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Congressional Republicans warn that inflation is having a disproportionate effect on low-income Americans, as they continue to sound the alarm about rising prices as Democrats look to pass a social spending package along party lines.

GOP lawmakers on the Joint Economic Committee released an analysis on Monday to illustrate that inflation is especially harmful for poor and middle-class Americans.

The analysis cited global polling from World Bank and International Monetary Fund researchers, which found that individuals who label themselves as very poor have a 10.5 percent higher chance of pointing to inflation as a top national concern, compared to individuals who consider themselves to be rich.

The analysis also cited research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which says that inflation decreases lifetime consumption opportunities for poor individuals at a higher ratethan wealthier people.

Additionally, the Republicans pointed to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which pointed to gas prices as the main driver behind why rich and poor individuals feel the effects of inflation differently.

Inflation reduces poor Americans quality of life, and rising gas prices specifically increase the cost of living for poor Americans living in rural areas much more than for richer Americans, wrote Jackie Benson, a senior economist who works for the GOP members on the committee.

The GOP-led analysis comes after the Labor Department released new data last weekshowingannual inflation at a 30-year high. The numbers sent alarm bells throughout the country, as Americans continue to grapple with spending more at gas pumps and in grocery stores.

But lawmakers disagree over where to place the blame for the spiking inflation numbers.

Democrats say the bottlenecks in the countrys supply chains due to COVID-19 are causing the rising prices, in addition to the rapid recovery following a reduction in spending amid the pandemic. Republicans believe it is a result of the increase in government spending spearheaded by the White House.

Benson wrote in the GOP analysis that while inflation is a defining piece of the post-COVID economic recovery, it has an outsized effect on poor Americans.

While some argue that there should be no concern over todays rising prices because they are simply the consequence of a strong economic rebound, the evidence suggests that inflation is depressing economic growth and harming poor Americans the most, she added.

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Republicans say inflation hurting low-income Americans the most | TheHill - The Hill

A group of Senate Republicans is pushing their colleagues to withhold support for bipartisan annual spending legislation if it does not include funding for the border wall,a signature project of former President TrumpDonald TrumpHouse Freedom Caucus elects Rep. Scott Perry as new chairman Meadows 'between a rock and a hard space' with Trump, Jan. 6 panel On The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week MORE's for which Democrats hope to rescind funding.

In a Monday letter, GOP Sens. Mike BraunMichael BraunOn The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Time for a national strategy on food MORE (Ind.), Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzOn The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Democrats face steep climb in Texas as O'Rourke mounts governor bid MORE (Texas), Mike LeeMichael (Mike) Shumway LeeOn The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding US added 531,000 jobs in October as delta eased MORE (Utah), Cynthia LummisCynthia Marie LummisOn The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Senate Republicans raise concerns about TSA cyber directives for rail, aviation MORE (Wyo.) and Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioOn The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Hillicon Valley Biden signs telecom security bill MORE (Fla.) vowed not to back the appropriations legislation ifdollarsare not set aside for the wall.

Last month, Senate Democrats unveiled legislation seeking to rescind $1.9 billion in border wall funding from previous years. Democrats say the funding would be directed toward bolstering border security technology, among other measures.

They also said the funding would also be used for repair damage to the environment due toconstruction of the barrier.

President BidenJoe BidenBiden restates commitment to 'one China' policy on Taiwan in call with Xi Biden raises human rights with China's Xi during four hour meeting Biden, Xi hold 'candid' discussion amid high tensions MOREs budget for fiscal 2022, unveiled earlier this year, also called for funding for the border wall to end.

The group ofGOP senators panned the legislation as partisan," saying it fails to provide border agents with the proper security infrastructure necessary to defend America's southern border from the continued crisis of unrestrained illegal migration.

Republicansclaimed the proposed legislation would also cut funding to the U.S. Border Patrols budget from the previous years spending levels and give the Biden administration authority to remove portions of the wall that were erected in the past.

The continuation of border security funding, particularly continued funding for physical barrier construction, remains necessary during the continued immigration crisis, they wrote.

As such, and in the defense of our nation, we will not offer support for any fiscal year 2022 omnibus agreement that omits this funding or authorizes the administration to remove previously constructed border security measures,theyadded.

The joint letter signals another challenge for Democrats as they work to resume stalled negotiations on the annual spending bills, which will require at least 60 votes in the evenly split upper chamber for passage.

As government funding for fiscal 2021 was set to expire at the end of September, Congress passed a stopgap bill in the eleventh hour to buy time for negotiations.

The legislation allows the government to remain funded into early December. Congress is expected to pass another continuing resolution (CR) in the next few weeks to avoid a shutdown as both sides of the aisle have failed to reach an agreement on defensefunding and an overall top line for spending.

Earlier this month, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbySenate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Congress barrels toward end-of-year pileup White House puts pressure on Congress to pass bipartisan government funding bills MORE (R-Ala.) floated the possibility of a yearlong CR if lawmakers arent able to find common ground on spending.

If theres no progress then we could be headed for a yearly CR. A lot of people would like that, he told reporters then.

But congressional Democrats have pushed back on that possibility, as has the White House, which said last week thatmembers must reach a bipartisan deal on full-year appropriations bills for fiscal 2022 in the weeks ahead.

Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerChristie: Trump rhetoric about stolen election led to Jan. 6 attack Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding Schumer presses Biden to tap oil reserves to lower gas prices MORE (D-N.Y.) expressed hope in a Dear Colleague letter on Sunday about chances lawmakers would reach a deal soon on spending.

I am hopeful that we can reach an agreement soon so that the Committees can finalize their bills and we can consider a FY2022 Omnibus bill later this year, Schumer said.

However, it is likely that we will need to process a Continuing Resolution before December 3rd to give our Appropriators more time to finish their work, he added.

Continued here:
Senate Republicans call on colleagues to reject government spending bills without border wall funding | TheHill - The Hill

The 2022 elections have officially begun.

Comal and Guadalupe county candidates on Saturday began filing the necessary paperwork with Republican and Democratic county party chairs for offices in the March 1, 2022 primary elections.

Because most offices up for election in both counties are held by Republicans many of whom wont be opposed in either the primary or the Nov. 8 general election, expect little movement until the month-long filing period ends at 6 p.m. Dec. 13.

However, dozens of candidates for statewide offices declared their intent to run long before Saturday.

Democrats hopes to turn Texas blue next year were dashed by a colossal Republican blowout on Nov. 2. Neither of Texas two U.S. Senate seats is on the ballot in 2022, but 14 state offices are including the top two positions.

Despite being flush with cash and determination, Democratic candidates in statewide and local races were met by Republican voters stubbornly determined to not cede power.

Gov. Greg Abbott, facing re-election himself in 2022, wasted no time in taking to Twitter to talk about the Democrats and their failed efforts.

Groundhog Day here in Texas: Biggest red state stays red, Abbott tweeted. Texas Democrats have gone 26 years without winning a statewide race. That is the longest losing streak of its kind in America. Texans appear to like it that way!

All Democratic and Republican candidates must pay filing fees of $3,750 or submit petitions with 1,750 or more signatures to appear on the primary ballot. Thirty-two U.S. House seats and 151 state House seats are up for election, as well as half of the states 31 senate seats.

Thanks to redistricting by the 87th Texas Legislature, residents in New Braunfels will select one of four U.S. House races in the 15th, 21st, 28th and 35th districts. In addition, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state comptroller, agriculture commissioner and land commissioner are on the ballot in statewide races.

Abbott will face several in the Republican primary as he seeks his third term as governor. Former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and former state Sen. Don Huffines are two of the most prominent primary foes.

On Monday morning, Beto ORourke announced he would be running for the Democratic nod in the governors race.

Democrats have banked on shifting demographics that are making the state younger and more diverse, particularly in the suburbs and major cities. They continue to believe those changes will eventually turn the tide in their favor.

But they have to overcome the tinge of the off-year elections.

U.S. House District 35

Leaving the 35th District is U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who will instead run in the 37th District, a newly formed U.S. House district that encompasses much of Austin. For Doggett, 75, redistricting is a homecoming. He was originally elected to Congress in 1994 in the then-Austin-based 10th District, which once was represented by Lyndon Baines Johnson.

But Republicans in 2011 split Travis County, a Democratic haven, into six congressional districts and forced Doggett to move into the 35th, which stretches from East Austin to San Antonio.

The opportunity to once again represent the neighborhoods that I grew up in, that Ive lived in and worked in for most of my life in the city that is the only city that Ive ever called home that really is very appealing, Doggett recently told the American-Statesman. Living on I-35 is very unappealing.

The new 35th still runs from eastern Travis County to San Antonio along a narrow strip of Interstate 35. It includes 300,000 residents each in Bexar and Travis counties. In the middle are about 140,000 Hays County voters and 40,000 in Comal County. Its heavily Democratic, nearly 70% Black and Hispanic combined, but two GOP hopefuls are likely to file.

In New Braunfels, District 35 runs right through the eastern fringe of Comal County. It includes Hunter Road to the west then cuts southeast along the I-35 access and main lanes before it slants west along Morningside Drive and County Line Road to the east.

A lot of people who used to be in District 35 on the H-E-B side (of I-35) are now in District 21 but those on the Walmart side are still in 35, was how Comal County Elections Administrator Cynthia Jaqua described it.

Austin Democrats Claudia Zapata and David L. Anderson Jr. announced campaigns for the seat in June. State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, has filed campaign paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. Running is Austin City Council Member Greg Casar, who said hed resign the seat hes held since 2015. Not running is State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, who instead will seek reelection to the Texas House.

U.S. House District 21

Each primary year dozens of state and national candidates declare for positions months before filings begin and spend the months in between testing the fundraising waters through social media. Many of them disappear before filing fees come due.

But District 21 U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, might have some primary opposition this time around as Michael French is seeking the GOP nod against the incumbent. French says he is a member of New Braunfels Conservatives, the Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans, and GOP connections in Blanco, Travis, Hays and Comal counties.

Scott Sturm, a paramedic from New Braunfels, announced for a House seat in northeast Texas in 2018 but dropped out prior to the deadline. Hes seeking the Democratic nomination in the district, as is Coy Branscum from San Marcos.

Im not getting any younger and though Ive enjoyed working in public service in EMS for the past 20 years I yearn to make a bigger impact, an even more positive impact on this world before I leave it, Sturms campaign website said. I dont have children, yet, but I want to fight and make sure that not only is there a world for them but that its better off than when I got here.

Branscum, from Dripping Springs, is asking for donations and volunteers to share our campaign with anyone who wants to make history, helping to elect the first open gay man to represent Texas in Congress.

Now Ive got a new request. To officially get on the ballot, Ill need to pay a $3,500 filing fee. This is a great example of how the wealthy gate-keep politics to keep average Americans from having a voice in government. If 140 people donate $25, well hit our goal EASY.

Others running include Republican Robert Lowry from San Antonio, and four other Democrats, including Michael Smitty Smith from Blanco.

Guadalupe County

In Guadalupe County, which contains portions of the city of New Braunfels, a new addition is the 28th District, a nine-county district that runs from San Antonio in the north to Laredo and Rio Grande City on the U.S.-Mexico border, covering part or all of Bexar, Guadalupe, Atascosa, McMullen, Webb, Duval, Zapata, Jim Hogg, and Starr counties.

Locally, D28s north boundary borders District 35 along I-35 in central New Braunfels then cuts east and south of Interstate 10 in central Guadalupe County. It parallels I-10 into east San Antonio then winds southwest of District 35 toward the international border.

Henry Cuellar, D-San Antonio, has represented the district since 2005. He is facing two primary challengers from the Democratic progressive wing, and in the general would face one of five now seeking the GOP nomination.

There will also be a change in the 15th Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, will seek reelection in the 34th Congressional District rather than his current 15th, which includes Seguin and the eastern part of Guadalupe County. The district is nicknamed the fajita strip because of its length and narrowness, but perhaps also because of the great Tex-Mex cuisine throughout the district.

Gonzalez has the blessing of the incumbent, retiring U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville.

In 2020 he won reelection by a surprisingly close margin against GOP challenger Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, who is favored to win the Republican nod over Mauro Garza, a former congressional candidate from the San Antonio area with a home in McAllen, Ryan Krause of New Braunfels, De La Cruzs opponent in the 2020 GOP primary runoff, and two others.

Texas House

and Senate

Texas Senate District 25 now includes most of Comal, Hays and Kendall counties, north San Antonio and northwest Bexar County.

Ten years ago, an upstart named Donna Campbell defeated longtime GOP incumbent senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio in the 2012 GOP primary, winning a two-year term. In 2014 she beat former San Antonio city council member Elisa Chan, and Mike Novak, a former Bexar She brushed back primary and general election challenges in 2018 but now appears to have no opposition in a district redrawn more conservative.

District 24 Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, was drawn out of her district and into Campbells after she announced for land commissioner. Democrat Jinny Suh sought the Democratic nod in District 25 but now is also running for land commissioner.

After nearly six years in the Texas House of Representatives, Fredericksburg State Rep. Kyle Biedermann won the District 73 seat in 2016, defeating three-term New Braunfels incumbent Doug Miller in the GOP primary and captured the seat without Democratic opposition in the November general election.

Biedermann announced he would not seek reelection in District 73. His decision came after the first draft of the redistricting map, which separated Gillespie and Kendall counties from Comal County and added the rural portion of Hays County.

Biedermann, 62, who owns the ACE hardware store in Fredericksburg, is now in District 19, but declined a run against former Austin City Council Member Ellen Troxclair and Austin police officer Justin Berry.

Justin Calhoun, a 32-year-old social worker from New Braunfels, announced for the D73 Democratic nomination leaving the three Republicans to duke it out in the primary.

Carrie Issac of Dripping Springs brings a big war chest against two former New Braunfels elected officials, Barron Casteel and George Green. Green, former District 1 council member, announced in September; Casteel, who was New Braunfels mayor from 2014-20 announced after Biedermann departed the race in October.

Biedermann won the District 73 seat in 2016 by defeating three-term New Braunfels incumbent Doug Miller in the GOP primary sans Democratic opposition that November. Miller was asked to support Issac, but is backing Casteel.

I had to tell Carrie that District 73 is a Comal County seat, Miller said. We need to have a Comal County represented and I believe Barron Casteel is the right person for the job.

The last day to register to vote is Monday, Jan. 31; the early voting period begins Monday, Feb. 14 through Friday, Feb. 25. For election information and updated candidate filings, visit the elections link at the Texas Secretary of States website, http://www.sos.state.tx.us.

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Republicans aim to keep their firm hold on Texas - Herald Zeitung

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outside the White House.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Donald Trump said Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy could've "fought harder" for Republicans.

"Now they don't have anything," he told the ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl in an interview.

While Trump remains in contact with McCarthy, he has shunned McConnell from his orbit.

Throughout President Donald Trump's last weeks in office, he fought to overturn his reelection loss, baselessly seeking to cast doubt on its legitimacy.

Trump, however, has reserved harsh judgment not only for President Joe Biden and the Democrats who control Congress but also key Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom Trump has lambasted for months, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who hopes to ascend to the speakership after the 2022 midterm elections.

During an interview with ABC News' chief Washington correspondent, Jonathan Karl, Trump said the two men didn't do enough to keep Republicans in control of the White House, despite the former president's clear election loss.

"If McConnell and McCarthy fought harder, OK, you could have a Republican president right now, and now they don't have anything," Trump said during the conversation in an audio clip from March released in advance of Karl's forthcoming book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show."

Despite the criticism, McCarthy has kept a presence in the Trumpworld orbit, beginning with a trip to the former president's residence at Mar-a-Lago just weeks after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 to try to stop the presidential vote's certification.

Earlier this year, the GOP leader also walked back one of his most direct critiques of Trump.

As the House was voting to impeach Trump on a charge of "incitement of insurrection" soon after the riot, McCarthy said "the president bears responsibility" for the siege.

On January 21, McCarthy then pivoted and said Trump did not initiate the insurrection.

Story continues

"I don't believe he provoked it if you listen to what he said at the rally," McCarthy said at the time, referring to a rally Trump held near the Capitol before the violence broke out.

During an interview that aired January 24, he went on to say "everybody across this country has some responsibility" for the attack.

McCarthy has since been publicly committed to the former president's political efforts for 2022 and beyond.

McConnell, who also blasted Trump's January 6-related conduct, has not spoken with the former president in months though he has said he'd support Trump if Trump were to become the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

Trump has been making calls to advocate McConnell's ouster as the Senate Republican leader, but so far he hasn't had much success, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Trump says Republicans could've kept the White House if Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy had 'fought harder' - Yahoo News

Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are calling for the testimony of dozens of Biden administration officials over how the chaotic U.S. pullout from Afghanistan unfolded.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony BlinkenAntony BlinkenBiden raises human rights with China's Xi during four hour meeting Biden, Xi hold 'candid' discussion amid high tensions Republicans call for dozens of Biden officials to testify on Afghanistan MORE sent Monday, GOP lawmakers requested at least 34 officials sit for transcribed interviews to address unanswered questions about the planning or lack thereof that preceded the drawdown and evacuation."

Top officials the House GOP lawmakers are intent on hearing from includeDeputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon; John Bass, former Ambassador to Afghanistan and lead of evacuation efforts at Hamid Karzai International Airport; and Ross Wilson, Charg dAffaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

The Republican letter is critical of answers and statements so far provided by Biden administration officials in hearings and briefings with Congress, and said the purpose of transcribed testimonies is to establish a more detailed record.

It said briefings so far "by State Department officials have been cursory exercises that mystify as much as they illuminate, with relevant actors often declining to answer questions directly, deferring to other colleagues or agencies, or claiming not to have relevant information at their immediate disposal and then offering to 'follow up' with answers that never seem to arrive."

Blinken testified before the committee in September about the U.S. withdrawal, and the committee has held at least two other hearings on Afghanistan, one with expert witnesses that are non-government officials, and the other a closed-door hearing.

Republicans identified more than a dozen issues related to the U.S. pullout that they want to talk to administration officials about, including how the administration prepared for the exit at the end of August, and how it reacted to the lightning takeover of the country by the Taliban.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed outrageat the handling of the administrations withdrawal from Afghanistan.

While the administration evacuated more than 124,000 people from the country, the two weeks of evacuation efforts were defined by tragedy, with thousands of desperate Afghans swarming Kabuls international airport, Afghans falling to their deaths from airplanes taking flight and a terrorist attack killing dozens of Afghans outside the airport gates, along with 13 American service members.

Democrats have argued that multiple administrations, Republican and Democrat, are responsible for the U.S. failure in Afghanistan. They also have echoedBiden officials in saying that former President TrumpDonald TrumpHouse Freedom Caucus elects Rep. Scott Perry as new chairman Meadows 'between a rock and a hard space' with Trump, Jan. 6 panel On The Money Biden caps off infrastructure week MOREs agreement with the Taliban to put a hard deadline on withdrawing U.S. forces contributed to the problems.

Republicans have singled out Biden for criticism, and have made it clear the issue will be part of their midterm strategy.

GOP lawmakers also want to press officials on the number of Americans that may have been left behind in Afghanistan, and what the future of U.S. policy towards Afghanistan looks like. The lawmakers also want a recounting of the months and weeks leading up to the decision to start evacuations, and what communication and coordination was undertaken when evacuations began.

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Republicans call for dozens of Biden officials to testify on Afghanistan | TheHill - The Hill