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'Like the evil clown that preys on children': Marjorie Taylor Green destroyed on SNL's Weekend Update
February 28, 2021
QAnon congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was taken to task last night by show regulars Cecily Strong and Colin Jost during Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segment.
Jost began the segment by recounting that Greene "caused more controversy this week after she put up a sign outside the office of a congresswoman with a transgender daughter that said, 'There are two genders, male and female. Trust the science.'"
<p>Playing Greene, regular Cecily Strong continued, "You see, science teaches us there are two genders because our bodies are made by God a certain way. For women it's 'milk, milk, lemonade, around the corner fudge is made.' And for boys it's 'big hairy chest like King Kong, crack in the butt, two balls, ding-dong.'"</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="49e472a1ca72e4bfefd029bd718e045a" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L4VGtQBXjY8?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Weekend Update: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Science - SNL</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4VGtQBXjY8" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p>She also explained that a "demon" got in her body as a child. </p><p>Greene told Jost, "I can't help it, I'm a fighter. I have a boombastic personality. I fight the Democrats, I fight the socialists, I fight traumatized teenagers walking on the street alone. I fight my own hair every morning with a hair iron and bottle of Aqua Net. I mean, hell, I fight my own party. Those Republicans in Congress scissored me."</p>
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Former Clinton official says there's only one way Democrats will ever get anything done
February 28, 2021
Mitch McConnell may no longer be Senate Majority Leader, but Republicans can still block legislation supported by the vast majority. That's because of a Senate rule called the filibuster. If we have any hope of safeguarding our democracy and ushering in transformative change, Democrats must wield their power to get rid of the filibuster – and fast.
The filibuster is a Senate rule requiring a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation. Which means a minority of senators can often block legislation that the vast majority of Americans want and need.
<p>It's not in the Constitution. In fact, it's arguably unconstitutional. Alexander Hamilton regarded a supermajority rule as <a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fopinion%2Fdemocrats-filibuster-congress-mcconnell.html&t=YjkxYzlhOTVkZDM4ZTNjMzY3Nzg5OWZhYzRhNWQ1Nzg3NDFhNDk1ZSxNMGM3Y0J2cQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=https%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F644306547848134656&m=1&ts=1614506685" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"a poison"</a> that would lead to <a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F01%2F29%2Fopinion%2Fmitch-mcconnell-filibuster.html&t=ZmI5MWMzZmI5YWI0ZjZkYjIzNmNjMTI5OTRlYzgxYzRlZDRjMTYxYixNMGM3Y0J2cQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=https%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F644306547848134656&m=1&ts=1614506685" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"contemptible compromises of the public good."</a> </p><p>Even without the filibuster, Senate Republicans already have outsized influence. <a href="https://href.li/?https://www.vox.com/2020/11/6/21550979/senate-malapportionment-20-million-democrats-republicans-supreme-court" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The 50 of them represent 41 and a half million fewer Americans than the 50 Senate Democrats. Wyoming, with 579,000 people gets two senators. California, with 40 million</a> also gets two senators. </p><p><br/></p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The Senate Rule Breaking Our Politics</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxVNchFxtoQ&feature=emb_logo" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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<p><br/></p><p>Meanwhile, Republican-controlled states are gearing up to pass even more restrictive voting laws along with additional partisan gerrymandering that could enable Republicans in Washington to maintain power for the next decade. </p><p>The best way to prevent this is with national election standards through the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act – but these important bills are stymied as long as the filibuster remains in place.</p><p>The<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F01%2F20%2Fopinion%2Fdemocrats-filibuster-congress-mcconnell.html&t=YjkxYzlhOTVkZDM4ZTNjMzY3Nzg5OWZhYzRhNWQ1Nzg3NDFhNDk1ZSxNMGM3Y0J2cQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=https%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F644306547848134656&m=1&ts=1614506685" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> filibuster is rooted in racism.</a> In the late 19th century, Southern senators crafted the "talking filibuster" – in which a member could delay the passage of a bill with a long-winded speech – in order to protect the pro-slavery Senate minority. </p><p>The current version of the filibuster, requiring 60 votes to end debate, was popularized in the Jim Crow era by Southern senators seeking to prevent passage of civil rights legislation. From the end of Reconstruction to 1964, the filibuster was used only to kill civil rights bills.</p><p>Senators can now use a process called <a href="https://href.li/?https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/introduction-to-budget-reconciliation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"reconciliation"</a> to pass legislation on budgetary matters, requiring a bare majority of 51 votes. But the filibuster can still stop bills on voting rights, the climate crisis, campaign finance reform, and other crucial legislation Americans need – and on which Joe Biden has based much of his presidency.</p><p>Getting rid of the filibuster is also good politics. As long as the filibuster is intact, Senate Republicans could keep the Senate in gridlock, and then run in the 2022 midterms on Democrats' failure to get anything done. </p><p>The good news is the filibuster is a Senate rule. As I said, it's not in the Constitution. It's not even in a law. Like any other Senate rule it can be changed by a simple majority of senators. </p><p><strong>With Vice President Kamala Harris now serving as the tie-breaking vote, Senate Democrats can and must abolish the filibuster. </strong></p><p>There are a few conservative Senate Democrats who don't like the idea, but Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer can get them to fall in line. That's what leadership is all about. They must end the filibuster and get America moving. Now. </p>
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There's a sad truth behind some terrific new income statistics
February 28, 2021
We have stunningly good news today: Wages in 2020 grew at by far the fastest rate in the last 45 years.
The bad news: It's a statistical anomaly caused by Donald Trump's lethal mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The scourge wiped out almost eight million jobs held by lower-paid workers and only two million better-paying jobs.
<p>The worse news: Two Republican senators who publicly profess their Christian faith to win over voters want to oppress millions of people trapped in poverty. With straight faces, they call their plan the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-romney-bill-to-raise-minimum-wage-stop-employment-of-illegal-immigrants" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Higher Wages for American Workers Act</a>.</p><p>The good news starts out this way—in 2020, average wages grew a stunningly robust 7.2% over the previous year.</p><blockquote>More than 80% of the 9.6 million jobs that disappeared in the pandemic paid in the bottom quarter of wages. Wipe out those jobs and the statistics on wages show an increase.</blockquote><p>That's by far the greatest one-year growth in wages in the past 45 years. In fact, it's 80% more than the fastest previous year's wage growth, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/state-of-working-america-wages-in-2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">analysis of Census data shows</a>.</p><h4>Typical Pay</h4><p>The better measurement, however, is the median wage. It indicates what the typical worker makes. The median marks the halfway point in wages with half of workers making more, half less. The median wage grew 6.9%, a <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/state-of-working-america-wages-in-2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new report by the Economic Policy Institute</a> shows.</p><p>EPI is a nonprofit research organization that advocates for poorly paid workers and regularly issues <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The State of Working America</a> report with lots of interactive graphics. I've checked its work and always find it rock solid.</p><p>The obvious question is how could wages skyrocket during a pandemic that created the worst joblessness since the Great Depression? How could wages rise at all since by the end of May more than 42 million Americans, a quarter of those with any paid labor, had <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/06/04/us-unemployment-rate-numbers-claims-this-week-total-job-losses-june-4-2020-benefits-claims/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">filed for jobless benefits</a>?</p><p>Just beneath the surface, we find a compelling and distorting fact: More than 80% of the 9.6 million jobs that disappeared in the pandemic paid in the bottom quarter of wages. Wipe out those jobs and the statistics on wages show an increase. What's surprising is that the increase is only about 7%.</p><p>America's low-paid jobs are disproportionately held by women, especially those with children and little education, and by minorities. In real terms, these groups have been losing ground for years even as the economy keeps growing.</p><p>But by killing their jobs, at least until the pandemic is over and recovery is complete, the data in wages paid were distorted by the fact that most of those who are out of work were in the bottom half of the pay ladder.</p><h4>Forgotten Americans Forgotten</h4><p>What was it that Trump promised <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Forgotten Men and Women</a>? Oh yes, "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer." Well, he forgot about them and in addition to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/economy/unemployment-rate-covid.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">real jobless rate of about 10%</a> plus more than a half-million Americans needlessly dead. Had Trump followed sound public health advice, as we saw South Korea do, the coronavirus butcher's bill would be <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/south-korea/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">only about 10,000 dead Americans</a>.</p><p>So how to alleviate the misery of America's working poor?</p><p>Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) say they are coming to the rescue. In a display of chutzpah and cluelessness that is extraordinary even for rich white men in high government positions, they call their bill the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/higher%20wages%20for%20american%20workers%20act_one%20pager.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Higher Wages for American Workers Act</a>.</p><p>Their bill's provisions are at odds with their professed devotion to a religion that imposes as a core duty alleviating the suffering of the poor. Cotton is a Methodist. Romney belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.</p><p>Cotton and Romney say the Biden administration plan for a $15 minimum wage in 2025 is way too much money. They propose a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/romney-cotton-unveil-plan-to-boost-minimum-wage-to-10-per-hour" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">minimum wage of $10 an hour in 2025</a>.</p><p>How much higher would real wages rise under the Cotton-Romney plan?</p><p>$12 A Week</p><p>Given the expected rate of inflation, that $10 an hour in 2025 would mean about 30-cents more in real pay than the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. That's $12 a week more for a full-time week. The current minimum wage has been in place since 2009 under legislation signed by President George W. Bush. Inflation since 2009 has shaved roughly a buck off each hour's minimum wage.</p><p>Measured back to President George W. Bush, the Cotton-Romney plan leaves workers worse off in 2025 than in 2009.</p><p>Now watch the news and see if the record rise in median and average wages is reported. Where it is, pay close attention—especially in reports by Fox News and its like—whether they say the increase is a statistical anomaly or proclaim a miracle wrought by Trump.</p><p>Having read this at least you won't be fooled.</p>
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