2020 Non-Presidential Elections 2

[GreyhoundFan]

I hope this upsets enough people in NC to vote Tillis' ass out of office in eight weeks: "Sen. Thom Tillis Staffer Sums Up The GOP Stance On Health Insurance: Like Buying A Shirt"

Spoiler

A staffer for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) may have weakened his boss’ already shaky political fortunes when he made one of Washington’s worst political gaffes: telling the truth.

The staff member in Tillis’ Washington office had been called by Bev Veals, one of the senator’s North Carolina constituents and a three-time cancer survivor worried about her health insurance status. Frustrated by the staffer’s lack of empathy, Veals tried to make him understand her and her husband’s situation by asking him to imagine his parents in their position ― out of work, struggling to continue paying their health insurance premiums.

That’s when the staffer, according to Veals, told her that his parents would “gladly die if they couldn’t afford medical care.”

Veals said she was “incensed” by that comment, so she started recording the conversation. She again asked if it was really his and the GOP’s position that if you can’t afford health care, you shouldn’t get to have it.

“Yeah,” the staffer said, according to the recording, “just like, if I want to go to the store and buy a new dress shirt, if I can’t afford that dress shirt, I don’t get to get it.”

“But health care is something that people need,” Veals responded, “especially if they have cancer.”

“Well, you got to find a way to get it,” the staffer responded, with a laugh.

Tillis’ office did not respond to multiple HuffPost requests for comment. But the office told a local North Carolina TV station that the staffer has been reprimanded, though how was not specified.

Tillis, who first won his seat in 2014, faces a tough reelection challenge this November from Democrat Cal Cunningham. Polls have shown a close race, with Cunningham having a slight edge in most of them. 

Veals, 56, and her husband, Scott, 55, told HuffPost in an interview Wednesday that they had not heard from Tillis or anyone on his staff since the conversation earlier this week. Scott Veals theorized that’s because Tillis has no real answer for what they should do.

“‘I’m very sorry that my staffer in the office spoke to you in that manner,’” Scott said, imagining what Tillis would tell his wife, “and then he has nothing else to say. He can’t tell you that we’re working very hard toward health care. He can’t tell you that we’re working very hard to help ordinary citizens.”

The reality is, the staffer came clean about the Republican position on the issue that is uppermost in the mind of many voters. Underneath the exchange with Veals is a philosophical and economic debate about health care.

Republicans (as well as some Democrats) want to apply free-market ideas to health care ― comparable to shopping for clothes. But as Bev Veals pointed out, health care is something people need. If you need medical treatment, your choice to just not get it because of cost ― like a dress shirt ― isn’t seen as viable in virtually every other industrialized nation. In those nations, health care is considered a right, not an option.

The Veals went through a medical bankruptcy in their late-40s during one of Bev’s cancer treatments. The strategy for dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses “should not be trying to figure out how to manipulate a health care system so that you can get the coverage and the treatment that you need,” it should be easily accessible, Bev said. 

Scott, who is an independent contractor in the TV sports industry, stopped working in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. “When I don’t work, I don’t get paid,” Scott said.

With no money coming in, the Veals have had to dip into their savings to cover their nearly $1,700 a month health insurance premium. They could try to get on the Affordable Care Act’s exchange, but only one option is available in North Carolina, and it would cost more than their current plan.

Faced with their dilemma, Bev decided to contact her state’s congressional representatives to ask what they should do. Tillis’ office was the first she had gotten through to, with many offices closed down or operating on limited hours because of coronavirus. She didn’t expect someone to be so blunt and uncaring about their position.

“My wife is a three-time cancer survivor,” Scott said. “And she and I have spent a lot of time and effort and money to continue her life. And I’m not going to allow anybody to claim that the health insurance that we desperately need as a safety-net is comparative to a frivolous cost.”

 

[formergothardite]

14 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I hope this upsets enough people in NC to vote Tillis' ass out of office in eight weeks: "Sen. Thom Tillis Staffer Sums Up The GOP Stance On Health Insurance: Like Buying A Shirt"

  Reveal hidden contents

A staffer for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) may have weakened his boss’ already shaky political fortunes when he made one of Washington’s worst political gaffes: telling the truth.

The staff member in Tillis’ Washington office had been called by Bev Veals, one of the senator’s North Carolina constituents and a three-time cancer survivor worried about her health insurance status. Frustrated by the staffer’s lack of empathy, Veals tried to make him understand her and her husband’s situation by asking him to imagine his parents in their position ― out of work, struggling to continue paying their health insurance premiums.

That’s when the staffer, according to Veals, told her that his parents would “gladly die if they couldn’t afford medical care.”

Veals said she was “incensed” by that comment, so she started recording the conversation. She again asked if it was really his and the GOP’s position that if you can’t afford health care, you shouldn’t get to have it.

“Yeah,” the staffer said, according to the recording, “just like, if I want to go to the store and buy a new dress shirt, if I can’t afford that dress shirt, I don’t get to get it.”

“But health care is something that people need,” Veals responded, “especially if they have cancer.”

“Well, you got to find a way to get it,” the staffer responded, with a laugh.

Tillis’ office did not respond to multiple HuffPost requests for comment. But the office told a local North Carolina TV station that the staffer has been reprimanded, though how was not specified.

Tillis, who first won his seat in 2014, faces a tough reelection challenge this November from Democrat Cal Cunningham. Polls have shown a close race, with Cunningham having a slight edge in most of them. 

Veals, 56, and her husband, Scott, 55, told HuffPost in an interview Wednesday that they had not heard from Tillis or anyone on his staff since the conversation earlier this week. Scott Veals theorized that’s because Tillis has no real answer for what they should do.

“‘I’m very sorry that my staffer in the office spoke to you in that manner,’” Scott said, imagining what Tillis would tell his wife, “and then he has nothing else to say. He can’t tell you that we’re working very hard toward health care. He can’t tell you that we’re working very hard to help ordinary citizens.”

The reality is, the staffer came clean about the Republican position on the issue that is uppermost in the mind of many voters. Underneath the exchange with Veals is a philosophical and economic debate about health care.

Republicans (as well as some Democrats) want to apply free-market ideas to health care ― comparable to shopping for clothes. But as Bev Veals pointed out, health care is something people need. If you need medical treatment, your choice to just not get it because of cost ― like a dress shirt ― isn’t seen as viable in virtually every other industrialized nation. In those nations, health care is considered a right, not an option.

The Veals went through a medical bankruptcy in their late-40s during one of Bev’s cancer treatments. The strategy for dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses “should not be trying to figure out how to manipulate a health care system so that you can get the coverage and the treatment that you need,” it should be easily accessible, Bev said. 

Scott, who is an independent contractor in the TV sports industry, stopped working in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. “When I don’t work, I don’t get paid,” Scott said.

With no money coming in, the Veals have had to dip into their savings to cover their nearly $1,700 a month health insurance premium. They could try to get on the Affordable Care Act’s exchange, but only one option is available in North Carolina, and it would cost more than their current plan.

Faced with their dilemma, Bev decided to contact her state’s congressional representatives to ask what they should do. Tillis’ office was the first she had gotten through to, with many offices closed down or operating on limited hours because of coronavirus. She didn’t expect someone to be so blunt and uncaring about their position.

“My wife is a three-time cancer survivor,” Scott said. “And she and I have spent a lot of time and effort and money to continue her life. And I’m not going to allow anybody to claim that the health insurance that we desperately need as a safety-net is comparative to a frivolous cost.”

 

I have contacted his office before and behaving like an asshole must be a requirement to work there. In 2017 he held some Facebook live town halls(because he is too scared to actually see the people of NC in person) and Tillis was down right hateful when responding to people. He is scared right now and desperately trying to revamp his image. 

[GreyhoundFan]

A-freaking-men: "Seven reasons to vote every Republican out of office"

Quote

There are no innocent Republicans running for reelection to the House or Senate. Their grievous misdeeds, whether of commission or omission, were intentional. Their desire to maintain their good standing in the Trumpified Republican Party and avoid the wrath of President Trump’s deeply dishonest right-wing media allies overrode all considerations of decency, honesty and constitutional probity. Let’s review just a few of their disqualifying actions.

No Republican House or Senate leader tried to restrain Trump’s financial misdeeds, including his apparent receiving of foreign emoluments, promoting of his own properties, and his daughter’s and son-in-law’s serving in government while feathering their own nest. Congressional Republicans laughed off repeated possible violations of the Hatch Act and cheered a political convention that turned the White House into a GOP playhouse. Republicans facilitated corruption.

Republicans with rare exceptions (e.g., Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who wound up leaving the party, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah) refused to acknowledge the evidence of obstruction of justice in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report. Other than Romney and Amash, no Republican would acknowledge the ample evidence presented in impeachment proceedings suggesting that Trump had violated his oath by extorting the Ukrainian president for personal gain. Republicans thereby enabled Trump’s abuses of power.

Republicans routinely echoed Trump’s Russia propaganda and castigated the U.S. intelligence community. They parroted a Russia-based conspiracy theory that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 election. They did not seek Trump’s removal or even censure for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who falsely denied Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump has refused to raise with Putin the bounties that Russia reportedly placed on the heads of U.S. troops. Republicans subverted U.S. national security.

We have heard and seen Trump publicly slur American prisoners of war, ridicule commanders as warmongers and enlist the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a political stunt in which peaceful protesters were forcibly cleared outside the White House. We have heard him publicly call the late Republican senator John McCain a “loser.” We have seen unrebutted reports of Trump’s contempt for military personnel (“suckers,” “babies”) and his aversion to including wounded veterans in a parade. Republicans have supported a commander in chief unfit to lead men and women in uniform.

Trump has openly incited racism; tried to stoke White people’s fear that Blacks and other minorities will “destroy" suburbs; denied overwhelming evidence of systemic racism in policing; insisted on retention of military base names of traitorous Confederate generals; cheered White provocateurs who went into Portland, Ore., with paint guns; deployed camouflaged federal agents in unmarked vans to Portland, where they illegally grabbed protesters off the streets; singled out majority-Black countries for crude insults; and praised “very fine” people on “both sides” of a clash between White nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville. Members of his own party in Congress almost uniformly avoid repudiating Trump’s blatant appeals to racism. Republicans have thereby helped foment racial division and violence.

We have heard Trump admit that he understood the severity of the coronavirus threat but downplayed it to the American public. He refused to take prompt, aggressive action and peddled dangerous quack remedies. He goaded governors to reopen their states prematurely and scorned mask-wearing. Knowing that the virus was an airborne, deadly disease, he continued to hold rallies without social distancing or a mask requirement. His actions almost certainly contributed to the death toll of 187,000 Americans — tens of thousands of lives might have been saved by prompt, effective leadership. Republicans have indulged his prevarications and still refuse to hold him responsible for the deaths and economic ruin that have occurred on his watch. In short, Republicans have put their own political survival above the lives of Americans.

Trump has sought to delegitimize the November election in advance, fanning patently false claims of massive fraud in voting by mail and telling Americans he will not pledge to respect the results. He vowed to hold up funding for the U.S. Postal Service so "that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.” Republicans have not condemned such utterances, let alone vowed to ensure Trump’s exit if he loses. Republicans have thus helped undermine the central attributes of democracy — free and fair elections, and the peaceful transfer of power.

There is no doubt that if President Barack Obama had committed any of these offenses and Democrats had been as derelict in their constitutional and moral duties as Republicans, the entire right-wing media and political universe would have called for Obama’s impeachment and removal, and for the defeat of every spineless member of his party. Over and over again, Republicans’ hunger to retain power at all costs has triumphed over their obligations to their fellow citizens. They have put Americans’ lives and the nation’s democracy itself at risk. In doing so, they have lost the moral authority to hold power. All of them.

 

[47of74]

A woman in Exeter, New Hampshire was told she could not wear an anti-fuck face shirt at the polls for the state primary election as it would correctly be considered electioneering.   She had a different way of dealing with that.

Quote

A woman in Exeter, N.H., whipped off her shirt and voted topless after she was told she couldn’t cast her ballot while wearing a political T-shirt.

Town Moderator Paul Scafidi said the woman had on a “McCain Hero, Trump Zero” shirt when she showed up at the polls at Talbot Gymnasium in Exeter on Tuesday afternoon.

Scafidi told her that a shirt supporting the American flag was fine, but one featuring a political candidate was not, and she would have to remove the shirt, cover it up, or turn it inside out before she proceeded to the voting booth. Scafidi said he assumed she would go to the ladies' room and come back.

The woman removed her hat and took her shirt off right there in the gym. She wasn’t wearing a bra, either.

 

[fraurosena]

Owned.

 

[FloraKitty35]

Here (Delaware) we have a QAnon nut job running (Lauren Witzke) for the Senate against Sen. Coons. 

I now back nostalgically at Christine O'Donnell (I never thought that I'd be typing those words) but like O'Donnell before her, Witzke wasn't the candidate that DE GOP wanted to top the ticket.  

Edited September 17, 2020 by FloraKitty35
added more to post

[fraurosena]

Holy cow, she's not pulling any punches!

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh Rufus, I hope Jamie can beat Lindsey:

 

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Marjorie needs to learn that she can't go after AOC without getting a good smack back:

 

 

[47of74]

Another Republican caught on tape saying the quiet parts out loud 

Quote

There are calls for Republican State Rep. Amy Grant, who represents the 42nd District in DuPage County, to drop out of the race after recorded remarks about her opponent. Some have called the remarks both racist and homophobic.

Illinois House Democrats responded to the recorded comments made during a fundraising call with a prospective donor, which she consented to be recorded. In the call, she talks about opponent Democrat Ken Mejia-Beal, who is both African American and openly gay.

"He's just another one of those Cook County people. That's all you're going to vote for is the Cook County, you know another Black caucus," she says.

"I'm afraid he's afraid of the reaction people might give him," Grant says. "Not because he's Black. But because of the way he talks. He's all LGBTQ."

Lady if you’re dumb enough to say stupid shit like this when you knew it was being recorded you really shouldn’t have a job requiring an IQ above room temperature. (Not that she should be saying dumb shit like this in any case). 

Of course she had to trot out the this isn’t who I am bullshit excuses. 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

Poor widdle Lindsey. Being outspent. LOL

 

[fraurosena]

11 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

Poor widdle Lindsey. Being outspent. LOL

 

He looks like a hostage, implicitly imploring "Please vote me out... "

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I hope Lindsey cries a flood of real tears on November third:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I am hoping and praying she can beat Cornyn:

 

[WiseGirl]

 

[formergothardite]

A race that is important, but not getting a lot of attention is the one for lieutenant governor in NC. The republican nominee is out and proud with how many people he hates.  He claims racism doesn't exist. He claims police brutality doesn't exist. He also claimed that Covid was a hoax made up by liberals in an attempt to hurt Trump. He has the support of the current republican lieutenant governor Dan Forest. 

Here are some screenshots of his FB posts. He was asked about them recently and stood by them. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

https://www.wral.com/on-facebook-nc-s-republican-candidate-for-lieutenant-governor-lashes-out-insults/19304590/

Quote

On Facebook, the Republican nominee for North Carolina lieutenant governor says Hollywood is demonic. He bashes Black people for giving their "shekels" to satanic or Jewish movie producers.

https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/ncgop-lieutenant-governor-mark-robinson-coronavirus-globalist/

Sadly, there is a good chance he will win. 

[GreyhoundFan]

How sweet it would be if the Dems take Iowa!

"Joni Ernst is now in trouble. Trump is a huge part of her problem."

Spoiler

Art Cullen is editor of the Storm Lake Times in northwest Iowa and the author of the book “Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America’s Heartland.”

One big reason Republicans are shoving a Supreme Court appointment through the Senate before the election is their rising fear of losing the upper chamber — and the White House — in November. Those fears are well-founded. Two weeks ago, one of the most respected polls in politics found Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) trailing Democrat Theresa Greenfield by three percentage points.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll also found that all four of Iowa’s congressional races are dead heats — unusual in a state that went so bigly for Trump in 2016. The poll also found Joe Biden and Donald Trump deadlocked at 47 percent to 47 percent, a slight improvement for Biden in recent months.

Though it’s been months in the making, Iowa is now officially up for grabs. A natural disaster, impatience with bad farm economics, and a deep and abiding sense of anxiety about the country’s direction have made the state an unlikely battleground.

So far, $155 million has been spent in Iowa on the Senate race alone. The TV is filled with dark messages of political rot. Greenfield, the daughter of a crop-duster, has raised more money than Ernst. She is wearing well, attracting 10 percent of voters who supported Trump four years ago.

Not long ago, 60 percent of Iowans approved of Ernst’s performance. Now, the same percentage disapproves. They tell the Iowa Poll that Ernst has not done enough for Iowa — a criticism that felled past senators such as Dick Clark, John Culver and Roger Jepsen before her.

Trump is a huge part of Ernst’s problem. She stood by him when he started trade wars with our biggest ag export customers: China, Mexico and Canada. Then, Trump toyed with the ethanol industry for three years while prices plummeted. And the pandemic is out of control in Iowa while Congress dithers over aid. Among Ernst’s biggest shortcomings is that she has not done enough to help Cedar Rapids, the state’s second-largest city, which was clobbered by the 140 mph winds of an August derecho.

It’s a key purple city that can easily swing blue and offset conservative advantages in rural areas.

Then, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Ernst had no choice but to stand with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for a vote before January, lame duck or not. McConnell keeps the checkbook.

Again, that’s the problem. Our junior senator is in lockstep with Trump and McConnell on nearly every issue. Iowans don’t like that. They like mavericks, the kind that Chuck Grassley used to be. They also have a Midwestern sense of fair play that does not brook rushing a vote this important when McConnell said the exact opposite four years ago.

Ernst trails Greenfield among women by 20 points in the Iowa Poll; all those votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act left some bruises; rural hospitals are on the verge of closing, and urban hospitals are shutting down maternity wards to cut costs. Duly noted.

Then there’s the court vacancy. The Republicans think this vote will help them with the pro-life crowd. I am not sure I follow that logic. In Iowa, abortion is already factored into the calculus for Ernst. People who vote on that issue have been energized and organized since 1973. They’re the reason Trump is even in the equation in Iowa. That support is maxed out, I believe.

What makes it a race now is that Democrats see the hypocrisy of rushing to replace Ginsburg when President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, couldn’t even get a Senate hearing from McConnell. That 20-point spread among women could grow in favor of Greenfield if abortion rights are more broadly perceived as vanishing.

Others are scared to death of covid-19 and the state’s lame response. Or they really don’t like being called socialists for taking a $14 billion farm bailout because of Trump’s trade bluster. They share a sense of deep fear about the country that goes well beyond the high court.

Ernst should be scared as well. There will be no miracle vaccine by November, laid-off manufacturing workers from Waterloo to Davenport will not be called back, and farmers will nervously await the crop insurance adjuster’s visit after the harvest. None of it is good.

There could be an October surprise. It will have to be a doozy to unwrite this script.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Wow, Sullivan is repugnant.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Cue the Sarah McLaughlin tape:

 

[47of74]

Our local ABC station is fucking drooling over Senator Breadbags McCutyernutzoff

Quote

Senator Joni Ernst said today that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will be a good successor to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ernst had the chance to meet with Barret today. She has said moving forward with President Trump’s supreme court nominee is the right decision.

I think a boycott of all the businesses that advertise on that station are in order.  In addition to their free advertising for their former reporter Hinson they are trying to fuck Iowa over and being in the fucking goddamn tank for fuck face, Reynolds, and Ernst.

[WiseGirl]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I wonder if this will help his re-election effort:

 

[WiseGirl]

 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I wonder if this will help his re-election effort:

 

So, did Joe Biggs give Lindsey a donation? He needs money.

Please, nobody needs to tell Lindsey about supreme grifter Jill Rodrigues. I don't want him to get any ideas.

[FloraKitty35]

Here's the latest from the QAnon wackadoodle who's running for the Senate here in Delaware, this time she's openly thanking the Proud Boys for doing security for her,

Spoiler

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/10/01/witzke-thanks-proud-boys-providing-free-security-rally/5878156002/

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by FloraKitty35
grammar