House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he would like the House Ethics Committee to act quickly and return to Congress on whether to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.W.). York) from the House of Representatives. .
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he would like the House Ethics Committee to act quickly and return to Congress on whether to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.W.). York) from the House of Representatives. .
“I think the charge against George Santos is very serious. I also know that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, but I don’t want to sit and wait. [for the courts]… I would like the ethics committee to get to this quickly,” McCarthy told reporters during a press conference. “I think there is enough information now that they can start looking into it. And I think they can get back to Congress, probably faster than a court case.”
McCarthy’s remarks come after House Democrats announced Tuesday a resolution to force a vote to expel Santos from Congress, less than a week after the New York Republican was indicted on 13 counts, including seven counts of email fraud. funds, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Last week, Santos pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against him and was released on $500,000 bail.
V resolution in one sentence Rep. Robert Garcia (R-CA) introduced – largely symbolic in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, but will force House Republicans to formally deny Santos’ allegations.
In March, the Ethics Committee announced that it was launching a formal investigation to find out whether Santos “engaged in illegal activities” during his 2022 presidential campaign. The investigation is ongoing and the committee has largely remained silent on the progress of the investigation.
McCarthy also emphasized the bipartisan nature of the committee during a press conference, saying that an equal number of Republicans and Democrats “could look at it very quickly and come to the conclusion about what Santos did or didn’t do.”
“I can’t control ethics anyway. But I would advise the ethics committee to do it quickly. Don’t play timeout. The facts are enough,” McCarthy added.
So, in the spirit of helping a fellow techie beat Trump in the primary, here are some tips, Vivek, to help you maximize your chances of winning the Republican nomination and taking on Joe Biden next fall.
1. Keep saying yes.
You make your mark by answering yes to every media request and every group that wants to hear from you, from small podcasts to local New Hampshire political groups to overnight cable news outlets. This is very different from what other candidates will do with their cautious and deliberate press strategies. You are 37 years old. You can outplay other candidates. Keep Doing It This is how my campaign got its momentum for the first time, and it will pay off for you too.
2. Stay positive.
At the start of my campaign, someone said to me, “People can tell if you’re having a good time.” And if you’re having a good time, it extends to those around you. Many other Republican candidates seem unhappy. Their messages are full of anger, resentment and despair. You can express emotion and urgency without being embarrassed to listen or be around. You can outperform other candidates, and that will attract voters who are tired of politicians’ heated speeches.
3. Work with the judges.
In the Republican field, it’s not that important, but there’s a whole galaxy of people who determine what kind of coverage you get and what they say about you. I’m talking about bloggers, beltway journalists, talking heads, first-state party leaders, and a handful of local reporters left in the thick of things. One of the disadvantages of being a beginner is that you don’t have many relationships with these people. They are difficult to move into your column after one meeting. But you can make them neutral. You can continue to register. And if you are still working in January when others leave, it will pay off.
4. Be prepared to debate.
Okay, here’s what I would like to do differently.My team made me appear in the media all the way up to the day of the debate and into the day itself. It was a mistake. Debate is a completely different animal and an opportunity to reach out to people who have never seen you before. You should treat them accordingly and take a break before the first debate in August; prepare, train, practice and develop a different way of expressing yourself. It’s not really a debate – it’s a distributed competitive media performance against a group of people who have been doing this for years and decades with moderators who will push you back. If you enter without the right approach, it will show. Regardless of who else is on the stage, you must leave the audience with a lasting impression or a positive impression with the limitations you will have.
5. Dive into the memes.
Trump dominates memes. Many people see them. You are friends with the Internet, but most of the social networks you post are cool videos or excerpts from media speeches. Power up the homegrown efforts of your #Ramaswamaniacs. If you show them love, they will redouble their efforts and others will join them. I saw this first hand when #YangGang became the driving force behind my campaign. Someone once said, “He who wins on the Internet wins everything.” The internet belongs to Trump. If you change this, you will become a real threat.
6. Spend money early…and late.
Most of your competitors will follow the conventional wisdom that they should save their money until the end of the game when the voting starts. They will also be constantly chasing money to demonstrate viability and have credible quarterly reports. You are the most serious self-financed person, except for Trump, who is notoriously reluctant to spend his own money. With a net worth of $600 million, use it to buy ads in advance, recruit staff, gather more people, donate to local candidates and nonprofits, and make friends. Everyone likes rich guys who are actually generous.
7. Emphasize the possibility of being elected.
When I ran for president, I won the Iowa Youth Straw Poll and was named “The candidate I’d most like to have a beer with.” So why didn’t I break through? Everyone likes to win. The threshold question for the Democrats was: “Who can beat Trump?” They chose Biden. This time for the Republicans, it’s the question “Who can beat Biden?” Don’t make the same mistake I did: really prove that you can clean Biden’s watch and bring about politics and regime change without Trump’s baggage or drama. Why choose a coin toss when you can choose the right one?
8. Tell us more about AI… and UBI.
Wherever you go, you will find people who care about AI. They see the world changing under their feet. You understand technology and innovation better than anyone else – just like me in 2020. Tell them that you will ensure that they are included in the 21st century economy if you become president. Forty-two percent of the people who supported me were not Democrats, in part because they liked hearing about policies like the Universal Basic Income that would really make a difference in their lives. Nearly two-thirds of Americans now want AML, and a ton of those people are Republican voters in the primaries. You can expand your coalition if you include this policy in your platform.
9. Stay human.
I got a lot of support among the independents, because they are tired of artificial, machine politicians. Many just wanted someone from outside the establishment. You can be an individualist who owes nothing to anyone but the truth and who speaks like a real person. Does this remind you of anyone? It was Trump’s call. It could be yours too. Just remember, the better you do, the more consultants around you will try to polish your attractiveness. Don’t let them. The thing is, the mercenaries that fill your campaign are more likely to lose professionally than maximize your chances of winning. play to win And make sure you have people around you who say, “Let Vivek be Vivek.”
Running for president is an incredible journey. You have a real opportunity to benefit the millions of Americans who want something different in their leaders. If you follow these points, you will maximize your chances of representing the Republican Party in the 2024 election. It will be an uphill climb. But hey, at worst, after the campaign, you can join me in the Forward Party.
Since Senator Joe Manchin III, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, cast a decisive vote last year on the Lower Inflation Act, which gave President Biden his biggest legislative victory to date, the bill has weighed him down politically.
Mr. Manchin’s poll numbers in his solidly Republican and coal-rich state tumbled last year after he played a pivotal role in writing climate, health care and tax laws. He has since worked to rebrand the EPA, telling voters that it will not only fight climate change, but also ensure the production of fossil fuels in the United States.
The senator, who is due for re-election next year and has been flirting with his own presidential race, has declared a sort of legislative war on the measure he helped push through Congress. He expressed frustration and dismay at what he calls a “radical climate agenda,” which he says is the driving force behind the Biden administration’s introduction of the law. And he’s still annoyed that his colleagues didn’t include one of his top priorities: an initiative to speed up the issuance of permits for energy projects.
Last month, Mr. Manchin took to Fox News and threatened to try to repeal the law — “I will vote to repeal my own bill,” he said, speaking in common cause with Republicans who demanded the repeal of several of its provisions in exchange for an increase in the limit. debt.
Senate Democrats have no intention of allowing any such move, but Mr Manchin, who relishes his role as a bipartisan negotiator on Capitol Hill, suggested he wants to play a mediator role in reaching a compromise on a debt ceiling that could solve some of his top priorities. He spoke one-on-one with Speaker Kevin McCarthy about a potential deal that would include an energy permit, one of several areas that have come up in talks between the White House and Congressional officials as a possible point of contact.
“We absolutely need to carry out permit reform for the good of our country,” said Mr. Manchin.
His stance reflects his political vulnerability and at least one of the controversies in bipartisan debt talks.
For now, the senator appears to be on the path of war against the Biden administration over its domestic policy bill. Its projected cost exploded when the administration began distributing the tax credits allowed by the electric vehicle bill. Mr. Manchin complained that the loans were unnecessary and wasteful and accused the administration of being slow to approve leases for domestic energy production.
Mr Manchin, who has a personal financial interest in the coal industry, also pledged last week block all EPA candidates over a proposal for target emissions from power plants.
“We’re not going to let them get away with it,” he said last week. “We’re going to close everything.”
The situation has created a political puzzle for Mr. Manchin’s party. Democrats badly need him to run for re-election if they have any real hope of keeping the seat and maintaining their slim majority in the Senate. He has yet to do so, despite the fact that two Republicans, including Gov. Jim Justice, have announced their intention to achieve this.
Instead, Mr. Manchin is openly flirting with Mr. Biden’s presidential nomination on the No Labels list, a wealthy donor-backed political organization that bills itself as a centrist group. She gained access to the presidential ballots in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Utah in the hope of giving Mr. Manchin — or another centrist — the opportunity to run under her banner as an independent candidate.
“Make no mistake, I will win any race I enter,” Mr. Manchin said shortly after Mr. Justice entered the Senate race.
Democrats see the possibility of Manchin’s presidential nomination as a disaster for the party, all but assuring that former President Donald Trump will win the 2024 election. But some recent polls have shown Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump, and some people close to Mr. Manchin say they believe he may have an opportunity if Mr. Biden looks doomed. to failure.
The senator appeared on a recent phone call with more than 200 donors about raising $70 million for possible third party participation.
Those close to him see another motivation: If Mr. Manchin feels he is effective on Capitol Hill and his party listens to him, he is more likely to run for re-election. If he feels frustrated with his party and feels miserable in the Senate, they say, he will likely explore other options.
Nancy Jacobson, chief executive of No Labels, said her organization was trying to get a presidential candidate to vote in all 50 states as an “insurance policy” in case the two major parties ran candidates who were not supported by a majority of Americans.
“If Biden really wants to do a debt ceiling deal, or Biden really wants to solve the border and immigration issue and really wants to solve these problems that most Americans want to solve, there’s no place for us,” Jacobson said in an interview. “Its number will grow and we will go home.”
Mr. Manchin’s disillusionment with the Inflation Reduction Act began in December when he learned Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen would allow tax credits for a number of electric vehicles rather than limit them to commercial use, as he wished.
Treasury officials said they were simply following the law as written. But Mr. Manchin claimed that this was never his intention.
The loans he wrote to Ms. Yellen were “for commercial use only, and your department must follow the intent of Congress.”
Partly because tax credits for electric vehicles have proven hugely popular, the cost of the legislation has risen significantly, angering Mr. Manchin, who considers himself a scarcity hawk. Much of the cost increase is also due to the popularity of production and energy tax breaks on the bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that climate and clean energy law tax credits will cost at least $180 billion more than originally projected.
“When he voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, Senator Manchin had reasonable expectations that the Biden administration would follow both the letter of the law and the clear intent of the agreements made, and he is understandably disappointed that the administration has instead violated and manipulated the law and his a promise,” said Sam Runyon, a spokeswoman for Mr. Manchin.
The senator also expressed concern that the Biden administration has been slow to approve leases for domestic energy production, arguing that officials are reluctant to do so unless they face a court order. An administration official working to implement the law said the White House “foresees a number of sales in the coming months.”
Mr. Manchin also took on John Podesta, a senior White House adviser, whom he accused of making “extremely irresponsible” comments that Chinese companies would be “big players” in America’s energy production.
The White House spokesman said the entire context of Mr. Podesta’s remarks suggests that he is arguing for strengthening and diversifying US supply chains away from China.
Republicans have been quick to capitalize on the conflict between Mr. Manchin and the Biden administration. The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently released an ad highlighting promises to repeal his own bill.
“The senator made it clear in West Virginia that he wrote the bill,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who supported Mr. Justice. “It’s unusual to want to repeal a bill that you wrote, but I understand that he has finally realized what we all know: if you leave this administration to write the rules and regulations, they will not follow the letter of the law. “.
But Mr. Manchin plans to use all the leverage at his disposal to convince the Biden administration to see things his way. His staff speaks regularly to officials and he has been known to call Mr. Podesta directly.
“When Joe Manchin says something, he is sincere about it,” said Senator John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Colorado who sits on the Energy Committee with Manchin. He added: “We definitely want to stimulate manufacturing in this country and that’s what Joe is really fighting for.”
Deegan overcame the massive financial advantage enjoyed by Davis, who aired ads attacking her for participating in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, to give her party a much-needed victory months after its statewide debacle. She also ended Jacksonville’s status as America’s largest city by appointing a Republican mayor. easily won a second term earlier this month.
Jacksonville, which was merged with the rest of Duval County. in 1968, which has been a conservative stronghold in both state and local politics for decades. Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 started a Republican winning streak that will continue into the 21st century. Mayor Ed Austin 1993 party switch handed over control of city hall to the Republican Party for the first time in a century.
Democrats finally regained the mayoral seat in 2011 when Alvin Brown narrowly defeated a hardline opponent of the Republican Party who had alienated business interests, a victory that also made him the city’s first black leader. However, his tenure did not mark the beginning of a new progressive era in Jacksonville, as the mayor distanced himself from state Democrats and National Democrats and further alienated the party base. refusal to support a human rights ruling aims to protect the city’s large LGBT community. Curry, former chairman of the state Republican Party, lost seat to Brown 51–49 in 2015and the Democrats didn’t even field a candidate against him four years later.
However, despite recent history, Democrats still had reason to be optimistic about Duval County’s long-term direction. Both Senator Bill Nelson and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum took the city in 2018 despite a narrow statewide defeat, while Joe Biden’s subsequent 51–47 victory made him the first party presidential candidate to lead the district. Duval. since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Things were a lot bleaker in 2022, with both Senator Marco Rubio and the governor. Ron DeSantis defeated Duvall by a wide margin, although local Democrats at least had the comfort of knowing that Jacksonville still votes left-wing from the state as a whole.
Deegan’s victory on Tuesday finally brought undeniably good news to her party, but the Democrats still have a long way to go to turn Duval County into a blue bastion. Republican T.K. Waters wins re-election this year without opposition like a sheriff, which also puts him head of the city policewhile the Republican Party continues maintain a significant advantage in the city council of 19 people. However, Democrats are hoping Deegan’s triumph will be a fresh start in northern Florida.
