- Democrat lawmaker interrupts Marjorie Taylor Greene’s transphobic rant to raise assault weapons ban The Independent
- Nashville congressman responds to radical trans group: Turning shooter into ‘martyr’ is ‘beyond disturbing’ Fox News
- March 29, 2023: Nashville shooter had ’emotional disorder,’ small arsenal, AI, Pence, Taiwan, Biden Reuters
- Trans activist calls Nashville school ‘right-wing institution’ day after mass shooting WZTV
- We must reject the transphobic narrative around Nashville The Independent
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Tag Archives: lawmaker
Alaska lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saved taxpayer money – BBC
- Alaska lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saved taxpayer money BBC
- Alaska House censures lawmaker for suggesting fatal child abuse cases could be ‘a benefit for society’ Fox News
- Lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saves taxpayers money The Washington Post
- Downing: Free speech breaks out in Juneau, as Rep. Gray dramatically (and ironically) makes a great pro-life case Must Read Alaska
- Alaska Republican sparks alarm by claiming ‘economic benefits’ to children being abused to death The Independent
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Lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saves taxpayers money – The Washington Post
- Lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saves taxpayers money The Washington Post
- Alaska House censures lawmaker for suggesting fatal child abuse cases could be ‘a benefit for society’ Fox News
- Alaska lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saved taxpayer money bbc.com
- Alaska Republican sparks alarm by claiming ‘economic benefits’ to children being abused to death The Independent
- Downing: Free speech breaks out in Juneau, as Rep. Gray dramatically (and ironically) makes a great pro-life case Must Read Alaska
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Wisconsin lawmaker sues to stop immediate counting of military ballots
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin lawmaker who has been a frequent promoter of false election claims is suing to prevent the immediate counting of military ballots in her state after she received three ballots under fake names.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, was brought by a veterans group and three individuals, including Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R), the chairwoman of the State Assembly’s elections committee.
Last week, Brandtjen received three military ballots under fictitious names that were allegedly sent to her by Kimberly Zapata, a Milwaukee election official. Election officials have criticized Brandtjen for spreading false claims about the system, and Zapata later told prosecutors she was trying to alert Brandtjen about an actual weakness in the state’s voting system that should be addressed.
Unlike most states, Wisconsin allows military members to cast ballots without registering to vote or providing proof of residency. Military ballots make up a tiny fraction of votes in Wisconsin — about 1,400 so far for Tuesday’s election.
Brandtjen and the others are using the incident to argue that military ballots should not be counted unless election officials can show they complied with a state law requiring them to maintain lists of all eligible military voters.
Brandtjen’s attorney, Erick Kaardal of the conservative Thomas More Society, said state officials have handled elections in a way that is “conducive to vote fraud.”
Will Attig, director of the Union Veterans Council, expressed alarm at the attempt to prevent counting military ballots.
“These are service members defending our country that have the right to vote and their means to vote is by mail,” he said. “We’ve got what to me appears to be an orchestrated plan by election deniers who do not truly support our democracy.”
US Lawmaker Calls on SEC to Issue Crypto Regulations — Says ‘a Formal Regulatory Process Is Needed Now’ – Regulation Bitcoin News
A U.S. senator has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue crypto regulations now “through a transparent notice-and-comment regulatory process.” He stressed that “some digital assets are securities, others may be commodities, and others may subject to a completely different regulatory regime.”
US Senator Calls for ‘Transparent Notice-and-Comment Regulatory Process’ to Regulating Crypto Assets
U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) has sent a letter to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, regarding crypto regulations.
In his letter dated Oct. 13, the senator told Gensler, “Clear rules promote an environment where investors are protected,” adding:
I write to urge the SEC to issue regulations for digital asset securities through a transparent notice-and-comment regulatory process.
He stressed: “Currently, digital asset markets do not have a coordinated regulatory framework. This creates uneven enforcement, and deprives investors of a clear understanding of how they are protected from fraud, manipulation, and abuse.”
Noting that existing laws and regulations were not designed for digital assets, he explained: “Applying the old rules to the new market could inadvertently cause financial services to be more expensive, less accessible, and the SEC’s disclosure regime to be less useful to the American people.” The senator noted:
Given the complexity of these issues, and recognizing that some digital assets are securities, others may be commodities, and others may subject to a completely different regulatory regime, a formal regulatory process is needed now.
“This will significantly improve policy development and allow the SEC to collect views and understand concerns,” he said.
The senator proceeded to outline some of the key areas that the SEC should address, including clarifying what types of digital assets are securities, addressing how to issue and list digital securities, establishing a registration regime for digital asset security trading platforms, and setting rules on how trading and custody of digital assets should be carried out.
Hickenlooper opined:
I recognize these questions are complicated, but it is time for the SEC to engage.
What do you think about the letter from Senator Hickenlooper to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Lawmaker introduces rabies bill after rabid fox bites his leg
A California lawmaker who was bit by a fox is hoping to use his medical scare to get legislation passed that would bring down the cost of the life-saving rabies vaccine.
Rep Ami Bera, a physician who represents California’s 7th District, said while introducing the legislation on Wednesday – timed to align with World Rabies Day – that he only became aware of the high cost of the rabies treatment after he was wounded by a fox while walking on Capitol Hill.
“Despite being a fatal disease, rabies is preventable if treated quickly,” the California Democrat said in a statement Wednesday.
“After being bit by a rabid fox, I was fortunate to have access to readily available and low-cost vaccines. But for too many Americans, the costs of treatment would break their banks.”
Mr Bera, like others who are harmed by a wild animal, was treated with both a regimen of rabies shots and immunoglobulin. While most patients will go through a series of shots to treat the possible onset of the disease, immunoglobulin is only delivered once at the first appointment, as it serves as a temporary layover to kick the immune system into overdrive until the rabies medication begins taking effect.
The wild animal that bit Mr Bera back in April was first mistaken by the lawmaker as a small dog. It wasn’t until he turned around that he realised that it was a potentially rabid fox that had latched onto his back leg.
He was able to keep the animal from doing further harm to his body by using his umbrella as a makeshift weapon that he successfully used to shove the animal off.
A fox was later caught on the Capitol grounds after there had been several reported sightings of one prowling the area, and at least a couple others reporting that they too had been bit, The Washington Post reported.
While it’s unclear whether the captured fox was the same as the one that attacked the Democratic congressman, Mr Bera says that the incident has brought to light an issue he realises now is impacting more Americans than most likely assume.
“For uninsured Americans, costs for these life-saving vaccines could reach upwards of $7k. This is unacceptable,” tweeted the California congressman when introducing the Affordable Rabies Treatment for Uninsured Act on Wednesday.
Based on estimates from the Centers for Diseases and Control and Prevention, each year approximately 60,000 Americans will receive post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which on the first day consists of one immunoglobulin dose and one rabies vaccine and is then followed up with three shots of the rabies medication on days 3, 7 and 14.
While the congressman said in his statement introducing the bill that costs for patients for the life-savings vaccine can range from $1,200 to $6,500, a Vox investigation from 2018 found that the entire invoice from a person’s trip to the emergency room – including the vaccines – can actually top out at closer to $10,000.
That investigation found that the problem of the high costs for patients arises from two factors. The first one being that the life-saving treatment itself is among the most expensive in the developed world.
According to the British National Formulary, one vial of rabies immunoglobulin costs £600, or $813, in the UK. With most adult-sized men requiring two vials, the total cost of the initial treatment would be $1,626, which is both a fraction of what American pharmaceuticals charge and is, importantly, covered for all patients through the country’s universal healthcare.
The second factor that brings the price of treating rabies up is the fact that it is most commonly administered in emergency rooms, as, according to data from Amino, that’s where 95 percent of post-exposure rabies treatment happens because that’s where most of the vials are stored.
Facility fees at emergency rooms, the flat rate that patients are normally charged just when they walk through the doors of a facility, can start at just a couple hundred dollars.
And since the treatment schedule for rabies requires multiple visits for each round of shots, patients are stepping across the threshold of the ER at least four times, each time racking up more and more “facility fees” since most primary care doctors wouldn’t have the drugs on their shelf.
For Mr Bera’s bill, it would allow for program-registered providers to submit claims to the secretary of Health and Human Services, which would then pay back providers who are providing the PEP services to uninsured patients.
“My legislation would seek to reduce the high costs of treatment for uninsured Americans, ensuring that no one has to choose between receiving treatment or not because of high costs,” Mr Bera said. “I encourage all Americans to remain vigilant around wild animals and to seek medical attention if bitten or scratched. Costs should never be a barrier for individuals seeking life-saving treatment.”
‘Where’s Jackie?’ Biden seeks lawmaker Walorski who died in August
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden publicly sought out Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Congresswoman who died in a car accident in August, during a conference on hunger on Wednesday, seeming to forget that she had passed away.
Biden thanked other conference organizers, then asked: “Jackie are you here? Where’s Jackie?”
Walorski, a Republican, was one of four Congressional co-sponsors of the bill to fund the conference. She was killed with two staffers in early August.
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Biden moved past the issue without any correction. After Walorski’s death, the White House issued a statement from Biden that said he and his wife Jill were “shocked and saddened” by her sudden accident.
“Truly an awful and disgraceful blunder,” Representative Vicky Hartzler, a Missouri Republican, tweeted in reference to the mistake.
Biden was “acknowledging her incredible work,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the incident later, adding that Biden had already planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House for a bill signing on Friday. “She was on top of mind,” Jean-Pierre said.
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Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Leah Douglas; Writing by Heather Timmons
Editing by Alistair Bell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Liz Cheney state primaries result: Defeated lawmaker blasts Trump’s ‘lies’ as ex-president gloats over her loss
Liz Cheney concedes in her primary race
Congresswoman Liz Cheney lost to Republican nominee and primary challenger Harriet Hagemen on Tuesday, in fresh signs of Donald Trump’s enduring sway over the Republican Party, as primary elections were held in Alaska and Wyoming, two of the reddest states in the country.
Ms Hageman was leading the Republican field with at least 62.4 per cent of the total votes polled, with Ms Cheney trailing with 33.5 per cent of the votes. A total of 58 per cent of the expected ballots had been counted, Edison Research said.
As her congressional career suffered an unexpected halt, Ms Cheney vowed that she would do whatever it takes to stop Mr Trump from reaching the White House again.
A staunch critic from within the Republican camp, Ms Cheney has condemned the former president’s administration by serving a very public role of ant-Trump resistance and steered the congressional probe into the January 6 Capitol riots.
She was facing an effort by Mr Trump to punish her for disloyalty in the form of Harriet Hageman, her former staffer and current top rival.
Fetterman opens up shocking lead in new PA Senate poll
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Gov John Fetterman is dominating the state US Senate race with a lead of nearly 20 points, according to a new survey out Tuesday from Public Opinion Strategies, which has an A- rating from pollster aggregator FiveThirtyEIght.
If Mr Fetterman’s level of support is anywhere close to as high as it is in the poll, he’s heading for a clean victory in November in what analysts have thought for months was going to be an easy year for Republicans like his opponent, TV’s Dr Mehmet Oz.
John Bowden17 August 2022 06:30
Donald Trump Jr takes a dig at Liz Cheney: ‘You won’t have to pretend…’
Donald Trump Jr took a swipe at congresswoman Liz Cheney after she lost the Republican primaries on Tuesday and said that the anti-Trump GOP leader will not have to pretend to be from Wyoming, the state from where she contested the key race.
He shared a 35-seconds long video of his father Donald Trump grooving and dancing and wrote: “Bye bye @Liz_Cheney. On the bright side at least you won’t have to pretend to be from Wyoming anymore.”
The former president’s son did not share a tweet on congratulating the candidate backed by Mr Trump, Harriet Hageman, but instead issued multiple tweets mocking Ms Cheney.
In another tweet, he slammed the congresswoman’s mention of 16th US president Abraham Lincoln and said: “Liz Cheney really compared herself to Lincoln… LMFAO. That CNN & MSDNC fluffing really got to her carpetbagger/warmonger head.”
Arpan Rai17 August 2022 06:10
Fetterman raises half a million from Dr Oz’s grocery gaffe
John Fetterman’s US Senate campaign in Pennsylvania says it has raised more than half a million dollars in the wake of a video posted by his opponent, Dr Mehmet Oz, in which the Republican candidate attempts the art of shopping for groceries.
The bizarre video posted by Dr Oz this week was widely mocked on Twitter as the bewildered Dr Oz misread price labels and depicted himself as a stranger to the Wegman’s produce section.
John Bowden17 August 2022 05:30
Five times Liz Cheney was Donald Trump’s biggest thorn on Capitol Hill
Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming headed into a primary election on Tuesday where her betrayal of Donald Trump in the wake of the January 6 attack eventually cost her a seat in the House; just a few years ago she was a powerful member of the chamber’s Republican leadership.
Ms Cheney has embraced the role of the stoic resistance leader, more than any other member of the House or Senate who broke with Mr Trump after the 2020 election or January 6, and never missed an opportunity to point out his role in the horrifying attack.
Here’s a look at the most important moments in Liz Cheney’s career as the de facto leader of the anti-Trump GOP:
Five times Liz Cheney was Donald Trump’s biggest thorn on Capitol Hill
As the Jan 6 committee has shown, an anti-Trump voice in the GOP can be damaging
Arpan Rai17 August 2022 05:00
Liz Cheney: What’s next for firebrand anti-Trump Republican
The speculation over what’s next for the never-Trump Republican is already growing after the primary loss of representative Liz Cheney on Tuesday night.
Rep Cheney was defeated by Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, who, by the latest poll estimates from the Casper Star-Tribune, was leading the three-term congresswoman from Wyoming by more than 20 points.
From a widely speculated launch for presidential run in 2024 to sounding an alarm over Trumpism, there are several possible next moves for the 56-year-old congresswoman could make.
Here’s where we might see Ms Cheney land, reports Johanna Chisholm:
Liz Cheney: What’s next for the firebrand anti-Trump Republican?
The three-term congresswoman has lost her at-large US House primary race in Wyoming against a Trump-backed opponent. What’s next for the GOP lawmaker?
Arpan Rai17 August 2022 04:34
Cheney invokes Abraham Lincoln in fiery concession speech
In a speech delivered on a picturesque private ranch in Wyoming on Tuesday as her congressional career came to a halt, Liz Cheney invoked one of the nation’s most famous presidents who held the US together in time of civil war.
And she vowed that she would do whatever it takes to stop Donald Trump from reaching the White House again.
“Abraham Lincoln was defeated in elections for the Senate and House before he ultimately won,” she told her hopeful supporters.
Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:
Liz Cheney blasts Trump in concession speech: ‘Poisonous lies destroy free nations’
Harriet Hageman beats rival Republican after the congresswoman’s continued criticism of the GOP and Donald Trump
John Bowden17 August 2022 04:30
Trump slams Cheney as ‘spiteful and sanctimonious’ as he gloats over her primary defeat
Former President Donald Trump wasted no time before gloating about Liz Cheney’s defeat Tuesday night.
“Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her great and very decisive WIN in Wyoming. This is a wonderful result for America, and a complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs. Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others. Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Read more from John Bowden in The Independent:
Trump slams Cheney as ‘spiteful and sanctimonious’ as he gloats over her defeat
Trump lays in to Cheney minutes after race is called and he takes revenge for her Jan 6 committee performance
John Bowden17 August 2022 03:49
Trump nemesis Liz Cheney loses primary in Wyoming to Republican backed by former president
Liz Cheney has been defeated in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s at-large congressional seat.
At just under 90 minutes after polls closed, the incumbent congresswoman was trailing her Trump-backed rival Harriet Hageman by more than 30 points.
Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:
Trump nemesis Liz Cheney loses primary to Republican backed by former president
Harriet Hageman beats Cheney after the congresswoman’s continued criticism of the Republican Party and Donald Trump
John Bowden17 August 2022 03:21
Liz Cheney hints at future ambitions in remarks before polls close
Wyoming Rep Liz Cheney spoke to reporters as voters headed to the polls across the state to consider her bid for reelection on Tuesday and hinted that the primary election today was just “the beginning of a battle” for the soul of the GOP.
“ I have no regrets,” she said according to CBS News. “I feel very proud about all the work that I’ve done together with people of Wyoming over the last six years and really understand and recognize there’s nothing more important than the defense of our Constitution. And so I’m going to continue to work and ensure that we’re doing that in a way that is nonpartisan.”
Read more from Eric Garcia at The Independent:
Cheney says she has ‘no regrets’ as she faces her impending primary loss
Cheney is set to lose to a Trump-endorsed primary challenger in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district.
John Bowden17 August 2022 02:05
Polls close in Wyoming
Polls are now closed in Wyoming. Republican voters in the state are set to determine the fate of Rep Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6.
Watch live results from the state from The Associated Press here at The New York Times:
John Bowden17 August 2022 02:00
U.S. lawmaker Walorski, two staffers die in Indiana car crash
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski and two members of her staff died on Wednesday when the vehicle they were traveling in collided head-on with a car that veered into their lane, police in Indiana and her office said.
Walorski, 58, a Republican who represented Indiana’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, was mourned by President Joe Biden and her colleagues in Congress as an honorable public servant who strived to work across party lines to deliver for her constituents. The White House said it would fly flags at half-staff in her memory.
The congresswoman had been traveling down an Indiana road on Wednesday afternoon with her communications chief, Emma Thomson, 28, and one of her district directors, Zachery Potts, 27, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said.
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“A northbound passenger car traveled left of center and collided head on” with Walorski’s vehicle, killing all three occupants, the sheriff’s office said. The driver of the other car, 56-year-old Edith Schmucker, was pronounced dead at the scene, near the northern Indiana town of Nappanee, it added.
Confirming her death in a statement shared on Twitter by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Walorski’s office said: “Dean Swihart, Jackie’s husband, was just informed by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s office that Jackie was killed in a car accident this afternoon.”
It added: “Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers. We will have no further comment at this time.”
Walorski was a lifelong resident of Indiana, according to her official biography. She served on the House Ways and Means Committee and was the top Republican on the subcommittee on worker and family support.
Prior to her election in 2012 to the House, Walorski served three terms in the Indiana legislature, spent four years as a missionary in Romania along with her husband and worked as a television news reporter in South Bend, according to a biography posted on her congressional website.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said he and Walorski “may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served.”
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, said in a statement that Walorski “passionately brought the voices of her north Indiana constituents to the Congress, and she was admired by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for her personal kindness.”
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Reporting by Rami Ayyub, Eric Beech, Dan Whitcomb, Costas Pitas and Frank McGurty; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
San Francisco at risk of an ‘uncontrolled monkeypox spread,’ lawmaker says
California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) said in a statement Thursday that the city of San Francisco is veering toward a public health crisis due to the uncontrolled spread of the monkeypox virus.
The city’s Department of Public Health (DPH) tweeted Wednesday that its walk-in clinic will close for the remainder of the week due to the vaccine shortage. Other city clinics are working through remaining appointments and joining the DPH in “urgently asking for more doses.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1,700 San Francisco residents had been vaccinated against the virus, according to the San Francisco DPH.
Wiener said the vaccination rate will continue to be slow, which will cause a spread in the city and surrounding communities. He said “failure to control this outbreak” will harm residents, especially the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
“We need an enormous amount of additional vaccine doses, and we need it immediately. The federal government’s failures are threatening to deeply harm our community,” Wiener added. “Once we move past this emergency, we need accountability for these failures — failures that put people’s lives and health in jeopardy.”
Wiener’s statement comes after former New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) called on the federal government Monday to ramp up its access to monkeypox vaccines as cases of the virus continue to spread throughout the country.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 1,000 monkeypox cases in 41 U.S. states as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Invoke the Defense Production Act to fill the need for vaccines in the US,” De Blasio, who officially announced his run to represent New York’s 10th Congressional District last month, wrote in his thread. “There really is no time to waste in a crisis like this, and there is so much that federal and city officials can do right now to get control of this crisis.”
The Biden administration recently announced plans to distribute up to 144,00 more doses of the Jynneos vaccine in an effort to combat the recent spike in cases.