U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Marjorie Taylor Greene testimony immediately starts out with dispute over her oath of office



At the start of her testimony, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) immediately clashed with an attorney representing Georgia voters who want her removed from the ballot over her alleged support for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Georgia Republican was called to testify at an evidentiary hearing Friday, and she repeatedly clashed with Andrew Celli, an attorney for Free Speech for People -- including the manner in which she took her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"You were elected to Congress in November 2020, right?" Celli asked, and Greene agreed. "And you became a member of Congress on Jan. 3, 2021, is that correct?"

Greene agreed, and Celli asked whether she became a member of Congress by virtue of taking her oath of office -- and the lawmaker bristled.

"I became a member of Congress by being elected by the people of the 14th District," Greene said.

Celli pointed out that she was permitted to take her seat in the House of Representatives only after taking the oath of office, and Greene conceded that she had sworn the oath.

"That required that you would support and defend the Constitution of the United States, correct?" Celli said, and she agreed. "It required you to swear an oath that you would support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, correct? As part of the oath that you took, it said yet you would undertake that obligation to defend the Constitution against all enemies freely without any reservation or purpose of evasion. Do you recall that part?"

"I think so," Greene said.

Watch:

Lawyer busts Marjorie Taylor Greene for saying 'we can't allow a peaceful transition of power'



Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tried to argue that she was being taken out of context when she was reminded that she once said that "we can't allow a peaceful transition of power" in the days leading up to the January 6th Capitol riots.

During a court hearing on Friday, attorney Andrew Celli asked Greene about statements she made about trying to stop President Joe Biden's election victory from being certified.

"You said in the video on your Facebook page that the peaceful transfer of power ought not be allowed to occur," Celli said.

"I don't recall," Greene replied.

"You said the peaceful transfer of power should not be allowed to occur because [Biden] did not win the 2020 election, correct?" he asked again

"I don't recall," Greene again replied.

Celli then played the court a video of Greene saying exactly that.

"This is an important time in our history," said Greene. "We cannot allow this to be let go. You cannot allow it to just transfer power peacefully, like Joe Biden wants, and allow him to become our president. He did not win this election. It is being stolen, and the evidence is there."

Greene objected that this was only a "partial statement" that she made and was being taken out of context.

Watch the video below.

[Rick Plant]

Marjorie Taylor Greene squirms when lawyer confronts her with past statements about executing Nancy Pelosi



Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday had trouble during a court hearing in which she was asked about her past statements about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

While being cross examined about her past violent rhetoric, Greene was asked whether she believes Pelosi is a "traitor to this country."

The question immediately made Greene uncomfortable.

"I'm not answering that question," she said. "It is speculation."

"You have said that, haven't you?" the attorney pressed.

"No, I have not said that," Greene replied.

The attorney would go on to read aloud a past statement from Greene in which she said exactly that.

"She's a traitor to our country, she's guilty of treason," Greene said of Pelosi in a 2019 Facebook video. "She took an oath to protect American citizens and uphold our laws. And she gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land. That's what treason is. And by our law representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government. And it's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason."

CNN reported last year that "Greene repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress."

Watch the video below

WATCH: Judge declares Marjorie Taylor Green a hostile witness



A judge declared Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) an adverse witness after she repeatedly evaded questions by an attorney who represents voters challenging her eligibility to hold federal office.

The Georgia Republican testified Friday during an evidentiary hearing in the lawsuit, which argues that Greene should be removed from the 2022 ballot because she supported the Jan. 6 insurrection, and she clashed with Free Speech for People attorney Andrew Celli over whether she believed in December 2020 that Donald Trump's election loss was fraudulent.

"When you sent out this tweet, you wanted people to read the tweet and know that it was your view that the vote for Mr. Biden for president was fraudulent, or some of them were," Celli said, but Greene denied that. "I am asking when you sent this, you are communicating to your people who read this Twitter account that you believe that there were fraudulent votes for Mr. Biden, and your goal was to keep the president in the White House."

Greene said she was looking for a senator to join her objection to Biden's election, which she said was her responsibility as a member of Congress.

"I agree with that," Celli said, "but the purpose of that was because you believe that the votes for Mr. Biden were fraudulent, correct? At least some of them?"

Greene said she saw evidence of fraud, and she started to explain it before abruptly changing the topic.

"We had been sending a vast amount of time reading and researching and talking to people, and we have seen tremendous evidence of -- I don't know if you're aware -- aware, but we currently have our secretary of state," Greene began, before Celli cut her off.

Celli asked the judge to strike Greene's remarks from the transcript, and then he asked the judge to remind the congresswoman to answer his questions.

"I'm entitled to get answers to my question, your honor," Celli said. "Can I ask the court to acknowledge that this is an adverse witness, a hostile witness?"

The judge agreed, saying Greene was an adverse witness and the attorney had a right to cross examine her.

"I would ask the court to remind the witness that in this posture, she has to answer my questions, she cannot give speeches," Celli said. "Is that fair?"

"And can I ask the court she's an adverse witness, a hostile witness...she has to give answers, she can't give speeches."

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1517531542116962306

[Rick Plant]

Republican Kevin McCarthy under fire after audio shows he urged Trump to resign



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, came under fire from his own party after an audio recording showed him saying that then-President Donald Trump should resign over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.

The comments, which McCarthy had denied hours before the recording emerged, could undermine his widely known ambition to become House speaker next year if Republicans take control of the chamber in November's midterm elections, as expected.

"Question for Kevin McCarthy ... how can you honestly feel ok with the lies? Yes, other people lie too, but you have claimed to fight for a higher purpose," Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Trump critic, asked Thursday night on Twitter.

"Honestly Kevin, is it worth it?"

The audio, recorded days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and delayed certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory, depicts a conversation between McCarthy and Representative Liz Cheney, who was ousted from party leadership weeks later over her opposition to Trump.

McCarthy told Cheney he planned to call Trump to discuss a mechanism for invoking the 25th Amendment, under which then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Cabinet could have removed the Republican president from office.

"The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign," McCarthy says in the recording, released on cable news channel MSNBC late on Thursday.

McCarthy's office did not respond to a query seeking comment on Friday.

The first reference to McCarthy's comments appeared earlier on Thursday in a New York Times article published as part of a forthcoming book by two Times reporters.

The Times also reported that McCarthy told other Republican leaders he wished big tech companies would strip social media accounts from party lawmakers who supported Trump's false claims of a rigged 2020 election.

McCarthy initially denied the Times account in a statement that called the reporting "totally false and wrong."

Another attack on McCarthy came on Friday from Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, a staunch Trump ally and hard-line conservative who has actively opposed Cheney -- who is running for re-election in Wyoming -- for supporting Trump's 2021 impeachment and joining the Democratic-led House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot.

"While I was rallying in Wyoming against Liz Cheney ... Kevin McCarthy was defending Liz Cheney among House Republicans ... you should have trusted my instincts, not your own," Gaetz said in a tweet.

McCarthy, who has also faced criticism from other hard-line conservatives within his caucus, publicly zigzagged on Trump's culpability for the Jan. 6 riot by first saying the former president bore some responsibility for the violence -- but finally visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida and posed for a photograph with him.

© Reuters

[Rick Plant]

'Giving them power would be just pointless': Some PA swing voters balking at voting for Republicans



Any belief by Republicans that swing voters in Pennsylvania will embrace them once again after almost a year and a half into the Joe Biden administration may be dampened by a report at the conservative Bulwark.

According to campaign and messaging analysts Rich Thau and Mitch Stefee, a recent focus group with 12 Pennsylvania voters -- six Republicans, four Democrats, and three independents -- revealed both frustrations with the state of the country as well as a lack of enthusiasm for handing the reins of power back to the GOP.

According to their Bulwark report, "We were surprised to hear them reject the conventional wisdom that persuadable voters such as themselves will vote for Republican senate candidates in November merely out of frustration with the Democrats’ inability to control inflation, crime, and various other problems," adding, "The conventional wisdom is that 2022 is shaping up to be a wave election for Republicans. But only one of our respondents personified this view."

One panelist, David from Phoenixville, suggested, "I think maybe we need to have Republicans controlling the House and the Senate to provide good checks and balances for Biden," but others were not so sure.

Brian, 40, chimed in, "For me, it depends. Are they being backed by Trump? Are they big Trump fans? Are they preaching the election was stolen? All that jazz that I just can’t stomach . . . I couldn’t fathom voting for a Republican that is pro-Trump, that might think like him, act like him. No way is that happening."

Amy, 43, was less than enthused about the GOP coming back into payer, explaining, "I think both parties have made mistakes and there are issues with both of them. I can’t put the blame on one over the other . . . I don’t know that Republicans would make any better choices [if they regain control of Congress].”

Stacy from Marcus Hook got into specifics when it comes to what the GOP stands for.

“To me, [Republicans in Congress] seem like babies and very, very petty . . . I feel like we can never truly move forward because they block things just to block things,” Stacy detailed. "It’s never to understand the other opinion. It’s never to understand the other side. It’s merely because they don’t have control. . . . Giving them power would be just pointless in my opinion. It would go totally the other way, and they would make decisions quickly, in their favor. And in their favor, nine times out of 10, do not benefit minorities or people that don’t have a lot of money—middle class or lower.”

“If Republicans were the majority of the House and Senate, I think we’d see a lot of moving backwards, personally, in my opinion, when it comes to social issues . . . Just knowing that some of the things that have been coming up in bills that have been raised in a lot of our southern states, it makes me nervous, being a woman," Cristina from Conshohocken added.

Read more here: https://www.thebulwark.com/pennsylvania-swing-voters-arent-rushing-back-to-republicans/

[Rick Plant]

'National embarrassment': Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'bad day in court' roasted by MSNBC panel



MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace and former Donald Trump staffer Miles Taylor on Friday discussed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's day in court in which she was confronted for her past statements advocating violence.

Wallace began with a series of videos showing what Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said on the stand in her administrative hearing Friday about whether she could run for office as someone who participated in the insurrection. Wallace then contrasted those words under oath with videos of what Greene was saying publicly.

Taylor noted that the main sticking point for him is that, even if Greene isn't blocked from the ballot, her voters should disqualify her because she can't remember anything about things that happened less than two years ago. Many legal analysts observed something similar, but also noted that they believed she was lying under oath.

"So, we are not lawyers for either side here, but we were able to find what she was saying in court today is lies, with the evidence disproving most statements as such, as lies," said Wallace.

"I had to laugh while you played that. This is a bad day in court for anyone, even if she is not disqualified for insurrection," said Taylor. "Maybe voters should consider she is not fit for office because she can't remember pretty important things. The tapes of Greene leaving the White House not only film them and star in them and seen them on TV over and over and over. So, you know the denial is stunning, and the first clip you played of her not remembering and then remembering when she would be called out on tells you everything you need to know."

He went on to note that the Constitution makes it clear that someone can't hold office if they were engaged in rebellion or insurrection. The case against her used her own past statements about not allowing a peaceful transfer of power.

Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said that Greene's testimony made her look like "a national embarrassment."

"I can't imagine the foreign leaders are watching, foreign adversaries are watching this as a national leader," he continued. "I've never seen a more forgetful witness. She could barely remember her name. More so than Herald and Kumar when they were stoned!"

See the full conversation below:

[Rick Plant]

Speaking of being a national embarrassment, Maddie Cawthorn takes the cake. Here this bible thumping hypocrite attacks gay and trans people daily, and now we find out he dresses up in women's lingerie and hoop earrings in his spare time. The GOP is an absolute joke and these clowns are the main faces of the party. These unqualified jokers have absolutely no business being in Congress. What ever happened to real Republicans that used to be respected? Today's Republicans engage in treason, insurrection, sedition, support white nationalists, dress up like women, and go to cocaine parties according to Cawthorn.     

Republican Madison Cawthorn photographed wearing women's lingerie at wild-looking party



Embattled Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) now has another political headache.

Politico has obtained photographs of Cawthorn attending a wild-looking party dressed in women's lingerie.

"They were provided to POLITICO by a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign. A second person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign confirmed the origin of the photos."

The photos are ironic because Cawthorn recently angered several of his Republican colleagues by alleging they took part in a decadent D.C. party culture that's filled with cocaine-fueled orgies.

Cawthorn was rebuked by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, and multiple North Carolina Republicans have endorsed his primary opponent.

Cawthorn has also made a habit of attacking the transgender community, and Politico notes that, just last week, he sent out a tweet saying "there’s only one God and two genders."

Photographs obtained by POLITICO appear to show Madison Cawthorn, the embattled Republican congressman from North Carolina who recently accused his GOP colleagues of inviting him to orgies, wearing lingerie in what appears to be a party setting.

Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity. His comments about “the se*ual perversion” in Washington made on a podcast, which he later admitted were exaggerated, drew the public disapproval and disavowal of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as other Republican leaders including those in his North Carolina congressional caucus.

The revelation of the two photos is the latest in a series of unflattering headlines for the freshman member of Congress in the run-up to the primary in his first re-election bid. The primary in North Carolina is May 17. Cawthorn has seven Republican opponents who see him as vulnerable.

Cawthorn, who was paralyzed from the waist down as a passenger in a car accident in Florida in 2014, in recent months has called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug,” suggested teetotaling Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a drinking problem, and racked up a collection of traffic transgressions including speeding, driving with expired tags and driving with a revoked license. He has court dates in May and June.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286

[Rick Plant]

Ronnie DeSantis took on Mickey Mouse and now residents in Orlando are going to see their taxes go up $2200 for this pathetic political stunt.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill revoking Disney’s special district status



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed into law a bill revoking the Walt Disney Company’s special district status in the state, just days after the legislation was first introduced on Tuesday.

Disney has up to this point declined to comment on the legislation, but the dispute is likely to end up in court.

Sunsetting the Reedy Creek Improvement District means that local counties will likely be left to foot the bill for potholes and emergency services at Disney World.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed into law a bill revoking the Walt Disney Company’s special district status in the state, just days after the legislation was first introduced on Tuesday.

The bill, which would see the Reedy Creek Improvement District dissolved, passed the state Senate on Wednesday with a vote of 23-16 and the state’s House of Representatives on Thursday by a vote of 70-38.

Disney has up to this point declined to comment on the legislation, but the dispute is likely to end up in court.

For more than five decades, Disney has been able to make additions to its resort area, including new theme parks, hotels and other tourism experiences, without interference from local counties. That’s set to change in June 2023 now that DeSantis has signed the bill into law.

Widely seen as a contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, DeSantis is locked in a bitter and public feud with the entertainment giant over the company’s denouncement of Florida’s HB 1557 law last month. While proponents of the bill have denied that it is a retaliatory act against Disney, critics see it as retribution for publicly quarreling with the governor.

Reedy Creek was created in 1967 by the Florida legislature so Disney could develop the infrastructure for Walt Disney World at no cost to Florida taxpayers. Disney established and continues to maintain more than 130 miles of roadways and 67 miles of waterways as well as government services such as fire protection, emergency services, water, utilities and sewage.

Tax experts and legislators say eliminating the district could have unintended consequences for county taxpayers. Disney’s special tax district status allows the company to levy an additional tax on itself to pay for municipal services, something that other counties cannot do. That tax currently amounts to $105 million per year, said Orange County tax collector Scott Randolph. Reedy Creek also receives additional revenue of nearly $60 million from Disney to pay its bond debt.

Sunsetting Reedy Creek means that local counties will begin paying for those services without that special status in place. Taxpayers will likely be left to foot the bill for potholes and emergency services.

The counties would also absorb Reedy Creek’s debt. The district historically operates at a loss of around $5 million to $10 million each year, according to its financial reports. But since Disney can subsidize its own operations with theme park revenue, that debt doesn’t have much impact on its bottom line.

According to lawmakers, there’s around $1 billion in debt on the balance sheet that taxpayers would become responsible for should the special district get absorbed, leading to higher taxes.

And salvaging those budgets won’t be easy. State law prohibits counties from raising sales taxes or impact fees to cover costs, and they must tax all areas of the county equally. So, whatever they enact will apply to everyone.

Randolph said the county will likely have to raise property taxes by 20% to 25% to make up the difference.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/22/florida-gov-desantis-signs-bill-revoking-disneys-special-district-status.html

[Rick Plant]

End of Reedy Creek: Disney won’t pay more taxes, but you will



ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One of the biggest myths circulating on the internet is that the end of Reedy Creek will finally force Disney to pay its fair share of taxes, boosting the economies of Florida and the counties its resorts are located in.

Let’s dispel that rumor right now: not only is it wrong, it’s the opposite that will take effect.

This much is true: the Reedy Creek Improvement District is an extension of Disney that shields the company from oversight others have. The theme park operator taxes itself and gives itself permission to build whatever, wherever so long as it follows building codes and other state and federal laws.

What Reedy Creek isn’t is a replacement for the counties it exists in. Disney still pays the same property taxes levied by the government and the school district that every other landowner pays. Orange County, for example, collected $40 million from the House of Mouse in 2021, Tax Collector Scott Randolph (D) said.

So, how does Reedy Creek operate its own fire and sewer departments? The special tax district status allows Disney to levy an additional tax on itself to pay for those services. The tax, amounting to $105 million per year, is illegal anywhere else in the county, along with the additional $58 million per year the company taxes itself to pay off Reedy Creek’s bond debt.

When the district is dismantled on June 1, 2023, Orange County will begin paying for those services and paying off the debt, without that special status in place.

“The moment that Reedy Creek doesn’t exist is the moment that that those taxes don’t exist,” Randolph said. “Orange County can’t just slap a new taxing district onto that area and recoup the money that was lost.”

Effectively, Disney’s loss of control also hands it a $163 million per year tax break. If the entire state of Florida was responsible for covering the hole, each taxpayer would have to cough up roughly $7.50.

However, this burden will not be shared equally. Despite zero debate or public comment, and the near-total opposition of Central Florida’s delegation to this maneuver, Orange and Osceola County taxpayers will shoulder the hit alone, leaving both counties staring at financial ruin.

Salvaging the budgets won’t be pretty. State law prevents the counties from raising sales taxes or impact fees to cover the costs. They also must tax all areas of the county equally, meaning whatever they enact must apply to everyone.

That leaves one avenue: property taxes, of which Orange County collects approximately $600 million per year right now.

“I don’t see how Orange County doesn’t raise property taxes by 20% to 25%,” Randolph said. “That’s what [the county] would probably have to do to cover this financial situation.”

Normally, such a move would be a political poison pill in an election year and go against the typical Republican promise to never raise taxes.

Most people expect the legislature to backtrack on their plans in January, paring down some of Disney’s unnecessary powers while maintaining Reedy Creek’s taxing abilities, which would solve legitimately held complaints about the district’s broad abilities while preventing the worst effects of this past week.

However, Randolph said some damage was already done. For one, county and Disney staff will spend the next nine months or more meeting to discuss how to dissolve the district and transfer responsibility to the counties.

The second effect: making businesses think twice about moving jobs to Florida, knowing the state could change the rules overnight if an executive has a different opinion than a politician.

“They’re dissolving something the size of the city of Orlando in 72 hours,” Randolph said. “This is not the way to run a state.”

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/end-reedy-creek-disney-wont-pay-more-taxes-you-will/3TK6ASNJT5EXHICW3DQ3ZHEZYA/