Political⚡Charge

The Political Charge Weekly Recap

Here it is! Your weekly recap of the good news and a handful of the best cartoons I saw during the week.

As I look back at the big news of the week, I’m struck by how differently Democrats and Republicans handled the launch of a new congressional session after flipping the chamber. As you might remember, when the Democrats flipped the House during the last midterms, they faced exactly what Republicans face today — a divided Congress, with the opposite party in control of the Senate. Nevertheless, the Democrats kicked off their new majority with a series of carefully thought out bills that aimed to signal their values — anti-corruption, campaign finance, voting rights, ethics and more. Even though they knew these bills had very little likelihood of passing a Republican Senate, they wanted to make good to their voters and show what they would be fighting for. (And remember, they finally did pass some of these reforms when the Democrats won back the Senate in 2020.)

Conversely, the Republicans did not do that. Every poll and survey during these last midterms made clear what Republicans voters were most concerned about: gas prices, inflation, crime, and the border. So how did Kevin McCarthy’s House kick off their legislative session? With a bill repealing 87,000 jobs. Seriously. They passed a bill that aimed to repeal funding for the IRS over the next 10 years that was designated in the Inflation Reduction Act. Then they passed a couple of anti-abortion bills. Again, abortion access is an issue Democrats care deeply about, but Republicans no longer think of it as a top issue since the repeal of Roe v Wade. And finally, they set up a couple of select committees that will serve to attack Biden’s administration. Not one of those things was an issue Republicans voters said they care the most about going into the ballot box.

It’s only the latest evidence that Republicans are unserious about governing, and that they don’t give two craps about what their own voters want.

That said, it’ll be a lot of noise for 2 years, but thankfully we still have the Senate, which will effectively kill any legislation the Republicans want to pass. And with, that, let’s get into this week’s good news and fabulous editorial cartoons!

Good News

Trump’s real estate business was ordered to pay a $1.6 million criminal penalty Ithe maximum possible!) for its conviction on felony tax fraud and other charges, and Trump’s CFO, Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to 5 months in Rikers jail

Brunson v Adams, a legal petition that MAGA was very excited about because it aimed to throw out 300 members of Congress for certifying the 2020 election results, will NOT be heard by SCOTUS

A judge has ordered the unsealing of key excerpts of Donald Trump’s deposition in E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against him

A federal judge sentenced pro-Trump livestreamer Anthime “Baked Alaska” Gionet on Tuesday to 60 days in prison for his actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The 60-day jail term is relatively steep for the hundreds of misdemeanor defendants who have faced sentencing

Parler, the right wing social media platform, laid off a majority of its staff and most of its chief executives

Democrats flipped a key state Senate seat in Virginia on Tuesday, expanding their edge in the chamber to 22-18 and making passage of new abortion curbs less likely

Taylor Dudley, An American Navy veteran who has been detained in Russia for nearly a year was released from Russian custody on Thursday, after months of negotiations

An Indiana man lost his job after threatening to murder Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and his family on social media

Cartoons

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