The WØRD – “Chaos” – Party on the Peninsulas

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Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint): McCarthy, MAGAs and Chaos

The interview with Rep. Kildee was recorded before the weekend’s last-minute Democratic-led passage of the 45-day continuing budget resolution.

From the Chair

“Chaos”. No other word can better describe Republicans in both Michigan and Washington D.C. and what they have brought to the American people.

In Washington, we got a temporary 45-day reprieve from chaos as Democrats led the way to passing a short-term federal spending authorization. 90 House Republicans voted to shut down much of the government. And the reprieve from chaos there could end any day.

For all practical purposes, Speaker Kevin McCarthy has turned over control of the House to a handful of extremists led by Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. They may well add to the chaos by voting Speaker Kevin McCarthy out for the sin of finally agreeing to a bipartisan compromise.

The threatened MAGA Republican shutdown would have had a huge impact that hurts every American:

slashing funds for schools with low-income students,
gutting law enforcement,
raising housing costs,
eliminating critical job training and workforce development programs;
sending home food safety and drug safety workers, endangering our health.

The MAGA-Republican shutdown would have had devastating consequences for our communities, economy, and national security:

Armed service members not getting their paychecks,
Travelers facing likely airport delays with air traffic controllers and TSA agents working without pay,
FBI agents going unpaid – a welcome opening for both foreign and home-grown terrorists.

Ironically, the same Republicans yelling loudest about border security voted to take paychecks away from border control officers.

The MAGA extremists wanted to inflict pain on families as well:

WIC nutrition assistance delayed for nearly 7 million women and children,
Daycare disrupted, and
Interruptions in Head Start and Meals on Wheels.

Rather than working for a bipartisan budget compromise, those same MAGA extremists are instead devoting their energies to a fact-free impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Even their political allies at Fox News call the Impeachment Inquiry a waste of time. The first witnesses for the GOP gaggle openly stated, under oath, that there was no evidence against President Biden warranting the idea of impeachment.

In Michigan, the MAGA Republicans held what amounted to a rally of election deniers and conspiracy promoters billed as a “leadership conference” – a bit of a misnomer since hardly any elected Republican leaders showed up for the event. Normally the Mackinac Island conference features multiple presidential candidates. This year, only extremist Vivek Ramashwamy appeared, speaking to a half-empty room. Just 2 of the state’s 6 GOP congressmen were in attendance; neither of the party’s state legislative leaders could be bothered to attend.

Party chair Kristina Karamo told attendees that Darwin’s theory of evolution is a fraud and a hoax: man was created in his present form by God, but that leftists cling to evolutionary theory because when children are taught that one part of the Bible is false, they are more inclined to also question its other teachings.

Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press reported that frequent themes at nearly all the sessions were attacks on scientific elitism and globalism, criticism of electric vehicles as reliant on technology linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and the need to enhance border security and adhere to Christian principles and the Constitution as envisioned by the nation’s founders. There was even a workshop on “Globalism in Chile”.

One so-called headline speaker was defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake who, like Karamo, still refuses to concede that she lost in 2022 (claiming election fraud). Lake continues to spout evidence-free claims of ongoing fraud as she prepares to run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.

While the GOP wallows in chaos with its pointless investigations, tanking of the American economy and leaderless leadership events, Democrats are getting the job done.

Even with the smallest of possible majorities in both our state House and Senate, Democrats and the Whitmer administration have compiled a record-smashing set of successes for the people of Michigan in advancing education, voter rights, reproductive healthcare rights and gun safety. Under the leadership of Speaker Joe Tate and Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, Democrats are united for progress. There is no chaos in Lansing, just results.

In Washington, the Biden/Harris administration and a one-vote Senate Democratic majority continue to craft bipartisan solutions to some of the nation’s most urgent challenges: creating jobs, combating climate change and restoring America’s stature in the world.

Today’s Republicans stand for chaos, undermining democracy, and against working people. Democrats stand on the side of workers, we fight to protect our democracy, and we work FOR the American people.

The WØRD – “Chaos”

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