Tag: Senators

Categories
Health

SNL's Leslie Jones Unloads on the Alabama Senators Who Voted to Criminalize Abortion


Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones took on Alabama’s new anti-abortion law last night during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment—and she didn’t hold back on condemning it.

Jones joined co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che decked out as a handmaid from The Handmaid’s Tale in a red robe and bonnet. After joking that her name is now “Ofjost,” she then ripped off her costume to display a black T-shirt that had “mine” written on it along with an arrow pointing down. What followed was a powerful, yet comical, take on the newly passed Alabama legislation that makes performing an abortion at any stage of a pregnancy a felony.

“You can’t control women. Because, I don’t know if y’all heard, but women are the same as humans. And I’m Leslie ‘Dracarys’ Jones!” she said. “I mean, why do all of these weird-ass men care what women do with their bodies?”

She then showed a photo of all 25 of the white male Senators who voted for the legislation and said, “This looks like the mugshots of everyone arrested at a massage parlor,” Jones said. “And if any of them had lips, I would tell them to kiss my entire ass.”

Jones then went on to say, “The fact that nine states are doing this means this really is a war on women.” She then made it clear that anyone feeling alone or scared is not alone.

She concluded her compelling bit on the segment with a “Dracarys” command, which is what Emilia Clarke’s character Daenerys uses on her dragons to release fire.

Watch the entire segment below:



Source link

Categories
Health

Watch These Sexual Assault Survivors Confront Republican Senators at the Airport


While the FBI continues its investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, more women are coming forward to share their personal stories in hopes of swaying the opinions of senators who will eventually vote on whether or not to confirm the conservative judge.

But one group of women isn’t waiting until the vote for a change of heart. Over the weekend The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) organized their staff and volunteers to speak candidly with senators returning to Washington, D.C., at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. And as it turns out, some of those senators were left speechless.

“We were saying, ‘Look us in the eyes, actually have a conversation with us,'” the group’s president and co–executive director Jennifer Epps-Addison told Bustle about confronting the men. She told the outlet that the group spent the weekend studying photos of both Democratic and Republican senators so they could recognize them on sight.

On Monday Senator David Perdue (R–Ga.) was approached by Epps-Addison, Patti Serrano, and Arizona State Representative Isela Blanc as he made his way through the terminal.

After complaining about being touched, he ducks into a men’s bathroom to avoid the women.

[embedded content]

“How can you not talk to women who have been assaulted?” Epps-Adison asks. “How can you ignore our pleas?” Blanc continues, “You represent not just your state’s choice, but every American in this country, and every person that is vulnerable. This is a legacy, and a moment in history that will not be forgotten.”

“He [Perdue] really is demonstrating what women across the country are saying: It’s not only that you are not listening to us, but you are overtly hostile to us when we say that we want the full rights and dignity that everybody in this country deserves,” Epps-Anderson said in her interview with Bustle.

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell also found himself on the receiving end of public criticism and questions. “Do you want the Republican party to be the party that is known for supporting rape and sexual assault?” a woman asks.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen women confront senators in the past week. Many believe that the decision by Senator Jeff Flake (R–Ariz.) to call for the delayed vote and a limited investigation came in part because of a confrontation in an elevator by two brave sexual assault survivors, Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher.

“I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me,” one said to Flake. “I didn’t tell anyone, and you’re telling all women that they don’t matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them, you’re going to ignore them. That’s what happened to me, and that’s what you’re telling all women in America, that they don’t matter, that they just keep it to themselves.”

The vote on whether or not Kavanaugh gets a seat on the Supreme Court bench is scheduled to take place at the end of this week.

MORE: Time’s Up Picks WNBA’s Lisa Borders as Its First-Ever President and CEO





Source link

Categories
Health

The White House Just Used Its Official Twitter Account To Go After Two Women Senators


President Donald Trump has frequently used Twitter to lash out against the opposition, so an angry tweet from him isn’t exactly a surprise. But on Monday, in a sudden break from convention, the official White House Twitter account went after Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, two politicians who have publicly opposed the Trump administration, and used a pair of tweets to attack and misrepresent their positions on immigration.

Both Warren and Harris have spoken out against Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy at the border, and they tweeted in support of the national “Families Belong Together” rally this weekend.

On Monday, @WhiteHouse directed a message at Warren first. “@SenWarren, why are you supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and victims across our nation’s borders? You must not know what ICE really does. Here is a link to help you out,” the tweet read, included a link to a release on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website. An hour later, another tweet was published, this time for Harris. “.@SenKamalaHarris, why are you supporting the animals of MS-13? You must not know what ICE really does,” the White House said.

The White House’s official Twitter account has more than 17.3 million followers and functions as part of the federal government, which makes partisan tweets that single out particular senators a major deviation from past practices. An anonymous source with familiarity of the White House’s social media policies told CNN Politics that no more than five people have access to the account and said the team had gone “to great lengths” to keep it from being political. It’s unclear, as the New York Times points out, whether the messages actually violate any ethics, but some Democrats have suggested that the tweets could breach the Hatch Act, which prevents federal resources being used for political activity.

Harris shot back at the White House with a tweet that explained she has never supported MS-13 and wrote, “As a career prosecutor, I actually went after gangs and transnational criminal organizations. That’s being a leader on public safety. What is not, is ripping babies from their mothers.” Her communications director, Lily Adams, also tweeted, “The White House is using government taxpayer resources to target a senator with complete and utter falsehoods.”

Meanwhile, Trump has continued a feud with Congresswoman Maxine Waters on his own Twitter account. After Waters gave a speech telling members of the public to confront Trump administration officials, Trump called the politician “an extraordinarily low IQ person” and told her to ” be careful what you wish for,” which many people interpreted as a threat. On Tuesday morning, he directed another message at her: “Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party. Her ranting and raving, even referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the Democrats!”

It’s worth noting that in June of 2017, then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the president’s tweets should be regarded as official statements. “The President is the President of the United States, so they’re considered official statements by the President of the United States,” Spicer explained.

Tweets from both Trump and the White House are arriving at a time when conversations have unspooled about the nature of civility in a polarized political era. It’s impossible to reconcile the administration’s calls for civility when public resources are being weaponized to falsely discredit individual politicians. The White House Twitter account represents another radical shift in the Trump administration that changes the course of conduct in the national dialogue.





Source link

Categories
Health

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.

Related Stories:
–More Than 11,000 Democratic Women Are Interested in Running for Office So Far This Year
–One Muslim Girl on What It’s Like to Live in Trump’s America
–This Michigan Politician Might Have Just Created the Best Campaign Ad of All Time





Source link

Categories
Health

Democratic Senators Give Away Donations From Harvey Weinstein Over Harassment Allegations


Multiple Democratic senators have announced plans to give Harvey Weinstein’s campaign donations to charity following a New York Times investigation revealing that the Hollywood studio executive had reached eight settlements over the course of almost three decades with women who alleged he sexual harassed them .

According to Variety, the list of senators returning Weinstein’s political contributions began with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who announced on Thursday plans to donate the $2,700 to the Women’s Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Al Franken (D-MN), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have since followed suit, disavowing Weinstein and diverting his contributions to nonprofit organizations advocating for women’s rights and victims of harassment and assault.

The Democratic National Committee, which received a reported $30,890 from Weinstein, has also pledged to donate the money to women’s organizations.

“The allegations… are deeply troubling,” the DNC said in a statement, according to the Daily Beast. “The Democratic Party condemns all forms of sexual harassment and assault.”

The DNC continued: “The DNC will donate over $30,000 in contributions from Weinstein to EMILY’s List, Emerge America and Higher Heights because what we need is more women in power, not men like Trump who continue to show us that they lack respect for more than half of America.”

Weinstein also donated to multiple Hillary Clinton campaigns between 1999 and 2016; as of this writing, she has yet to release a statement on Weinstein and whether she’ll go the way of her fellow Democrats. Between his own contributions and other fundraising efforts, Weinstein donated $679,275 for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Like Clinton, Obama has so far remained silent on Weinstein.

Variety‘s report states that these contributions make up Weinstein’s 20 years’ worth of political spending, which amounts to “more than $1.4 million in total to federal candidates, parties, and political action committees since 1990.”

Weinstein’s deep ties to the party, however, extend beyond finances. Weinstein often acted as a kind of social liaison between Hollywood and D.C., arranging a meeting between former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Bradley Cooper in 2012, and bringing Malia Obama on as an intern at his company earlier this year.

These relationships have made the scandal surrounding Weinstein’s treatment of women an occasion for the Republican Party to turn the tables on politicians who decry the GOP’s anti-woman policies.

“During three-decades worth of sexual harassment allegations, Harvey Weinstein lined the pockets of Democrats to the tune of three-quarters of a million dollars,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in the statement. “If Democrats and the [Democratic National Committee] truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no brainer.”

So far, for most Democrats, it has been.



Source link

Categories
Health

If You Don't Want Obamacare to Be Repealed, Call These Senators


Before the week is out, Republicans in the Senate want to make one more push to repeal the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare).

When we last checked in with Senate Republicans in July, their “skinny repeal” health care bill had failed to reach the required 51-vote threshold it needed to pass. Thanks to millions of phone calls, emails, letters, and demonstrations from activists across the country and the “no” votes of Senators Susan Collins (R–Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R–Alaska), and John McCain (R–Ariz.), it seemed possible that the ACA would remain in place for good.

As it turns out, this was not the final word on the ACA. Earlier this month South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy brought forward their eponymous Graham-Cassidy bill as a last-ditch effort to overturn Obamacare. As is the case with this bill and the previous efforts, the measure would be voted on as part of the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority to pass—but which comes with a September 30 deadline.

While the Senate GOP scrambles to secure votes for the bill, policy experts have made clear that Graham-Cassidy is the most extreme health care legislation to be introduced so far. States would have the ability to completely undercut protections put in place by former President Obama’s signature legislation. This means coverage for essential health benefits—like maternity care and mental health treatment—and protections for people with preexisting conditions could soon be a thing of the past. And as Vox explained, the bill would allow states to split their insurance markets, meaning companies could sell different plans at different prices to people based on how sick or healthy they are.

Beyond this, the ACA’s birth control mandate could be dropped and Medicaid recipients would not be allowed to visit Planned Parenthood for preventive services (this, of course, stems from the GOP’s repeated efforts to “defund” Planned Parenthood by cutting off Medicaid funding to the health care provider). And for women who wanted to terminate an unintended pregnancy, Graham-Cassidy includes provisions that make abortion coverage more inaccessible for women both on the individual market and who get insurance through her employer.

Not surprisingly, the 48 Democrats in the Senate are all but guaranteed to vote against the bill. And though some prominent Republicans have voiced opposition to the bill—including McCain, who said last week that he won’t vote for the bill, and Collins, who isn’t a definite “no” yet but seems to be leaning that way—the GOP is trying to make Graham-Cassidy a reality. Considering how civic activism put a stop to the last attempt to repeal Obamacare, phone calls, letters, and emails will be just as important this time around. To make that clear, the Center for American Progress compiled a list of Republican senators who could determine Graham-Cassidy’s fate—and included their direct lines.

Sen. Susan Collins, Maine: (202) 224-2523 (D.C.): (207) 780-3575 (Portland)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska: (202) 224-6665 (D.C.); (907) 271-3735 (Anchorage)
Sen. John McCain, Arizona: (202) 224-2235 (D.C.); (602) 952-2410 (Phoenix)
Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona: (202) 224-4521 (D.C.); (602) 840-1891 (Phoenix)
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia: (202) 224-6472 (D.C.); (304) 347-5372 (Charleston)
Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio: (202) 224-3353 (D.C.); (614) 469-6774 (Columbus)
Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee: (202) 224-4944 (D.C.); (615) 736-5129 (Nashville)
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa: (202) 224-3254 (D.C.); (515) 284-4574 (Des Moines)
Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota: (202) 224-5842 (D.C.); (605) 224-1450 (Pierre)
Sen. Jerry Moran, Kansas: (202) 224-6521 (D.C.); (316) 631-1410 (Wichita)
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas: (202) 224-2353 (D.C.); (501) 223-9081 (Little Rock)
Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina: (202) 224-6342 (D.C.); (704) 509-9087 (Charlotte)
Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana: (202) 224-4623; (337) 269-5980 (Lafayette)
Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota: (202) 224-2551 (D.C.); (701) 250-4618 (Bismarck)
Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin: (202) 224-5323 (D.C.); (414) 276-7282 (Milwaukee)
Sen. Dean Heller, Nevada: (202) 224-6244 (D.C.); (702) 388-6605 (Las Vegas)
Sen. Cory Gardner, Colorado: (202) 224-5941 (D.C.); (303) 391-5777 (Denver)

Now, it’s important to note that unless your one of these senator’s constituents, your call won’t be treated as relevant. But if you are a resident of one of these states and you want to save the ACA—or know someone who fits that description—pick up the phone and get dialing.



Source link