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The Senate Passed a Major Tax Bill So Hurriedly Some Senators Couldn't Even Read It All


In the early hours of Saturday morning, the U.S. Senate voted on a new, highly contentious tax bill known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” The $1.5-trillion tax bill is set to give massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans alongside uncertain benefits for the middle class, according to the Washington Post. However, some Democrats are crying foul over the process by which the bill was passed: When amendments to the Republican-led bill surfaced, the information didn’t go directly to the Democratic senators, according to the New York Times. Instead, those senators got wind of changes from K Street lobbyists.

Senators turned to social media to express their anger at how they had to catch wind of changes, the state the 479-page bill was in when they eventually received it, and the fact that they had just a few short hours to read the missive before the vote.

“This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown,” Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri tweeted, “None of us have seen this list, but lobbyists have it. Need I say more? Disgusting. And we probably will not even be given time to read them.”

Six hours after her initial tweet, McCaskill posted a photo of a page of the bill, which she and her Democratic colleagues had by then obtained—according to USA Today, major changes were unveiled around 7 P.M. Friday evening. The nearly 500-word text was filled with sometimes-illegible handwritten amendments in the margins.

“I defy any member of the Senate to stand here and take an oath that they have read this and understand what in the world it means to businesses and families and individuals,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said.

McCaskill also tweeted saying that Democratic senators had asked if they could adjourn on Monday so everyone could study the bill, but the request was denied.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts posted a video of herself trying to decipher the handwriting on one of the pages. The Massachusetts Democrat was unable to read everything. “I just want to give you an idea of how the Republican leadership thinks we’re supposed to make laws in the United States Senate,” she said.

Other senators also posted images of the scrawl-filled bill on Twitter, explaining their disappointment in the process.

The bill eventually passed 51 to 49, with a winning margin of one vote (Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee voted against the bill due to concerns over its effect on the deficit). However, the saga isn’t over yet: Because of all the differences between this bill and the version that passed in the House of Representatives about two weeks ago, it’s being sent back to a joint committee, who will “iron out an agreement” between the two versions, according to USA Today. From there, both the House and the Senate will have to vote on identical copies of the bill.

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For the First Time Ever, the Senate Will Now Require Sexual Harassment Training


In a moment of bipartisan unity on Thursday, the Senate voted unanimously on legislation instituting required sexual harassment training for all senators and aides.

As numerous legislators and aides have come forward to reveal their own experiences with sexual harassment—include Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D–Hawaii), Claire McCaskill (D–Miss.), and Heidi Heitkamp (D–N.D.)—demands for Congress to address how it handles these types of harassment claims grew increasingly vocal. Making the matter seem all the more urgent: the numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood as well as reports that Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in the Alabama Senate race, initiated a sexual encounter with a teenager while he was in his 30s.

“Sexual and workplace harassment is a widespread problem that affects too many women and men in too many places, professions, and industries,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the lead sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement to Politico. “Everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable at work, and the passage of this official Senate policy is an important measure to ensure that’s the case in these halls.”

Though the bill will require sexual harassment training, as well as awareness training in regard to discrimination based on race, disability, or religion, the measure does not address how harassment complaints are filed within the legislative body. As it stands currently, individuals must undergo counseling and mediation before they can file a complaint, and over 1,000 former aides for both parties have called for more comprehensive reform.

The House has yet to pass any similar measure, but a hearing is scheduled for next week to address how sexual harassment is handled internally.



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This CNN Anchor Perfectly Shut Down a Republican Senate Candidate Who Kept Interrupting Her


“Manterrupting” is real—and it’s backed up by numbers and by situations that we see play out in meetings, in social situations, and on TV with what sometimes seems like daily frequency. In just three minutes, one 2014 study found, men will interrupt a woman about twice. But if we were to go back and look at that data, there’s a high possibility a recent CNN interview would have skewed that number wayyyy to one side: a Republican Senate candidate from Virginia repeatedly interrupted anchor Kate Bolduan during an interview, talking over her multiple times. But a la Rep. Maxine Waters’ fierce and instantly iconic behavior in a similar situation (“Reclaiming my time!”), Bolduan held her ground by reminded him that he was on her show—and not the other way around.

Bolduan, host of CNN’s At This Hour, had Stewart on her August 17 show to discuss last weekend’s white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia. What began as Stewart defending Trump’s unhinged press conference statements turned into an even more cringeworthy two-minute exchange.

The conversation turned ugly when Stewart accused Bolduan of exploiting the tragic death of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman killed last Saturday morning during a domestic terrorism attack in Charlottesville.

Bolduan asked Stewart about why Republicans haven’t publicly condemned the alt-left: “Is it possible that it’s because someone died who was counter-protesting?”

“You’re trying to use this poor women’s death to say that Confederate monuments should be taken down,” Stewart replied. “That’s exactly what you’re trying to say, Kate.”

“I’m sorry, is that what I said at all?” Bolduan, who’s been a CNN journalist for over a decade, asked the GOP candidate. “In no way am I conflating the two.”

He interrupted her repeatedly, and after Bolduan attempted to explain herself over Stewart multiple times, she finally put the politician in his place.

“I am the anchor of the show,” she said. “I am asking the questions. Stop talking, stop talking. You’re the guest on my show. I would like to continue the conversation with you—respectfully.”

Her firm shutdown got Stewart to stop talking, and Bolduan was finally able to clarify that there is “a time and a place to have a debate and a conversation about the appropriate place for Confederate statues.”

Watch her full takedown here:

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Related Stories:
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–This Australian Senator’s Response to an Interrupting Male Colleague Is Perfect
–This Hero Woman Shut Down a Gym Creep for a Total Stranger



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Politician Wears Burqa for Anti-Islam Stunt in the Australian Senate, Horrifies Colleagues


A right-wing politician in Australia is being condemned for wearing a burqa in the country’s Senate chamber as part of an anti-Islam stunt. Pauline Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party, wore the garment to the Senate on Thursday to call attention to her proposed ban on wearing burqas.

The move immediately drew sharp criticism from other political leaders. George Brandis, who leads the Senate, was adamant that there will be no burqa ban in the country. “Senator Hanson, I’m not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in a burqa when we all know you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith,” he said. “I would caution you and counsel you, Senator Hanson, with respect, to be very very careful of the offense you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians.”

Another member of the Senate, Penny Wong, called out Hanson for insulting Islam and making a mockery of religious practice. “It is one thing to wear religious dress as a sincere act of faith and another to wear it here as a stunt in the Senate chamber,” she said.

According to The Guardian, Hanson seemed “visibly delighted with the commotion caused by her intervention” and left after she asked Brandis if Australia would ban the garment—a request he refused to allow.

Some countries have already passed laws that prevent women from wearing burqas in public. The German parliament passed a partial ban on burqas in April, and France became the first country to outlaw wearing burqas in public in 2011. Last summer saw conflict in France over burkini swimsuits, which cover more of the body than most suits but are completely unlike actual burqas. A French court suspended a ban on burkinis last August.

Hanson’s party is anti-immigration and anti-Muslim, and she has called for a Trump-style ban on Muslim’s entering Australia.



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