in this compendium is Section 706 (codified as 47 USC 606), titled, “War Emergency – Powers of the President,” that is tucked away at the end of the Communications Act of 1934, the statute that created the FCC.  

TIME Magazine reports, “When Donald Trump was in the Oval Office, members of the national security staff actively worked to keep him from learning the full extent of these interpretations of presidential authority, concerned he would abuse them.”   

Here is what Section 706 authorizes: 

(c) Upon proclamation by the President that there exists war or a threat of war, or a state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency… the President, if he deems it necessary in the interest of national security or defense, may suspend or amend, for such time as he may see fit, the rules and regulations applicable to any or all stations or devices capable of emitting electromagnetic radiations within the jurisdiction of the United States as prescribed by the Commission, and may cause the closing of any station for radio communication…

The next subsection, using similar “national security” criteria, gives the president authority over the wired networks, such as those that carry telephone and internet service. Section 706(d), in pertinent part, authorizes the president to “suspend or amend the rules and regulations applicable to any or all facilities or stations for wire communication… cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication… [or] authorize the use or control of any such facility or station… by any department of the Government under such regulations as he may prescribe…”  

The terms “war or a threat of war, or a state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency” are not defined by the Communications Act. Such declarations of national emergency were, however, a go-to solution when Donald Trump was in office. The effort to restrict travel from majority-Muslim countries was justified on national security grounds. Tariffs were levied on foreign steel and aluminum as a national security threat based on their impact on domestic production. When Congress would not give him the funding he wanted for the Mexican border wall, the president simply used a national emergency declaration to reallocate Defense Department funds to build the wall. Reportedly, he even considered declaring that the use of natural gas for electricity production was a national security risk because the gas pipelines could become terrorist targets. 

The power of the Chief 

Candidate Trump, in September 2023, posted that NBC and other “corrupt & dishonest media companies” are “a true threat to democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” He declared, “The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country.”  

A 2021 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded, “in the American governmental experience, the exercise of emergency powers has been somewhat dependent on the Chief Executive’s view of the presidential office.” When he was Chief Executive, Donald Trump explained how he viewed the office: “I have Article II [of the Constitution], where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”  

The tools to do whatever the president wants—whether at the FCC or in the Doomsday Book—are at hand. As the CRS report concluded, such decisions are dependent “on the Chief Executive’s view of the presidential office.”  

The institution that created these broad powers, the Congress, has an important role as overseer of the authority they have delegated to the executive. Congress constantly holds oversight hearings on the agencies of the executive branch; hearings on the unilateral powers granted to the president are warranted. The threshold question for such hearings should be whether there are sufficient guardrails in place to protect against their abuse, and what such protections should look like. Regardless of who wins the election—Congress should review whether the unilateral powers granted to the president in the 20th century need updating for the 21st century. 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: suspend the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade during the next Democratic trifecta

Alexander Bolton at The Hill:

Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Wednesday that there are currently enough votes in the Senate to suspend the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade and abortion rights if Democrats win control of the House and keep the Senate and White House. “We will suspend the filibuster. We have the votes for that on Roe v. Wade,” Warren said on ABC’s “The View.”

She said if Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2025, “the first vote Democrats will take in the Senate, the first substantive vote, will be to make Roe v. Wade law of the land again in America.” The Massachusetts Democrat said her party would only need “skinny” majorities in the House and Senate to override the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the national right to an abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973. “We can make Roe v. Wade law of the land if we have, and I have to be clear, we’ve got to have a majority in the House — skinny majority. We can take a really skinny majority in the Senate, I’ll take fifty. And a Democrat in the White House. We have those three things we will suspend the filibuster,” she said.

Speaking on ABC’s The View Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) supports the idea of suspending the filibuster to pass a Codify Roe bill should the Dems get a trifecta.

From the 07.17.2024 edition of ABC's The View:

[remindertoclick]

Here's your daily reminder to click for Palestine!!!

U.S. residents, take 5 minutes and use this link to pressure your members of Congress to stop sending weapons to the Israeli military!!

(Letter variants you can copy/paste under the cut!!)

Original letter written by Jewish Voice for Peace:

I am writing as your constituent to ask that you do everything in your power to press the Biden administration to suspend all weapons shipments to the Israeli military, and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah, even though President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line." On May 7, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and ordered 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate. The 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere to flee should a full invasion commence. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Slight variations I created (so that emails don't get marked as spam for being identical to each other)

Variation 1:

I'm writing to you today as your constituent to ask you to do everything you can to put pressure on the Biden administration to suspend all weapons shipments to the Israeli military and opposing any and all future military funding to Israel! The Israeli government is pushing forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah. President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line," yet his administration is still supporting this operation. On May 7th, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to abandon their homes. 1.3 million Palestinians have been displaced. Those sheltering in Rafah have nowhere to flee during a full invasion. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. Their fate lies in the hands on Congress, in your hands. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Variation 2:

I'm writing you today to ask that you do everything in your power to convince the Biden administration to stop funding Israel. We have to telk them to stop all shipments of weapons to the Israeli military and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah... President Biden made it clear that such an operation would be a "red line," and yet he continues to fund them. On May 7th, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians to flee their own home of Eastern Rafah. Should a full invasion commence, 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere safe to go. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I am begging you now, as your constituent, to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late.... Thank you.