What with our current Trump-engineered government shutdown exceeding the length of Newt Gingrich’s notorious 21-day shutdown in 1995-96 and ‘90s-era fashion making a comeback (whether we like it or not), I’m feeling downright nostalgic these days.
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Hard Knock Life: One specific moment that sent me on a meander down memory lane occurred when U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman was one of only seven members of the House (all Republicans, by the by) who voted against giving federal workers the back pay they’re owed after the government shutdown ends.
It will end, won’t it?
- It’s an absurd thing to have to vote on in the first place, frankly, since it’s certainly not government employees’ fault that they can’t go to work and earn the paychecks they rightly expect.
- Grothman thinks paying workers what he and his GOP colleagues have prevented them from earning during the shutdown is “awfully generous.”
But this didn’t shock me.
- See, I remember Grothman from his tenure in the Wisconsin legislature, where he was known as “Spooky” (likely a holdover from his time as a member of the “spooky caucus,” a group of Republicans in the early 2000s whose ideas were so ultra-conservative that they gave other members of their own party the creeps) and seemed to really like the idea of people working, like, all the time.
Yes, Grothman tried to get rid of weekends.
The upshot? Glenn Grothman sucks and maybe I’ve been doing this for too long.
lol nah
Wonderwall: And while we’re on this damn wall nonsense, let’s all take a moment to appreciate the lawmakers from Montana and West Virginia who are working just SO hard to waste their states’ resources on a towering monument to racism and government waste.
- Montana Republican Sen. Scott Sales is proposing legislation to allocate $8 million in state money to help build Trump’s wall.
- Three Republican delegates from West Virginia want to divert $10 million from state coffers for the same stupid purpose.
- GOP Del. Caleb Hanna claims the wall will help stem the drug epidemic plaguing his state.
Someone should really tell him that the vast majority of narcotics come into the U.S. through legal points of entry, not via the parts of the border that lack a wall.
Barrel Of A Gun: One member of the Virginia state Senate has taken to packing visible heat.
Like, everywhere.
In her office.
In committee hearings.
On the Senate floor.
- It’s really not that rare for senators to bring their weapons on the floor, honestly (at least six Republicans are known to do it regularly).
- But it’s that whole open-carry thing that’s raising eyebrows.
- Why is Republican Sen. Amanda Chase suddenly showing off her gun all the time?
- Because GOP Sen. Dick Black (R-Plastic Fetus) told her he was so skeeered of some immigration activists who opposed his bill banning sanctuary cities (Virginia doesn’t have any to ban, but whatever).
- Now that she’s started showing off her gun everywhere, Chase says she’s “had threats” and “stalkers” since her election to the General Assembly in 2015.
- Yes, that would absolutely suck. But there’s a whole police force dedicated to protecting members of the Virginia legislature.
- Chase claims that obviously carrying a thing designed to kill other humans “is a deterrent” to violence.
Yes, and carrying around a lit torch is a great way to prevent fires.
- By the by, Chase is a vocal opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed the state Senate this week (seven Republicans joined the chamber’s 19 Democrats in supporting it), but she thinkings carrying a gun “empowers women.”
U Can’t Touch This: In Kentucky, some lawmakers want to outlaw bestiality.
You know, finally.
- Bafflingly, Kentucky is one of five states (Hawaii, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyoming are the others) lacking anti-bestiality statutes.
- Even more bafflingly, two previous versions of this bill failed to get “traction” in years past.
seriously wtf y’all
Mysterious Ways: A brief update from Alaska:
- Lawmakers still haven’t figured out which party controls the state House.
- The chamber has 23 Republicans, 16 Democrats, and one independent.
- But the independent and two of the Republicans caucus with Democrats.
- And another Republican is refusing to caucus with his party, effectively denying the the majority they need to assume control.
- The situation continues to develop. Stay tuned!
I Want It That Way: You’ll be shocked, SHOCKED to learn that Democrats are doing some pretty cool things in states where they took trifecta control of state government after the 2018 elections.
- In Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, Democrats are already rushing to expand access to healthcare.
- Some Colorado lawmakers are proposing a state-run insurance plan for those without access to coverage via Medicaid or private employers.
- In Nevada and New Mexico, Democrats are expected to push measures that allow anyone in the state to buy into a Medicaid insurance plan.
- In New York, Democratic majorities in the state Assembly (old) and Senate (new!) moved quickly to pass a sweeping series of proposals that will transform the state from one of the suckiest places to cast a ballot to one of the easiest.
- These measures include:
- Establishing an early voting period
- Consolidating the congressional and state primary dates
- Automatically updating voters’ registrations when they move within the state
- And coming soon: automatic voter registration … and more!
- These proposals still need to get through some hoops (e.g., Gov. Cuomo’s signature and, in some cases, constitutional amendment requirements), but they’re well on their way to becoming law.
Welp, that’s all for this week. You Oughta Know that this is the End Of The Road for the week—no need to Linger when you Wannabe 500 Miles away on an Escapade. No Diggity, Give Me One Reason you don’t deserve to knock off early for an Epic weekend. Just print this out and show it to your boss, I Believe she won’t mind.