Tag Archives: Joni Ernst

Oct 14 2023

House Speaker Race – Scalise Drops Out, Jordan Receives Endorsement from McCarthy, Austin Scott Enters as Wildcard


Posted originally on the CTH on October 13, 2023 | Sundance 

The House GOP Speaker’s race is a system of conniving and positioning for a cushy committee assignment, indulgences from the lobbyist control apparatus, office locations and Machiavellian influence for the best junkets and largest leadership PAC deposits.  That’s the truth, the non-pretending truth about the system at work behind the GOPe blind vote.

This internecine professionally Republican stuff has nothing to do with principle centered leadership, and everything to do with self-indulgences and personal affluence.

Riddle me this…. Steve Scalise drops out leaving Jim Jordan as the last man standing that seemingly could unite the caucus.  Kevin McCarthy supports Jordan. Against this backdrop, Georgia Republican Austin Scott, the seven-term representative who  told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday that the GOP’s inability to elect a new speaker “makes us look like a bunch of idiots,” now enters the race.

If the caucus was likely to support Jordan, and if Scott was so concerned about them looking like idiots, then why would Scott enter the race to impede the consensus candidate?   That tells you what you need to know about Georgia’s Austin Scott.

Georgia?  What concerns have previously been identified within the Georgia Republican political circles?  Funny that.

VIA CNN: Austin Scott began his political career in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1997, where he served until being elected to Congress in 2011.  Scott, represents Georgia’s 8th Congressional District, serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.

WASHINGTON DC – Jim Jordan is poised to take a step toward the speaker’s gavel on Friday — even as he faces a last-minute challenger.

Republicans are meeting Friday afternoon to hear directly from the Ohio conservative and Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who threw his hat into the ring just before the close-door meeting and added a new dimension to the topsy-turvy speaker’s race.

While there are enough Republicans opposed to — or wary of — a Jordan speakership to block him from getting the 217 necessary votes on the floor, he is projecting confidence that he will clear the much easier simple majority threshold for becoming the conference’s pick for speaker on Friday.

“I think I can unite the conference. I think I can go tell the country what we’re doing and why it matters,” he told reporters, adding that he feels “confident” heading into the secret ballot vote.

But whether Jordan can ultimately capture the speaker’s gavel remains far more uncertain, with a coalition of vulnerable front-liners and frustrated allies of Scalise and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicting that the Ohio Republican falls short.  (read more)

If Jordan doesn’t get the nod, possibly Representative Mike Johnson (R-La.) could.  However, regardless of who might take the gavel, the real issues within DC operate behind the Potemkin villages of Congress.

Sep 28 2023

Republican Wall Street Donors Looking to Nikki Haley as DeSantis Shrinks


Posted originally on the CTH on September 27, 2023 | Sundance 

Long before the 2024 election was ever in the mindset of voters, CTH pointed out the specific moves the people who control Nikki Haley were taking in 2018 {GO DEEP}. It wasn’t difficult to predict, because Haley followed the Bush plan to an exacting measure.

The BUSH PLAN is the five-year roadmap that modern Republican consultants use to position their principal in the approved Republican lane. “This ‘Five Year Plan‘ was the same historic approach done for Ronald Reagan. With a candidate in the private sector, the professional donor-class make investments in the candidate while it is legal to do so. The investments are made in anticipation of future influence.  This is simply how money influences politics.”

It is not coincidental that it was also 2018, when DeSantis exited his congressional seat to establish the 2024 agenda. The U.N, as an institution, is also in alignment with the high-brow Prescott Bush clan. Ms. Nikki Haley is regarded by this clan as a very valuable commodity.  As I said in 2018, “If they can’t get Jeb, or another Bush (ie. DeSantis) over the finish line, they will be much better positioned with investments in Nikki Haley.”

To be sure, for the voters this is an impossible lift, but the RNC/RGA donor class do not regard the voters as part of the equation.  For too many years they have assembled the illusion of choice, and they are still stuck in that paradigm.  They did not feel threatened by the Tea Party, and they quite simply do not understand the larger MAGA movement.

The billionaires feel ‘above the fray‘ in their sheeple constructs; and remember, for them Newsom is just fine too.

Sept 27 (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley appears to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ faltering campaign, with more donors saying they are looking more closely at her candidacy as an alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump.

Reuters spoke to four donors and one source close to a major donor who were impressed by the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the first Republican presidential debate in August and said they were keen to donate should she continue to strengthen as a candidate.

They will be watching to see how she does at the second debate in California on Wednesday night among those vying to win the party’s nomination to run for president in the 2024 election.

DeSantis, once seen as the most formidable challenger to former President Trump, has struggled to catch fire amid missteps and relentless Trump attacks on his candidacy. Despite his campaign’s struggles he has retained the support of some major donors.

Donors are crucial to keeping White House hopefuls afloat, and the willingness of some to now look beyond DeSantis underscores his struggle to convince donors that he is the best alternative to Trump. It also shows the despair of some Republican establishment donors looking for a viable candidate who is not Trump.

Of the five donors looking at Haley, three have so far broadly sat out the campaign while one has donated to DeSantis and another was supportive of him but did not donate. Reuters also spoke to a half dozen Haley donors, advisers to donors, and even supporters of other candidates who said more donors are looking at Haley. (read more)

For a deep dive into the financial construct Nikki Haley put together {Go Here}; reference the CTH archives from November 2019, when she registered the Stand For America SuperPAC.  For an overall summary of what she has been doing {GO HERE},  and see the internal citations assembled a few weeks ago.  Haley’s superpac donor files have been leaked, and the funding pattern is similar to Ron DeSantis, only Nikki Haley has more rich democrats. (GO DEEP)

{Research on Nikki Haley Here}

…”“I don’t think [Trump’s] going to be in the picture,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.” […] “We need to acknowledge he let us down,” she said. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.”  (link)

Sep 28 2023

FOX News Discounts Ad Prices for Second First Loser Debate


Posted originally on the CTH on September 27, 2023 | Sundance 

According to a review done by Semafor of ad rates for the second Republican debate, technically the second of the first loser debates, Fox News has massively discounted the price for a 30 second advertisement to run during the broadcast.

[…] Advertisers paid a premium for airtime during the first Republican presidential debate on Fox News, but it looks like they’ll be getting a major discount during round two on Wednesday night.

Semafor reviewed the rates the network shared with one prospective ad buyer for both the first and second GOP primary debates. For the first debate, the cost of a single 30-second spot topped $495,000.

But the same 30-second spot during Wednesday night’s contest would cost just over $200,000.

Another ad buyer did not share the rates for ads running during the first debate, but confirmed that Fox was charging $225,000 for 30-second ads during the broadcast immediately after the event, and $125,000 for 30-second spots during the broadcast before it. (link)

At this point in the contest, the Republican candidates who are not supporting Donald Trump are simply showcasing their own selfish connections to the business end of U.S. politics.  It really is that simple.  These are not patriots who care about our country. These are self-interested representatives of multinational corporations and business interests who are paying for them to oppose Donald Trump.

I saw the following brutal honesty shared via The Twitter which deserves some attention.

“Whenever you hear someone self-describe as a “principled conservative” to differentiate themselves from MAGA, Trump supporters, populists, and common-sense newcomers to the GOP, and urge for a return to the “golden years,” you can confidently laugh it off as blissful ignorance.

For decades, these so-called “principled conservatives” have overseen and actively participated in policymaking that has degraded the family unit, delivered losses on abortion, brought you a 10-yearlong “assault weapons ban,” and ceded greater authority over and involvement of the federal government in education.

Not satisfied with the piecemeal destruction of society that they now bitch about for clicks, these “principled conservatives” carry their feigned outrage and ideological purity to the economic realm, blindly devoting themselves to protecting the interests of global corporate giants while sacrificing American workers at the altar of “free markets.”

When faced with the consequences of their neoliberalism—the displaced workers and their families, once-great American small towns and cities in shambles, the industrial core of the country gutted, and all the social ills that emanate from these realities—the response from these upstanding moralists is to hawkishly scrutinize every dollar that could possibly go toward alleviating some of the pain and suffering they caused.

In other words, “f**k off! you aren’t my concern.”

The false devotion to “fiscal conservatism” wouldn’t be so offensive if it wasn’t so easily discarded when constructing a national security apparatus that violates your constitutional rights, launching failed trillion-dollar regime change wars, providing foreign aid to corrupt oligarchs and regimes in quid pro quo deals, and subsidizing the social welfare expenses of other countries.”  ~ JoMa

That’s a whole bunch of truth.

It’s the exact same thing we have been talking about on these pages since the 2012 fallacy of false choices.

Sep 26 2023

Murdoch Again – Sean Hannity Will Host Debate Between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom on November 30th in… Wait for It…. Georgia lol


Posted originally on the CTH on September 25, 2023 | Sundance 

This is so transparently silly and yet simultaneously obvious in motive.

Both Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis are the approved corporate candidates for 2024.  CTH pointed out this effort a year ago, and all of the datapoints since then have perfectly aligned to the simple truth of the thing.  Either DeSantis or Newsom is acceptable to the Sea Island crew, and guess where the debate will take place. Yep, Georgia. lol

The intelligence glow-worm known as Sean Hannity, who will have to quickly learn the shut-up skills needed to be a debate moderator, is the chosen performance artist for the nonsense.   Hannity will likely take the multinational duo on a tour through the questions of policy that he would provide as solutions, and then ask each participant to give their opinion of Hannity’s, “I used to be a dishwasher and I know things” proposals.

FOX News Channel’s Sean Hannity will moderate a red vs. blue state debate between Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom, FOX News Media announced Monday. 

The 90-minute event will air at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 30 in Georgia, marking the first time the two prominent governors will face off in a debate.

“I’m looking forward to providing viewers with an informative debate about the everyday issues and governing philosophies that impact the lives of every American,” Hannity said. (more)

This entire nonsense is so predictable; here’s my original graphic from 2022.  lol 

The RNC had a rule that no alternative candidate debates would be permitted. lol Watch how fast that rule gets dropped.

The bloom is off the ruse.

Sep 26 2023

Threats Continue Against Rumble Video Platform – The Background Players Seem Interestingly Connected


Posted originally on the CTH on September 25, 2023 | Sundance 

The British tabloid, The Sun, comes out with another story against the Rumble video platform today, receiving considerable condemnation for the threats and implications that appear to be coordinated by the Murdoch network.

The original sketchy hit against Russell Brand came from the Murdoch owned publication The Sunday Times.

The British Parliament then weighed in, demanding that Rumble deplatform, censor or demonetize Mr. Brand.

The Sun tabloid is now claiming that Rumble will be “regulated by UK media watchdog Ofcom under the new Online Safety Bill, which was approved by Parliament last week and is due to become law next month.”  Additionally, they claim, “failing to co-operate with Ofcom could put Rumble executives at risk of arrest if visiting Britain, it has been suggested.”

That latter claim is pure fear-porn, driven by interests who want to control the overall internet content of information on behalf of the Public-Private partnership, technically government.

However, look closely at the alignment of interests pushing this anti-Rumble narrative, and you will note something very interesting.

The Associated Press is pushing a story today that Rumble’s relationship with the Fox News Business GOP debate implicates the Republican Party with, “far-right extremism, bigotry, election disinformation and conspiracy theories.”  The Fox Business News network is owned by Rupert Murdoch.  Noticing anything yet?

Stay with me, this is going to get interesting…..

[AP] – […]  By bringing viewers to Rumble to watch the second GOP debate, as it did with the first one last month, the Republican National Committee is driving potential voters to a site crawling with content that flouts the rules of more mainstream platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Earlier this year, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said using Rumble instead of YouTube as its livestreaming partner was a decision aimed at “getting away from Big Tech.”

Asked about the criticism of the platform, the RNC said in an email that “hate, bigotry and violence is unfortunately prevalent on every social media platform, and the RNC condemns it entirely, but the RNC does not manage content or pages outside of our own.”

Rumble, founded in 2013, prides itself on being “immune to cancel culture.” Its website says “everyone benefits when we have access to more ideas, diverse opinions, and dialogue.”

That approach has catapulted the site to popularity in recent years as many conservatives have sought alternative social media companies that won’t remove their posts or suspend their accounts for false or inflammatory content. The company, which went public in 2022, has been backed by conservative donors such as venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. (read more) 

The Rumble platform is growing, as more content providers find that Rumble will stand beside them firmly against censorship and efforts to silence their voice.  Content providers are flocking to Rumble as a free and safe alternative to YouTube.  That has put Rumble in the position of being a threat to those who want control over information.

There is obviously an organized effort underway to target Rumble as we head into the 2024 election, and none of these suddenly appearing efforts are a coincidence.

Here’s my working theory.

Elon Musk needs money. The finance side of the “X platform”, or what was previously called Twitter, is very fragile – with $1.5 billion in annual debt service ($12.5bn loan), and roughly another $750+ million in operating expenses (Amazon cloud $200m, Google cloud $200m, payroll $350m est).  After Musk stripped it down, Twitter still costs around $2.25bn per year.  Current revenue is around $1bn from advertising and a few million from subscribers.  Musk has been looking for answers, and that’s why he hired Linda Yaccarino.

Billionaire Club – There is an alignment of interests here.  Musk wants eyeballs so he can give Yaccarino tools to sell the platform to potential advertising corporations.  Tucker Carlson is an eyeball resource for Musk.  However, I suspect Rupert Murdoch is the silent financial bridge that Elon needed.  That explains why Ron DeSantis was launched on Twitter.

Recently Rupert Murdoch stated he was stepping down from the board of Fox.  This would clear the runway of leftist controversy in supporting Twitter. At the same time, Murdoch’s media empire is launching attacks against Rumble and has a connection to all of the anti-Rumble narratives swirling.  [ Imagine if Tucker Carlson found out Musk and Murdoch were aligned.]

According to insider sources, not directly connected to Rumble, Peter Thiel is dumping Rumble stock and may be using that money to invest in a rumored Tucker Carlson media platform.  The one thing they (Peter, Elon, Rupert) would not want is for Tucker to switch his transitional broadcast away from Twitter.

I suspect that behind this obvious Murdoch targeting of Rumble, there’s something like this that connects this all to the Murdoch effort to manipulate political outcomes.  This guy is notorious for trying to manipulate U.S. politics, and the next story that follows is a clear example…..

Last points.

We need to support Rumble.

When an ally in the fight against those attempting to control information comes under attack, we need to support them.  Here’s three ways:

♦ Download the app.

♦ Invest in Rumble stock.

♦ Become a registered user on the platform.

Sep 25 2023

Georgia Governor & the RINO State Has Failed the Nation


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Sep 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Sep 25 2023

Sea Island Cries Uncle? – GA Governor Brian Kemp Says He Will Support Donald Trump if GOP Nominee


Posted originally on the CTH on September 24, 2023 | Sundance 

I don’t trust this crew as far as I can spit; however, this has the potential to be an inflection point.  But we need to watch carefully.

In an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp says he will support Donald Trump if he is the victorious nominee from the GOP primary contest.   Suspicious cat remains, well, suspicious.

“Despite all of that, despite all of his other trials and tribulations, [Trump] would still be a lot better than Biden. And the people serving in the administration would be a lot better than Joe Biden. And it has nothing to do with being a coward. It has everything to do with winning and reversing the ridiculous, obscene positions of Joe Biden and this administration that literally, in a lot of ways, are destroying our country.” (read more) 

Sep 24 2023

Joe Sends Gavin to the RNC Debate at The Reagan Library


Posted originally on the CTH on September 23, 2023 | Sundance 

Most people say the DNC 2024 candidate will be determined by a DNC primary process.  My response:

Pish-Paw! You think the party that kills babies, sterilizes young boys and cuts the tits off young women are going to restrain themselves to cultural, political or electoral norms in 2024? GTFOH. The DNC nominee will be decided by a vote of delegates at the convention in Chicago.

My gut instinct tells me Joe Biden will deliver a magnanimous speech written for him saying he is not able to accept the nomination, perhaps with a medical narrative attached, and therefore the baton must be handed to a new generation of progressive leadership.

This approach resets the entire narrative and deflated dynamic within the DNC electorate.  Immediately an infusion of energy will be created to propel the appointed baton owner into the stratosphere with intense media promotion.  Thrills up legs will be had, and the real 2024 race will begin. Prepare your affairs accordingly.

WASHINGTON – President Biden’s reelection campaign is sending California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to the Republican presidential primary debate to lead response efforts.

Newsom will be on the ground in Simi Valley, in his home state, to push back on Republican comments and highlight anything the Biden team deems to be extreme rhetoric out of the debate. The governor will lead that effort alongside Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison.

“The campaign response builds off the strong and effective plan from the first debate with a clear north star: push back on Republicans’ lies and highlight their extremism at every turn. Our response will ensure we hold every Republican and their extreme positions accountable,” Biden campaign advisers said.

The Wednesday debate will be hosted by Fox Business Network and is expected to have a large focus on the Republicans’ economic strategy. Former President Trump is not expected to join the debate, after not attending the first one in August, but the Biden campaign expects the so-called MAGA agenda to be on display.

“You can expect the Biden campaign and our allies to point out the stark contrast between Bidenomics and the extreme MAGAnomics policies we’ll hear on the debate stage,” advisers said. (read more)

Sep 20 2023

Pentagon Study Finds Old Threat


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Sep 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Funded by the Pentagon, the RAND Corporation’s National Security Research Division published its annual report to note potential risks to national security. RAND researchers found that aging politicians may be a danger to the US. “Taken together, we believe that an increasing number of cleared personnel — that is, personnel who hold or have held security clearances — have or will have dementia,” concluded the RAND researchers.

Joe Biden has the codes to our nuclear weapons, allegedly, but can’t recall what he had for breakfast. McConnell has begun freezing amid conferences and everyone looks the other way. Feinstein relinquished the rights of her own estate because she doesn’t trust her current mental health. We’ve seen Biden make countless remarks about his handlers telling him where to go, who to call upon, and what to say. Yet even though these people work for us, they refuse to leave office.

Researchers found that aging US politicians have “difficulty remembering new information, poor judgment, impulsivity, disorientation, and behavioral changes.” We’ve seen the commander-in-chief exhibit all of these symptoms. The report notes that those with dementia are very vulnerable and may be targeted by an adversary. It is not possible for someone with this degenerative condition to hold onto classified information, let alone make informed decisions on behalf of the nation.

RAND researchers believe that the US government should codify a process to keep track of elderly individuals with security clearances to monitor them for symptoms of dementia. Our current Congress is the oldest in American history. The average Democratic senator is 65, while the average Republican senator is 63. Joe Biden became the oldest president of the United States at 77, and 77% of Americans believe he is simply to old for a second term. Dementia is a completely avoidable threat to national security if we hold elected officials accountable.

Sep 19 2023

Speaker Kevin McCarthy Uses Castellanos Move w/ Trump to Avoid Budget Criticism


Posted originally on the CTH on September 18, 2023 | Sundance | 202 Comments

Speaker Kevin McCarthy was full of effusive praise for President Trump yesterday as he took questions about the controversial budget deal still being developed in the House.

Appearing with Fox News Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy randomly brought up President Trump’s strong position against Joe Biden and then contrasted the ability of Trump against the ever-diminishing Ron DeSantis.   However, look carefully at what McCarthy is doing in this soundbite; this guy is the consummate weasel politician.

By cuddling up close to President Trump, it’s obvious McCarthy is seeking to deflect criticism for his UniParty willingness.  WATCH (Prompted):

https://youtube.com/watch?v=F3NPJ_E921o%3Fstart%3D494%26feature%3Doembed

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