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During a recent marathon session in the House, two Republican lawmakers from Georgia sat in full view of television cameras. Neither was wearing a mask.

It was the latest act of defiance by the pair, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde, against a rule requiring legislators to wear masks on the House floor. Most Republican lawmakers, however grudgingly, have complied with the mandate, which can carry fines that quickly add up to hefty amounts. But Ms. Greene and Mr. Clyde have repeatedly, and proudly, flouted it.

To date, the two have incurred more than $100,000 combined in fines, which are taken directly from their paychecks.

A resolution approved by the House in January says that members will be fined $500 the first time they fail to wear a mask on the House floor, and $2,500 for subsequent violations. The House Ethics Committee notes each fine in a news release, but Ms. Greenes and Mr. Clydes violations were so numerous that the panel began announcing theirs in bunches.

Ms. Greene, who has said she is unvaccinated, called the mask requirement communist, tyrannical and authoritarian.

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Two Georgia Republicans have racked up $100,000 in fines for defying a mask mandate in Congress. - The New York Times

This week my Senate Republican colleagues and I sent a letter to the New York State Farm Labor Wage Board calling on them not to lower the overtime threshold to 40 hours per week. Over 96% of farmers, most of whom are family operators, indicated that should this regulation be changed, they would be forced to cut their employees' hours. In the end, this would hurt the very farm workers it is meant to help by cutting their paychecks by 30%. On top of that, this will also lead to reduced production and therefore higher prices for food, at a time when inflation is already driving up costs for New Yorkers. I believe that the Majority legislators dont realize that in farming, you gotta make hay while the sun shines. Our farmers and their employees are some of the most hard working people around, let's not punish them at the time they can least afford it.

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Senate Republicans call on The Farm Laborers Wage Board to Reject Reduction of the Overtime Threshold - The New York State Senate

Always remember the First Law of Fiscal Policy: "Wasteful" government spending is only the spending that goes to other people not to me.

When Democrats passed their $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in the spring, it received zero GOP votes. At the time, Republican politicians decried the stimulus package as "wasteful" and a "parade of left-wing pet projects" that was "bankrupting our children." In the months since, however, Republicans have been touting projects in their states and districts financed by that very same bill.

This unearned credit-hoarding began almost immediately. Before the bill even hit President Biden's desk, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., trumpeted its benefits for restaurant owners (while omitting mention of his own "no" vote, naturally).

Similar boasts soon followed from Republican Reps. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Troy Balderson (Ohio), Beth Van Duyne (Tex.) and others.

Republican state officials who once derided the bill as irresponsible, mistargeted or unfair are also now eagerly hoovering up its money. Even so, some still claim to oppose it.

In her recent budget address, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, R, blamed Biden's agenda for "horrifically high inflation" and called the stimulus package a "giant handout." She then indicated she was happy to stick her own hand out: Noem urged state lawmakers to spend South Dakota's covid-relief allotment on investments in water infrastructure, public health, workforce development, child care and many other issues that . . . sound a lot like Democratic priorities.

Noem said she considered refusing the funds. But she changed her mind, she said, because the money might then go to "California, to New Jersey, maybe Illinois, Michigan or Minnesota." That is: bluer states, where politicians are presumably less capable fiscal stewards.

Over in Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine also initially opposed the American Rescue Plan; then he signed GOP-sponsored state legislation appropriating billions of the federal package's funds toward Ohio's unemployment system, water and sewer management, pediatric behavioral health and other purposes.

In Texas, federal funds went to the unemployment system, hospitals, the tourism industry and food banks. Some dollars have also been reserved for tax cuts, though there are ongoing legal challenges about whether the money can be used this way.

This "money for me but not for thee" approach is hardly unique to the American Rescue Plan. Consider a recent plea for disaster relief from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Paul fumed when his Republican colleague Sen. John Neely Kennedy (La.) asked for hurricane relief in July.After tornadoes devastated Kentucky this month, he asked Biden to "expeditiously" deploy federal assistance to his constituents. (Biden agreed and sent federal aid.)

Constituents are entitled to relief funds and public investments, even if the Republicans they elect sometimes claim otherwise. But it might be helpful if voters, on occasion, noticed that Republicans are having their cake and gorging on it, too: condemning unspecified "Biden policies" as irresponsible and inflationary, while gobbling up credit for those same policies whenever they prove popular.

Catherine Rampell writes for The Washington Post.

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On Biden initiatives, Republicans like to have their cake and eat it, too - Palm Beach Post

I used to describe myself as a life-long conservative Republican. I do so no longer. In fact, I became a far more independent political thinker during the thankfully shortened reign of Donald J. Trump. Tragically, my former party is today led by those who favor pale skin over people of color, and those who prefer Christianity over other religious choices, or none. Any number of individual Republicans may not be racist, but the partys policies undoubtedly are. Any number of Republicans may not be hard-core Christian evangelicals, but the party prostrates itself before their altar.

Both positions are antithetical to our republic and founding instruments, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Neither document mentions the superiority of either skin color or religious preference as essential to our governments proper functioning. In other words, the American Republican party has become anti-democratic. President Abraham Lincoln would have been horrified at this turn of events.

There were many reasons why the Framers did not establish any of the many permutations of Christianity as a state religion. The most important is that when one religion is given ascendancy over all others, it inevitably becomes a tool of the state. Look no further than modern-day Iran or Saudi Arabia for the near-perfect example and clear warning. Theocracy is not a form of democracy. However, it is often joined-at-the-hip with various forms of government involving hereditary nobility and vicious dictatorships, which were despised by the Framers. They strove for something better: The worlds first constitutional republic a noble aspiration that we have yet to fully realize.

I am stunned at the numbers of Republicans who are either barely closeted or vociferous white supremacists. I am also stunned at how many of these same people profess association with the Christian evangelical movement. Despite the inherent and startling contradictions, racism and messianic Christianity have somehow taken-up residence within the same arch-conservative movement. There is little doubt that Jesus of Nazareth would have been horrified.

The embrace of such obvious inconsistencies creates a sharp departure from reality. The truth is sacrificed on the tabernacle of belief, serving the self-image of the believers. Nothing could be more self-serving, and at the same time, more emotionally comforting for the acolytes. Also, nothing could be more insidiously hazardous to the country.

The Republican Party seems all but lost to reason. Their tribalism and twisted slogans were on fullest display on the 6th of January at the U.S. Capital Building. Wrapped in the American flag, and with God on their side, the insurrectionists attacked the heart of our democracy the Peoples House. And they did it at the behest of the most self-serving individual to ever occupy the White House the progenitor of the Big Lie that he won the election that he so clearly lost.

One persons vanity and ego have never been more prominent in the long history of our nation. Yet, Republican Party stalwarts continue to say, Trump represents our values. If so, we are indeed in big trouble. The Republican Party today despite all denials is not only racist in character, but massively invested in multiple forms of voter suppression, militarism, the primacy of one religion, serving the best interests of the wealthy 1 Percent, and perpetuating an in-your-face false patriotism that possesses a clear predilection for violence.

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I have never in my life been more concerned for our Republic. More than anything else, the likes of Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison were persons of reason. They created a secular government as the best hope for their progeny: us. Secularism and reason are the twin pillars that have sustained our nation for well over two centuries. The Republican Party has all but abandoned both. The Framers would be horrified to see what has happened to a major American political party. I know that I am.

Robert Bruce Adolph is a retired senior Army Special Forces soldier and UN security chief. He formerly taught university classes in both U.S. Government and American History. He is a frequent guest columnist to the Tampa Bay Times, Atlantic Perspectives Magazine of the Netherlands and the Military Times. He is also author of his publishers number one best-selling book, Surviving the United Nation: The Unexpected Challenge.

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Why this conservative veteran quit the Republican Party | Column - Tampa Bay Times

Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday criticized a map for new congressional districts proposed by Pennsylvania House Republicans, accusing them of partisan gerrymandering to skew the map to favor the GOP.

The [Pennsylvania] Constitution invites us to do what we can to make sure the election process is a fair one, Wolf wrote to the top two House Republican leaders, Speaker Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) and Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R., Centre). It is not an invitation to make cynical deals aimed at diminishing the importance of the vote. It is a recurring test of our commitment to the core principles of a healthy democracy. It is a test that [the GOP proposal] fails.

Wolfs comments set up a high-stakes showdown over the maps, which are based on population data from the 2020 federal census and will be used for the next decade. A spokesperson said Wolf opposes the bill in its current form and encouraged Republicans to work with Democrats to revise the map.

Wolf has refused to directly negotiate with lawmakers, saying its not his job to do so. He instead created a Redistricting Advisory Council, which laid out principles he says he will use in approving or vetoing any map he is sent.

In a letter, Wolf said the proposed congressional map violates several of those principles, including that the district populations vary too significantly without clear reason; that districts split communities, seemingly only to give Republicans an unfair edge; that the mapmaking process has been opaque with the public left in the dark about its choices; and that the map gives a structural advantage to Republican candidates that far exceeds the partys voter support.

An analysis of the map, he says, found it would consistently deliver a disproportionate number of seats to Republican candidates when compared with Pennsylvania voters preferences. This appears to be the result of intentional line-drawing choices that favor Republican candidates.

His veto would mean Pennsylvanias map for next years midterm elections, in which Republicans are hoping to win back control of Congress, could be decided by state courts. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which drew the current map in 2018, has a Democratic majority.

Wolf also took issue with the House committees process for negotiating and advancing the maps, saying he has been asked to negotiate a map with Republicans behind the scenes and would prefer that the issue be hashed out in public.

Grove on Tuesday issued a short and pointed response to Wolfs letter, saying he has taken the liberty of reserving a room in the Capitol for he and Wolf to hold a public meeting on Jan. 6.

If it is your intent to not negotiate congressional maps behind closed doors, let us meet in public, Grove wrote in a letter of his own.

Wolf swiftly declined.

The governor has already publicly provided his comments so he has no plans to accept this invitation, Wolf spokesperson Elizabeth Rementer said.

States must redraw their congressional maps every 10 years to reflect population changes. Those maps help determine the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives and the influence of local communities at the federal level. And because Pennsylvania is losing one of its 18 seats, one party will always have an edge going forward.

The committees map favors Republicans, with more districts likely to produce GOP representatives than Democratic ones. Republicans could gain one, if not more, congressional seats if the map becomes law.

The map is enacted as legislation, meaning it must be passed by both chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature before being approved by Wolf.

In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic chairs of the Senate State Government Committee have been negotiating for months on a separate map that they planned to introduce last week. Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill), the chair of the committee, said Tuesday that map was still pending with no specific timeline. The governors latest partisan rhetoric doesnt help move the process, he said.

Pennsylvania has a history of partisan gerrymandering, or drawing district boundaries for partisan advantage. In 2011, a Republican-drawn congressional map consistently elected 13 Republicans and five Democrats from the same districts, even as the state voted for Barack Obama and then Donald Trump for president and Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate.

In 2018, the state Supreme Court threw out the map, declaring it an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and imposing its own map, under which Democrats and Republicans have won nine seats each.

Time is running out to have a map finalized for the May 17 primary elections, and a breakdown of the proper legislative process for enacting a congressional map would again send the issue to court.

The Pennsylvania Department of State has said maps must be in place by Jan. 24 for the state and counties to meet their election deadlines, including the Feb. 15 start of the nomination petition period for Democratic and Republican candidates to gather signatures to get on the primary ballot.

Wolf said he has significant concern about the timeline, noting that the legislature currently has only four voting days scheduled in January, including one on Jan. 24.

This is an extraordinarily compressed schedule for passage of a congressional map, presentment for my review, and resolution of any legal challenges which may be brought, and further increases my concerns about the transparency with which this process is being conducted, he wrote in the letter. It is not clear why the General Assembly did not move the process along more quickly despite an abundance of time to do so.

The legislature can reschedule the primary or change election deadlines it worked with Wolf to do so last year at the start of the pandemic, rescheduling the April 28, 2020, election for June 2 instead and some lawmakers, including Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre), the top Republican in the chamber, have previously expressed willingness to do so.

But Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) told the Associated Press that she would consider moving the primary only as a last resort.

In a tweet last week, Grove said: We arent moving the primary.

A group of plaintiffs, represented by national Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, sued the state earlier this month, saying it was clear the legislative process would fail and asking the Commonwealth Court to step in and draw a congressional map instead. (The court had dismissed an earlier lawsuit from the same plaintiffs, saying it was too early for such a challenge, but deadlines are much closer now.)

In an order last week, the court gave the legislature and Wolf until Jan. 30 to enact a congressional map. If the legislature doesnt pass one, or Wolf doesnt approve it, the court said it would instead select a plan from those submitted by the parties in the lawsuit.

The court order also said it would consider changing the 2022 election schedule if a map is not enacted by Jan. 30.

In the meantime, the plaintiffs have also asked the state Supreme Court to take up the issue itself and draw a map again, skipping the Commonwealth Court process altogether.

Originally posted here:
Pennsylvania congressional redistricting fight heats up as Gov. Wolf pushes back on House GOP proposal - The Philadelphia Inquirer