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Are these elected officials so riddled with cowardice and lacking in larger purpose about their responsibilities as public servants that they cannot recognize what theyve become? Are they so lacking in talent and skill that they cannot imagine getting another job if they do their duty (honor their oath of office) and, as a result, lose an election?

Is the corruption of power so great that theyll do whatever it takes to hold onto it? Im talking about Cathy McMorris Rodgers! Cathy seems willing to stand with the rest of the Republicans in the Senate and Congress and not with her constituents. Cathy is so afraid of her glorious fallen leader and her fascist GOP leader in the House, that she is willing to abandon her supporters needing better health care and money to fight the climate crisis, child support, and the list goes on and on. Cathy, do your job or resign!

Dave Robinson

Curlew

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The cowardice of Republicans - The Spokesman-Review

(The Center Square) Georgia Senate Republicans plan to take up a series of issues that have been hot topics in 2021 when the new legislative session starts.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, said Senate Republicans will focus on protecting personal data, free speech on social media platforms, critical race theory, workforce development and public safety during the upcoming legislative session, which starts Jan. 10.

In 2022, we plan to continue our trend of being at the forefront of policy issues facing Georgians, Dugan said Tuesday in a tweet.

Legislative proposals must be reviewed and approved in both chambers of the General Assembly before they can be sent over to Gov. Brian Kemp for final approval. One of the top priorities for the Legislature is the state budget, which it is obligated to pass before the 40-day session ends March 31.

Public safety has been a pressing issue in the past several months as the state saw a rising trend in crime.

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who presides over the Senate, has announced a proposal giving Georgians tax credits for donating to their local law enforcement agency. House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, also announced a $75 million legislative proposal in July to increase law enforcement resources and jobs. Law enforcement and judicial leaders have called on legislators to implement reforms.

Many of Dugans priorities announced Tuesday have been at the forefront of other legislatures or plastered in national headlines. Republican legislators in several states have proposed bills in 2021 that would allow constituents to seek civil action if their social media posts are censored or apps are removed from the marketplace. Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and South Carolina are among states that have called for regulation of social media censorship.

Critical race theory also was on the legislative agenda in many states in 2021. Dugan said he plans to eliminate divisive critical race theory in the states education systems and state agencies.

The theory is centered around the idea that race is a social construct used to oppress people of color. It was developed by legal scholars in the late 1970s and 1980s, concludes racism in America is systemic. Critical race theory gained new notoriety in response to the 1619 Project, a New York Times multimedia piece that connects slavery to capitalism.

I look forward to sharing more details about these policy proposals soon and working with the House to accomplish these important goals, Dugan said.

There's no doubt that 2021 has been a tough year for everyone, heck, its been a tough 18 months due to the COVID-19 crisis and many couples have found it too difficult to stay together. Click for more.

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Georgia Republicans to tackle hot-button topics in upcoming legislative session - News-Daily.com

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